Brain exercises: how to improve memory in five minutes a day

A good memory and a sharp mind are not innate human abilities but skills that can be developed and trained by both children and adults. For this, there are sets of special exercises and methods aimed at improving brain activity and synchronizing the activity of the cerebral hemispheres.

Human brain and memory training

Just like the body, the brain needs training. Many tasks that used to create new neural connections gradually become habitual, reducing the brain's ability to focus and concentrate on new things. The reason for this is a violation of the interaction between the cerebral hemispheres and the lack of their corresponding development.

A person's desire to learn new things, which forms new neural connections, helps to normalize the functioning of the brain. But the lack of "feeding" for the brain slows down the learning process, due to memory loss, lack of quick reactions and the ability to think creatively.

An effective way to restore and improve mental and cognitive abilities is to perform special exercises to train the brain. Daily training helps to improve brain function and therefore a person's cognitive abilities, which include thinking, memory, speech, perception, imagination and attention.

Benefit

What are the benefits of exercise for the brain:

• strength and reaction speed increase;
• memory improves;
• emotional resistance to negative factors increases;
• coordination of movements improves;
• has more energy to complete everyday tasks;
• the hidden talent of the brain is revealed;
• sleep quality improves.

Brain exercise is often prescribed by psychologists to treat typhoid, depression and emotional burnout. Exercise helps shift negative thoughts, distract you, and restore a person's productivity.

Peculiarities

You need to train your brain throughout life, starting in infancy and continuing into adulthood. In principle, gymnastics to improve memory and brain activity is the same for both children and adults, but has a number of features.

In adults

Forgetfulness, poor spatial orientation, and general impairment of performance can be seen in anyone over the age of 20. Common reasons include bad habits, poor sleep and irregular work schedules, which overload the brain with an abundance of information. To normalize brain activity and restore the sharpness of reason, you need to review your lifestyle, be physically active, be able to rest and spend 5 minutes a day on thematic exercises.

Adults should also not forget brain development methods for children - fine motor exercises, learning poetry, retelling, etc. s. etc.

In children

The level of development of connections between the hemispheres determines the child's academic performance, proper coordination of movements, communication with peers, quality of speech and emotional intelligence. The development of new nerve endings should begin at the age of 2-3 years, when a child's brain absorbs much more energy than an adult's brain.

The main and popular way to develop children's brains is through educational games that combine activities to improve hand-eye coordination, concentration and motor skills. In addition, the equal development of the cerebral hemispheres has a beneficial effect on:

• finger gymnastics;
• breathing exercises;
• logorhythmics;
• listen to music;
• dance;
• read and repeat what has been read;
• creativity: modeling, drawing, weaving, etc. ;
• self massage;
• kinematic exercises;
• educational game: compare objects, guess an object by description, etc. s. etc.

All this helps to improve communication between the hemispheres of the brain, which affects the formation of a healthy self-esteem and the success of the child. And the desire to learn new things can become a useful habit for a child that will help him throughout his life.

How to develop memory

Memory is closely related to other cognitive abilities that also require development. Therefore, its development should be approached comprehensively, performing special exercises and changing your daily life in other interesting ways, which we will consider later.

The best exercises

The lesson must take place in a quiet environment. The duration of the exercise is from 5 to 20 minutes. It is also important to complicate the exercises by increasing the number of repetitions, adding gestures, movements and sounds.

For the brain

The following set of neuro-gym exercises were developed by American psychologists Paul and Gail Dennison based on pedagogical kinesiology.

Exercise 1. "Brain Buttons"

Exercise helps to "start" the brain and tune in to work.

1. Stand straight, back straight.
2. The other hand rubs the hollows between the first and second ribs in the area on the left and right under the collarbones. The other hand is placed on the navel, which allows you to focus on the center of gravity.

Exercise 2. "Hooks"

1. Take any comfortable starting position: standing, sitting or lying down, cross your ankles.
2. Stretch your arms forward, cross your palms towards each other and clasp your fingers together.
3. Turn your arms inward at chest level so that your elbows point down.
4. Return to the starting position. Repeat 8-10 times.

Exercise 3. "Knee-elbow"

1. Starting position: standing.
2. Lift and bend your left leg at the knee.
3. With the elbow of the right hand, touch the knee of the left leg. Then repeat the movement with the right leg and left arm. Do 8-10 repetitions.

Exercise 4. "Elephant"

1. Starting position: standing, in a relaxed position. Knees slightly bent.
2. Tilt your head towards your shoulder. From this shoulder, extend your arm forward, like a tail, and draw a horizontal figure eight, starting from the center of your field of vision, up and counterclockwise. Important: the eyes follow the movement of the fingertips.

Perform the exercise slowly 3-5 times with the left hand pressing to the left ear and the same number of times with the right hand to the right ear.

Example 5. "Mirror drawing"

1. Take a marker or pen in both hands.
2. Draw numbers, letters, etc. s. etc. on paper with both hands simultaneously.

Additional exercises to maximize the involvement of the brain in work:

1. "Fist-palm. "Extend both arms in front of you. Clench the fingers of the left hand into a fist, the right right. Next, constantly change the position of your fingers and gradually speed up your movements.
2. "Winner". The fingers of one hand show the "V" gesture, the other "OK". Switch hands, increasing speed gradually.
3. "Horns and feet. "One hand shows the horns, the other the feet (thumb, index finger and middle finger). Switch hands, increasing speed gradually.
4. On one hand, connect the thumb in a row with all other fingers, starting with the index. Do the same with the other hand, but start with the little finger. Do the exercise with both hands at the same time.
5. "Puzzles". On the one hand, bend all fingers except the index and middle fingers, on the other - except the ring and little finger. Connect them like puzzles. Switch hands, gradually speeding up the movements.

For memory

Simple and effective exercises to improve memory:

1. Route map.Draw a map of the route you take to work. Try to remember everything down to the smallest detail: names of streets, subway stations, bus stops, shops you meet along the way.
2. The alphabet.Quickly come up with a word for each letter of the alphabet.
3. Magician.For this exercise you will need a deck of cards. Shuffle it and remember the order of the first 3-5 cards from the deck. Shuffle the deck and find these cards.
4. Carbon copy.Find any image online or take a bill. Study the picture for a minute and draw what you see on a piece of paper from memory. Then check the drawing against the original to identify any missing details.
5. Remember school rhymes or learn your favorite songs. It's also great for memory training.
6. Before you go to sleep, remember the people and things that surrounded you. If you attended a lecture, try to reconstruct all the material in your head.
7. Take something. Look at it in detail for a minute. Then turn away from the topic and try to describe it by writing a detailed review.

Other methods

In addition to specific exercises, there are other useful ways to activate the brain and improve memory:

1. Constantly learn new things.Minimal stress on the brain and lack of new information leads to impairment of memory and other cognitive abilities. Diverting your attention to something unrelated to your work also helps develop stress tolerance. The best options are learning foreign languages, online courses, crafts, etc. s. etc.
2. Play mind games, solve crosswords, puzzles. This will help keep your mind clear and broaden your horizons.
3. Get out of your comfort zone.For example, take a different route to work, take up a hobby you were afraid of, actively meet people and interact with people in real life.
4. Participate simultaneouslyboth hemispheres. Brush your teeth, eat, open the door, hold the handle with your non-dominant hand.
5. Read, write by hand.Reading trains the memory, activates the imagination and creative thinking. And handwriting is a great way to develop motor skills.

Equally important is being able to rest. Avoid sleep deprivation and learn to meditate. The brain needs relaxation and rest.

Products for memory and brain development

To keep your brain active, it is important to watch your diet. A healthy daily diet should include protein, healthy fats and complex carbohydrates. You can also include the following products in your menu that support brain function:

1. Fatty fish.A source of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which affect the active saturation of brain cells with oxygen and nutrients.
2. Bitter chocolate.Chocolate with 70% cocoa slows down age-related mental decline and prevents cognitive impairment.
3. Eggs. Egg yolks contain choline, which the body uses to make the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is responsible for memory and mood.
4. Whole grain bread and cereal.Corn improves metabolism, fills you with energy and improves blood circulation in the brain, thanks to its vitamin B6 content.
5. Tomatoes.A source of melatonin, which prevents the aging of brain cells and improves the condition of blood vessels.

Also, for active brain function, it is important to maintain fluid balance by drinking enough drinking water every day.

Prevention

For a clear mind, good memory and active brain function, it is important:

1. Get rid of bad habits.Smoking, alcohol and the consumption of psychotropic substances reduce the blood circulation in the brain, which leads to oxygen starvation and the death of neurons.
2. walkDaily walks saturate the brain with oxygen and help develop concentration and memory.
3. Exercise.Physical activity improves blood circulation, helps improve memory, motor coordination and improves health.
4. Give to the brainuniform loadand don't forget to rest.
5. Maintain good sleep hygiene.Sleep at least 7-8 hours. Sleep is necessary for the brain to rest, strengthen the necessary and destroy unnecessary neural connections.

The most important thing is to exercise daily. Only regular exercise will give the desired results.