It’s a well known fact that memory and focus tend to decline as we get older. We’ve discussed a number of ways to strengthen your memory health and to try to ward off cognitive decline. Today, I’d like to address one more, and that’s meditation for memory. There are a host of great things you can obtain through this practice. Enhanced brain function is just one of them. Join me as we take a look at the meditation memory benefits when practiced regularly.
Meditation and Memory
The process of meditation for memory improvement offers you many benefits. One of these is the ability to access long-forgotten memories. The mindfulness and focus attained during meditation gives your brain the ability to ignore the outside distractions we’re bombarded with every day. Your mind is then free to go deep into the seldom-used recesses in order to call up memories you may have essentially locked away.
Increased Memory Storage
The areas in which memory is stored are the frontal brain lobe and the Hippocampus. Both of these regions light up on scans when measuring brain activity during meditation. This is evidence that the neural pathways are being stimulated. Your capacity for storing additional memories grows as you practice meditation and stimulate these areas of the brain on a regular basis.
Better Focus and Concentration
Meditation encourages mindfulness, the process of being in the moment. Every day we’re faced with tons of outside stimuli. It can be incredibly difficult to gather our thoughts and to pay attention to any one thing, even if that thing is an important one. Through meditating, the neural pathways are strengthened ways that allow for increased focus. In fact, a concept known as neuroplasticity says that these neural connections are actually physically altered within the brain structure, leading to concrete changes.
Stronger Mind
Meditation causes you to focus your attention in specific ways and to block out distractions from the outside world. Doing so is one way to increase the levels of neurotransmitters and connections in your brain. Ultimately, your mind will be stronger, more alert and better-performing due to this regular practice.
Slowed Aging Process
Meditation has been shown to actually alter the connectivity pathways in your brain. The result is the actual slowing of cognitive decline that comes with age. Studies of meditation memory improvement have resulted in demonstrating that memory loss can be reduced and attention increased in participants who take part in a meditation or mindfulness program.
There you have it and I hope you realize that there are a lot of benefits to meditation for memory. Meditation is great for memory improvement. Give it a try and see if you start to notice a difference in your ability to remember and in your focus.
