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Are you one of those people who is forever misplacing your car keys? Do you ever forget whether you have taken your tablets for an ongoing medical condition?
If that sounds like you, then you might consider taking a Brain Fit for Life course, which aims to bolster key memory skills.
Brain Fit for Life tutor Bronwyn Lane, who regularly runs courses in Warkworth, says our memory remains relatively sharp in our early and middle years, but once we reach our fifties, it pays to proactively build on those strengths.
“I think this is one of the most significant ways of building a buffer against the incidence of dementia,” she says.
“Research shows that by the time we get to age 85, if we have not done anything about it, then many of our memory abilities will be slipping away.”
The flipside is if we actively cultivate our memory we will more likely have the confidence to live independently, well into our senior years.
Brain Fit for Life concentrates on developing six key aspects of memory – verbal memory, non-verbal memory, short-term memory, working memory, memory for names and faces, and prospective memory, which deals with remembering something you should do in the future.
The course improves on each of these areas by teaching practical skills
and strategies.
For example, let’s say you have tendency to misplace your glasses. Brain for Life will advise putting them down with your non-dominant hand. Then, as you walk away, be sure to say to yourself something along the lines of ‘I left my glasses on the corner of the kitchen table’.
Bronwyn says doing this creates additional “memory pathways” for your brain to rely on in retrieving the vital information.
Bronwyn says the more such strategies are practiced, the more effective and enjoyable they become.
“People are always telling me they used to forget things but now have ways of remembering,” she says.
Brain Fit for Life classes will be held at the Club Rooms adjacent to the Warkworth Town Hall on Tuesdays from 27 February to 27 March at 9.30am and 7pm.
Info: Bronwyn 425 0014; 0274 926493.
