You Can Learn to Remember: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life pdfdrive com

memory in a bottle
Smell is an extremely potent memory trigger. Not only can the use of
scented candles or aromatherapy oils enhance the relaxing atmosphere of a
massage, they may also evoke vivid memories. Smooth a few drops of an
essential oil (diluted in two teaspoons of a base oil, such as almond oil) into
the skin in slow, rhythmic strokes, or you could burn some in an oil burner.
Rosemary oil is renowned for its anti-amnesiac properties (but avoid it if
you are pregnant). Basil and lemon are also thought to help memory recall.
(I always take a bottle of lemon essential oil with me to competitions: its
aroma helps my memory and soothes my state of mind.) Sandal wood will
encourage contemplation and open up creative thought. According to
Hindu yogis, it has aphro disiac properties, and therefore might be suitable
for inducing erotic memories.
dealing with life’s demands

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S
ome people might say that having a brilliant memory has its disadvantages. If
we can remember everything that we have to do, will this increase feelings of
stress? In a world of high-pressure working, with demands being made on us at
all levels, we might imagine that we want to hold less in our brain, not more.
Try to banish such thoughts from your mind. The secret of coping with the
external demands made upon us is to see them not as pressures but as
environmental factors. They are external to us, and can never make an impact on
our sense of ourselves and of our self-worth – unless we let them. By organizing
ourselves, being tidy about our filing and correspondence, and prioritzing
judiciously, we equip ourselves in the optimum way to do whatever is required
of us. If your memory becomes hyper-efficient, so much the better. It is not what
we grasp in our lives that causes stress, it is what we fail to grasp.
One aspect of tuning the mind generally, in parallel with memory training,
is the avoidance of worry. It takes only a few moments’ thought to see how
counterproductive worrying is. If something is weighing heavily upon you, take
a few minutes out for a memory meditation. Pick a positive memory (perhaps a
romantic dinner with your partner or a tranquil sunset). Distil this into a single
symbol, then focus inwardly on the symbol, visualizing it in detail. Imagine that
all the positive emotions of that time are emitted from it, like rays of light,
bathing you in their sustaining glow. Open your eyes and refocus on your day’s
tasks.