Contents
The Japanese secret to improve memory
Books
In “The Ikeda Method”, Yoshihiro Ikeda explains that fun is key to increasing our retentiveness
If we want to get in shape, we know that what we have to do is train. Starting to eat healthy and dedicating a few hours a week to exercise is what will make us reach our goal. The same thing happens with our mind. If we want improve our memory and mental quickness, we must train her every day, even for a little while. Not only will we have more mental agility, but we will also help prevent diseases such as Alzheimer’s or dementia.
To do this, there is nothing better than the advice of a “memory champion.” On “The Ikeda method” (Kitsune Books), the Japanese Yoshihiro Ikeda, Japanese memory champion in 2019, and the first person from his country to achieve world recognition, proposes a series of exercises to put our mind on point.
The author explains in the book that “feelings are very important for memory.” Therefore, the thesis on which their exercises are based is that, provoking certain feelings, our ability to memorize and retain information improves. According to the method that it raises, with two daily exercises we can improve.
Fun and memory
Likewise, it points to the idea that we can associate a bad memory with boredom. Therefore, he argues that children tend to have better memories, since most things attract and excite them. “Emotions have a great impact on the brain; if something has an impact on our mind, it will be easier for us to remember it ». Therefore, it is difficult for us to retain information on topics that are not of interest to us. It is by motivating this, the initiative, the “fun”, when we predispose our mind to memorization.
But, just as children show great interest in most things, in adults it is more difficult. Therefore, Yoshihiro Ikeda considers key develop motivation. “The key is the feeling that comes from discovering something new, that famous light bulb from comics when someone has an idea. The inspiration that causes us to understand or discover something has a great impact on the brain and causes the information to remain in our memory, ”he explains in the book.
Being “present” to memorize
To achieve this goal, we must train our level of consciousness, because only in this we will be able to improve our memory. He comments that there are five “sensors” that activate our inspiration, and only from a present level of action can we use them. Is the Detection “sensor”, with which the brain remembers the pleasure of discovering something new; the Classification “sensor”, with which the brain reduces all the information that has common elements to reduce space; the Matching “sensor”, in which the brain uses already known information to better retain the new; the Image “sensor”, in which we use a visual aid; and the Ratio “sensor”, with which we connect one information with another.
«Everyone has a good memory, but in many cases we are not able to use the full capacity of the brain, because we don’t know how to do it ». According to the “memory champion”, all we need to improve is desire and start, little by little, to work on mindfulness when we do something.