*Knowledge opens the door for stress management!*
Have you walked from one room into another and forgotten why you were there? How about recalling memories of an incident that no one else seems to remember, or wondering why you can remember something twenty years ago, and can’t remember what you had for breakfast? Welcome to the human race!
Your memory is behind almost everything we do. In order to pass an exam, drive and automobile, call someone on the phone, remember a name, or every talk and walk, your memory is activated, and is the underlying factor behind everything you do!
No wonder when you can’t remember it is a HUGE STRESS to you! Memory is a complicated process and there are all sorts of ways it works well or not so well.
You have two different centers in the brain for storing memory. One is a long-term memory center, and one a short-term memory center.
The first thing your brain does is to “encode” all the information it encounters. This means it must convert sensations, tastes, sounds, visual images, touch and so forth, into meaningful information.
Many psychologists and scientists think the brain is the human computer. It actually is just that. Computers have to encode data and so does your brain!
After encoding, there must be a physiological change in the body before memory can be stored. The memories are then stored in the long-term memory center, or the short-term memory center. That is pretty similar to a computer storing information on a hard drive.
Take a breath slowly. Now exhale slowly. Your brain needs fifty percent more oxygen than the rest of the body to think more intelligently. Take another and continue.
There is a retrieval system in your brain…one that takes the stored information out and reverses the encoding so your brain can translate into meaningful information – you can call that transference of information your “memory.”
Sensory memory refers to everything from the outside work -including what we see, hear, taste and recognize. Short-term memo is the capacity for holding a small amount of information in mind, in an active, readily available state for a short period of time. Long -term memory is the storage of information indefinitely so that it can be used again and again at a later time.
The term working memory is the kind of memory we use every day for routine things. It has a limited memory span.
You also have something called false memory. Sometimes when new information is added to old memories, we mistakenly think it is still part of the same original memory.
So here’s the point – if your memory seems to be fading, or you get mixed up with remembering things exactly as they happened – CUT YOURSELF SOME SLACK! You are human, and even the great human computer has a glitch once in a while.
It may seem complex to you now, but this fine human body is built to last, and built with “specifics” in mind for your benefit!
When you feel you are “slipping” memory-wise, start using these techniques to enhance your memory – and lessen your stress level about it!
1. Have a note pad and pen handy – in the home, on the desk, in the car, in your purse or briefcase. It can be a great aid to sharp memory.
2. Record names, dates, and what you were told!
3. Use the “association” technique. If you are trying to remember a name, for instance, make a rhyme using the name, or think of your aunt with the same name…associate something with what you are trying to recall, and it will help!
Even if you simply repeat the name over and over, and visualize the face to match the name, any association technique will help the memory stay sharp.
4. REMEMBER – If you use your oxygen in bountiful amounts, you will think optimally, hence, your mind and body processes will work more efficiently.
Take a slow and mindful plug of oxygen. You ARE regenerating and accelerating your intellect. Exhale slowly and remember you ARE getting rid of “used goods” …and if you direct it to be, you are letting negativity spew out with the exhalation-making room for the good stuff
You have power over so much of your mind and body functions that you have never been told! Perhaps you have been told, but putting your power into action is your choice. Do it! This is the beginning of really managing not just stress, but your life!
Someone you don’t know really cares!
Marsha J. O’Brien
http://www.stressmanagementmagic.com/2010/02/contest-stress-free/
http://www.marshaobrien.wordpress.com
