Memory

Memory In Depth

What determines one’s ability to memorize things comes from one's inherent state of mind.

Unfortunately, everyone is just born different. Some are just born with a great talent to memorize and recall things. It's almost like being born with a superpower!

The other factor that can determine the quality of one's ability to remember and recall is the way one uses their minds, i.e. one's subconscious habit of taking in and recalling information. 

So, although it is true that some of us are born with more talent in one area than others, one can still improve their memory through effort. 

Like learning a skill, the ability to remember and recall can be learnt. But if not practised constantly, it can become redundant. Use it or lose it. 

In terms of improving memory permanently, it can be as difficult as trying to change one's personality—seemingly impossible!

But it is possible to transform the mind, to change one's subconscious habits of storing and remembering information. But it will be as challenging as trying to transform an addiction, a fear, one's anger issues, and so forth. 

To transform the mind is no small feat!

Let us look at how the mind assimilates the life experiences we face every day so we can understand the ways of improving the quality of our memory. 

Firstly, the subconscious memorization of an experience will always begin with Self-Awareness. 

One has to first be aware of what is happening in the present moment in order to remember the moment. 

The more one is aware of the details of a moment, the easier it will be to remember those details.

For instance, if you walk around the house whilst worrying about the problems of your life, you can easily forget where you put the cup, your car keys, and so forth. 

And what affects the quality of our Self-Awareness?

It's the quality of our state of mind.

For instance, if the mind is fatigued or full of negativities, then the mind can lack the clarity and focus to fully absorb the events happening in front of them.

As age can also influence one’s ability to focus, one's ability to remember things can become more difficult as one grows older.

Secondly, the ability to memorize is also connected with one’s subconscious habit of recalling information. 

If one does not exercise their mind to recall information from the past, then one will gradually lose that skill. The more one exercises this mental muscle, the more efficient it will work when its used.

Thirdly, the more desire one has to remember events, the more the event will be imprinted in one's mind.

Thus, those that are usually bored, apathetic, lacking passion about life, will find it harder to memorize or remember things. 

So, the more one can perceive an experience as exciting, intense, the more readily the experience will be part of one's memory.

After exploring the factors that can affect one's ability to recall things, we can realize the three different things we can do to improve the quality of our memory:

1. Developingthe ability to be more focused throughout the day.

2. Transforming one’s habit of memorizing and recalling information.

3. Transforming the quality of one's perception to make the events in life more impressionable.

Practices such as Meditation and Yoga can be used as tools to improve one’s memory because through them one can develop the ability to be focused throughout the day and live in the Present Moment. 

The importance of a healthy diet should also not be ignored as having a healthy diet can contribute to a healthy and focused mind.

Also, when one is lacking proper nutrition, especially lacking vitamin B-12 for long periods of time, it can lead to the deterioration of one's nerve functions, which can lead to memory problems. 

So, it's a good idea to get one's blood checked regularly for any deficiencies one may have.

In terms of transforming one’s quality of perception of life experiences to make the event more memorable, it can be pretty easy.

One can simply exaggerate the events one encounter in life. For instance, if one wants to memorize that a hat is red, one can simply imagine it to be bleeding from a gunshot wound.

So, exaggerating details can help one to remember the details one needs more easily.

This is an easy skill to learn and does not require the work of Self-Transformation. But again, the skill will become redundant if one does not practice it constantly.

The other way to store details more efficiently in the mind is to organize information into a more digestible form.

 For instance instead of memorizing complex scientific equations by rote, one can make a story out of it so it's more relatable to one's mind. 

Realize that the more one can understand what one is trying to memorize, the longer it will be stored in the mind.

There is also a game called Dual N-Back that one can play to improve their memory. This is quite a well-known game that has been scientifically proven to help one to improve short-term memory recall. 

This game can help one to exercise the mental muscles associated with memory, helping one to activate those muscles throughout the day. 

So, it can be fun to learn the skills of memorizing things.

But now, let's look at the ways of improving our memory permanently through transforming our minds, which can be greatly challenging!