It is a well known fact that as you get older you begin to forget things more. It is however really annoying when you get up to go into the next room to get something and when you get there you have forgotten why you went there in the first place. It is all to common, but should this be happening to you when you are in your 20’s and30’s ?

Sharpening your mind, and improving your memory can be done quite easily. It will take energy and concentration, but then that is exactly the function which is beginning to dissolve and needs the attention.

We can  all learn to sharpen up our minds and improve our memory.For the young and the old simple exercises will help keep the brain fit and healthy. Sometimes it is the negative habits we have slipped into, others it is our diet and lifestyle.To keep our minds smart and alive is an insurance against the degenerative diseases of old age, start now,  don't wait till you forget to begin!!

1. Not watching so much TV.

The full effect on the brain functions of watching Television are only now being fully understood.

" An important explanation for why we spend so much time motionless in front of the screen is that television constantly triggers the "orienting response" in our brains. The constant and repetitive triggering of the orienting response induces a quasi-hypnotic state. It partially immobilizes viewers and creates an addiction to the constant stimulation of two areas of the brain: the amygdala and the hippocampus (part of the brain's memory and contextualizing system). It's almost as though we have a "receptor" for television in our brains." Excerpt: 'Assault on Reason' by Al Gore (May 2007)

During the "orienting response" ("involuntary attention") the Gamma brainwaves disappear. This decrease in Gamma waves has the effect of breaking the person's focus. Unlike the Alpha brainwaves, the Gamma brainwaves have a harder time returning to their previous levels. If the "orienting response" is triggered too often (as with TV watching) the brain stays unfocused.

Gamma brainwaves are very important:"Gamma waves are fast, high-frequency, rhythmic brain responses that have been shown to spike when higher cognitive processes are engaged. Research in adults and animals suggests that lower levels of gamma power might hinder the brain’s ability to efficiently package information into coherent images, thoughts and memories.

Not so much TV, try reading a book or talking to your partner!

We can learn to sharpen up your mind and improve your memory. For the young and the old simple exercises will help keep the brain fit and healthy.. To keep our minds smart and alive is an insurance against the degenerative diseases of old age.

2. Meditate to concentrate

ScienceDaily (June 25, 2007) — Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania say that practicing even small doses of daily meditation may improve focus and performance.

Meditation, according to Penn neuroscientist Amishi Jha and Michael Baime, director of Penn's Stress Management Program, is an active and effortful process that literally changes the way the brain works. The results suggest that meditation, even as little as 30 minutes daily, may improve attention and focus for those with heavy demands on their time.

Check out my meditation pages on the website

3. Use it or lose it .  Learn a new skill or language

By challenging the brain to create new pathways and learn new skills we can increase our memory, concentration and overall brain power.

 In The Brain That Changes itself. by Norman Doidge he says     ' That Placsticity ( the brains ability to change and learn new tasks) exists from the cradle to the grave;and that radical improvements in cognition functioning---how we learn,think,percieve and remember--- are possible even in the elderly....Merzenich argues that practicing a new skill,under the right conditions can change hundred of millions and possibly billions of the connections between the nerve cells in our brain maps.

So, challenge your brain learn, something new, find a new way to do something. By constantly doing the same old same old  our brains go to sleep, we get lazy and we get tired. Like any muscle it needs exercise and activity to keep it fit. so wake up!! take a look at your habits and choose to change one to day.

4. Take a breath and come to the moment.

To spend a conscious monement every day is  a moment well spent. Too often we are thinking of the future and dwelling on the past. To be present is to be alive,

we conserve our energy and we allow the happiness of the moment to flower when we stop doing and start being.

The amazing Buddhist Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh has a rule in his centre in the South of France, when ever you hear a bell you must stop doing what you are doing, whatever it is, and take Three Breaths, then continue. It is a wonderful sight to see 200 people in the middle of eating a meal instantly fall silent  and breathe three times, all because someones mobile phone went off !!