Your Mind, Your Memory

The mind can shut down memory, temporarily or permanently, depending on whether or not what it endured was a traumatic event that the mind just refuses to access or a small bump to the head. People have protected themselves subconsciously by disengaging the memory. The mind sometimes seems to play tricks on us by confusing one memory with another. Sometimes this causes the person to be unable to function in society. What seems to be a problem with memory can actually be a problem with the processing of information going into the mind.

Prescription medicines can sometimes affect the memory, especially if you choose to combine a dangerous mixture. Even over-the-counter medications have to be closely monitored in their ability to work well with each other or with certain prescription medications. Prescription medications can also improve your ability to use your memory, clearing up other health problems that might interfere with your mind’s performance.

The mind is complex in its capabilities, but without memory it cannot perform even the simplest of tasks. The body depends on memory to function. How would we brush our teeth if we couldn’t remember the process of adding the toothpaste, wetting the toothbrush, putting it in our mouths, scrubbing the teeth, and then rinsing? Such daily tasks are overlooked in importance because they become mundane repetitions in our memory. A person who is preoccupied may not even recall the task of brushing the teeth.

Animals have a sense that allows them to remember whether or not a person has been cruel to them. They may store the information in their memory and act upon it at a later time, sometimes unsuspectingly getting their revenge. A dog being trained for police work has to remember which person in uniform is its master. It has to retain enough information to perform acceptably in each working, many times dangerous, situations. The dog has to remember many types of scents and commands.

Guide dogs have been trained to lead the blind around noisy, busy environments. The dog must have adequate memory to pass the necessary requirements to be a guide animal. The blind person’s life depends upon the memory of the guide dog every day and night for as long as they are together.

A blind person must have the ability to use other senses besides their eyes. Their memories have to be capable of helping them function in their own homes. If something is out of place, their routines will suffer, and possibly an injury will occur.

The memory is the storage capacity of the mind. Often neglected, often unappreciated until something occurs to help us take notice of just how important it is to our well-being.

It is a good practice when your memory comes to your aid unexpectedly to ‘thank’ it. You may be surprised at this, but a little thank you goes a long way in your memory retaining ability!

Improve Your Memory With Memory Exercises

If your memory is not the best you can improve it with memory exercises. There are many times in our life when having a better memory retention would be an advantage. Studying for exams is one of those times.

Of course, each person must use whatever appeals to them. What works for one won’t necessarily work for another. This lesson has been demonstrated in the simple act of teaching a child to tie a shoe. His concentration may be thrown askew and result in frustration when asked to try a new way to learn. Maybe one parent teaches a different method, or the grandparents disagree on what is best.

Children with learning disabilities must learn constructive methods for improving their memories that are tailored to their own distinct capabilities. A child who struggles may need to associate certain things with the same colors daily to remember. Maybe they have certain shapes that help them remember, or smells. A child who has sight impairment may learn to associate by touch or scent. Grandma may wear the same perfume every day or Grandpa may wear the same cologne or after shave.

There are times when the teachers have a learning method that is different from the parents’. When the child asks the parent for help with homework, an argument may develop because the parent will use a different method to get the same result. Sometimes if the child is taught not to argue with the parent, this could result in a bad mark on the work that is turned in. This is where consistency and cooperation is successful in the parent/teacher relationship.

Have you ever made up a silly, but rude song about someone who offended you? This was a great memory exercise, even though it could be construed as mean. Music is a helpful tool, especially for teaching small children to improve their memories, although it is usually not used in a derogatory way. Comedians make jokes with rude songs, which often results in the audience remembering the comedian simply because the music acted as a tool to cement the person into memory. Maybe you don’t even recall the words, but simply the tune, the results are the same.

Rhyming games are a very helpful memory tool. An endless number of people have grown up enjoying the antics of the characters in Dr. Seuss stories! Many of the words don’t even make sense and mean nothing in reality. But they served to help a person remember the story because of the rhyming effect.

The key to memory exercises is repetition. You must teach yourself to perform the actions over and over. Like always putting your car keys in your purse so you won’t lose them. If you have trouble getting your children to school on time because they spend too much time finding their backpack or shoes, have them learn to place the items in the same place each evening. These little memory tricks are sure to make your boss happy if they get you to work on time each day!

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