Memory is one of the most important things we have. We spend an average of 18 years of our lives acquiring knowledge stored in our memory. We also have a wealth of personal memories that make us what we are and ensure that we know who is dear to us. Losing your memory is also one of the biggest fears people have.
To help you improve your memory, in this blog I discuss the benefits hypnosis has for this and other tips to improve your memory.
Improve short-term memory
Improving short-term memory is something many people want. Especially as you get older, you may find that your short-term memory is deteriorating. You lose those car keys more and more often, or you're in the supermarket and don't actually remember what you wanted to buy, because you don't do shopping lists.
Or you are reading a book and have to read a certain paragraph over and over again because you forget the content.
Who has ever walked into a room and then had no idea what you came there to do?
Everyone has moments like this from time to time, but if this happens to you on a daily basis or more often than you're comfortable with, it's time to improve your short-term memory.
This is because your short-term memory is the filter that determines which impressions and thoughts you will remember and which you will not. Unfortunately, if your filter is working too well, it means that you are going to forget things. Your short-term memory is sometimes called your working memory because the information is often needed for chores, such as arithmetic, and when the job is done you can forget it again.
Like remembering a phone number until you write it down.
Usually, other impressions that have also lingered in short-term memory are stored in long-term memory in your sleep.
One way to improve your short-term memory is to do brain exercises. Games such as sudoku and solving crossword puzzles are so popular because they cause your memory, and certainly short-term memory, to improve.
Hypnosis can also help improve memory and even remember things that are important to you, such as where you kept something.
In this case, a hypnotherapist first looks at how your brain was engaged at the time you should or wanted to remember something. This is because different parts of the brain are then required, as for:
- Write
- Visual
- Audio (you heard something)
- Or feel
Next, we look at the context of the situation. Were you at work, was it at a family party?
These types of questions can also be asked during regression therapy. This is normally used for tracing traumatic events, but it can thus also be used for other memory problems.
Improving memory after brain damage
Damage to the brain can come from many causes, from a hemorrhage, to a car accident to a stroke. Improving the brain after such trauma is a difficult and lengthy process. Several studies have shown that hypnosis can help the treatment of the brain and, in particular, to improve short-term memory.
In the study in which this was investigated, people with brain damage were divided into 2 groups, with 1 group receiving the hypnotic suggestion that their short-term memory work again as well as it did before the brain damage occurred.
To do this well, 1-hour hypnotherapy sessions followed afterwards.
The long-term effect was also that eventually short-term memory functioned again like that of a healthy person and sometimes even better than average.
There is also a case in Denmark of a boy who only had a memory of 10 minutes after being in a car accident. This was very annoying because it prevented him from watching movies because he lost the thread after 10 minutes. When people came to visit, he forgot they were there when they went to the bathroom for a moment.
Eventually, doctors started using hypnosis on him, too, and after a few months he was able to remember his visit in a normal way and could even tell things from the day before.
However, exactly how it works is unknown; it is only known that it works.
Tips to improve your short-term memory
In addition to using hypnotherapy, there are other ways to improve your short-term memory. The following tips may also help you.
Tip #1: Write it down
Research shows that things that are written down are remembered better than what you don't write down. Making summaries ensures that you remember the material in the summary better than the rest of the text you are summarizing.
Therefore, writing down often helps you prepare for a test, for example, but you have to write down the right information.
Tip 2: Say it
Saying out loud what you need to remember is also a good solution when you don't have a pen and paper handy. For example, you can say a number you need to remember out loud to yourself several times.
Tip 3: Do yoga
Mind-body interventions, such as yoga, don't just help lower inflammation. They also help you improve your memory. This is because we usually cannot remember more than 4 things at a time, but sometimes we are mentally engaged in many more things.
Through yoga, you make sure to train your brain to think in the here and now, which after yoga helps improve your short-term memory.
Research shows that yoga helps women who experience cognitive problems after menopause, such as with their memory. Yoga, of all mind-body interventions, is most linked to improving cognitive problems after menopause.
Tip 4: Sleep
Eating and sleeping are activities we need for our energy and proper functioning of our bodies. Sleeping also helps your brain take a break from all the day's activities and store information in our long-term memory.
It is therefore very important for your memory, both short-term and long-term, that you get enough sleep. Therefore, try to get at least 8 hours of sleep per night.
Not managing to get above 7 hours of sleep a night? Then you can also use hypnosis to sleep better.
Tip 5: Focus on 1 task
Did I mention it's hard to remember multiple things at once? By focusing on 1 task, it is easier to remember things for that task than if you are working on 2 things at the same time.
By doing so, you will reduce the workload that occurs on your short-term memory which in turn helps you remember important things, even for the long term.
So make a to-do list and stick to the task you want to complete before moving on to the next task. You'll find yourself much less likely to suddenly find yourself standing in a room dazed, wondering what you're actually doing there.
Tip 6: Avoid distractions
Distractions often cause you to memorize new things. You are busy with your work and get distracted by your mail, for example. Then you suddenly have to remember to send someone an email back later, which in turn prevents your memory from remembering other things that are important to your task.
Therefore, avoid distractions to the extent possible. Set your phone to "do not disturb" and at least make sure the mail can't put pop-ups on your screen when you're busy at your PC.
Having a tidy workspace can also help you avoid distractions, as you won't be distracted, for example, by a magazine you happened to have left on your desk.
Tip 7: Take a walk in nature
Walking in nature also helps improve your memory. So just taking a walk around town won't help, but a walk through the woods, meadows, dunes or beach can certainly help boost your memory.
A study in which 2 groups had to do a variety of exercises in which memory matters showed that the group that took a walk in a natural environment during the break performed better after that break than the group that took a walk down a busy shopping street.
Looking at nature in a photo also helps, though a little less effectively than a walk. So if you don't have time or nature near you use a photo of nature for your memory.
Want to learn more about mental techniques to strengthen your mind power? Then come to a seminar or workshop and check out Hypnosis Institute Netherlands' training programs.
Sources:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hypnosis-the-power-trance/200909/does-hypnosis-improve-memory
https://academic.oup.com/brain/article-abstract/140/4/1100/2970094
http://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/mads-mistede-hukommelsen-som-17-aarig-hypnose-hjalp-mig-til-huske-igen
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10648-014-9290-2
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4428077/
