Boost memory and focus with quick, easy brain exercises like deep breaths, math in mind, and visualization.

Highlights:

  • Perform quick 2-minute brain exercises daily for 30 days
  • Exercises improve memory, focus, and logical thinking
  • Consistency is key to achieving cognitive health benefits

Frequent, short sessions with brain teasers can have a big positive impact on the memory, attention level and overall brain fitness. It only takes two minutes a day to acquire easy, yet highly beneficial, rituals to enhance not only intelligence but also attentiveness as well.

Daily Boost Exercises for Memory and Focus

These are exercises that make you think in a creative or logical manner and come up with something that helps you see the result.

1. Deep Breaths
Breathe in deeply and slowly and then breathe out slowly. Take four breaths in, hold for four breaths and then take four breaths out. Perform this for 4 minutes.

This exercise helps with the nervous system, decreases stress levels, and increase concentration, by bringing focus to the breath and eliminating the noise in the head (1 Trusted Source
Deep Breathing Practice Facilitates Retention of Newly Learned Motor Skills

Go to source).

2. Memory Flashback
Try to remember some details from the last book, article or story you’ve read. Play it out in your mind right through the scene and characters or whatever area, repeat it for 4 minutes.

With constant repetition in mind, it is clear that timely recall does help consolidate memory as well as increases concentration and retrieval of facts (2 Trusted Source
The concept of flashbacks in historical perspective

Go to source

).

3. Word Game
Take an arbitrary word and try to list associated words. For instance the word of the topic may be apple and the related topic could be fruit, red or orchard.

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This improves creative learning, enhances memory connectivity and enhances relations between different ideas (3 Trusted Source
Game-based brain training for improving cognitive function in community-dwelling older adults: A systematic review and meta-regression

Go to source

).

4. Spot the Object
Take 30 seconds to look at a room and try to count as many objects you can. Imagine, whatever you remember in terms of what you saw, just shut your eyes and try to recall that’s what you saw.

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Improves focus, sharpens the vision, and brings dynamism to recall information when solving quizzes or problems (4 Trusted Source
Object-based visual working memory: an object benefit for equidistant memory items presented within simple contours

Go to source

).

5. Math in Mind
Carry out basic calculations mentally without the use of such basic equipment. For example, perform problems in your mind such as 37 + 48 or 123 – 67.

Builds mental calculations, enhances thought, increases concentration and develops analysis and decision-making abilities (5 Trusted Source
Brain stimulation, mathematical, and numerical training: Contribution of core and noncore skills

Go to source).

6. Pattern Recognition
Write a list of numbers or letters on the board and then determine what they have in common (as an example, 1,3,5,7). Make a continuation of the sequence or find out what next number in the sequence should be.

Improves the ability of logical thinking, facilitates problem solving and enhances issues identification and analysis skills (6 Trusted Source
Brain Training Games Enhance Cognitive Function in Healthy Subjects

Go to source).

7. Visualization Game
Focus on an image that you want – it can be a seashore, a forest, a garden – whatever you want most. Try concentrating on the sounds you hear or the smells you are getting for four minutes.

It improves on the levels of awareness, stress control and prefrontal cortex’s ability to direct focus onto perception of details.

8. Backward Spelling
Pick a word and spell it backwards. For instance the word “table” is turned to “elbat”.
Enhances the working memory, helps to focus, and forces the brain to work in reverse, changing habitual ways of thinking (7 Trusted Source
Effects of forward and backward span trainings on working memory: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial

Go to source).

9. Five Sense Awareness
Take two minutes and write what you observed, audibly, tactilely, olfactory, and gustatorily. For instance, pay attention to the colors which are in front of you or the sound of traffic or the texture of an object.

Raises awareness of physical and mental processes and the perceptions of sensory experiences.

10. Alphabet Countdown
Reversal of letters – say the letters of the alphabet starting from “Z” down to “A”.
Stimulates the brain, detracts the focus and may capture memory which makes the brain flexible from the normal trend.

Such physical activities are aimed at influencing several regions of the brain that control memory and concentration, problem-solving, and attention. All of them are short and quick and yield good results which means they can be adopted easily into our busy schedules.

It is also important to stress the fact that consistency is key to getting significant outcomes. Participating in these exercises in 2-minute segments per day for 30 days will see the participant reap huge benefits in terms of memory and ability to concentrate. Begin it today in order to open the treasure house of your mind (8 Trusted Source
8 Learning, Recalling, and Thinking

Go to source)!

References:

  1. Deep Breathing Practice Facilitates Retention of Newly Learned Motor Skills
    (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5107920/)
  2. The concept of flashbacks in historical perspective
    (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7960289/)
  3. Game-based brain training for improving cognitive function in community-dwelling older adults: A systematic review and meta-regression – (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32980574/)
  4. Object-based visual working memory: an object benefit for equidistant memory items presented within simple contours – (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10227135/)
  5. Brain stimulation, mathematical, and numerical training: Contribution of core and noncore skills – (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27339019/)
  6. Brain Training Games Enhance Cognitive Function in Healthy Subjects – (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29674605/)
  7. Effects of forward and backward span trainings on working memory: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial – (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35894226/)
  8. Learning, Recalling, and Thinking – (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK234153/)

Source-Medindia

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