Anyone that has ever lost their keys, forgot what they were supposed to get at the grocery store or arrived at the wrong time for a doctor appointment knows that memory can be tricky. You may always be able to recite all 50 American states, what year your children or siblings were born and what you had for dinner last night, but can you remember how many cars you passed on your drive home? Or how many emails you’ve read in the past week? In this article, we’ll give you a few strategies to improve your memory and help you do just that.

You can improve your memory by playing brain-challenging games. Consider your brain as a muscles that needs exercise to stay in shape. Regular mental exercise can result in improved memory and the increased ability to concentrate and focus. Good games that are known to boost memory are word searches, crossword puzzles and brain teasers.

If you find yourself having difficulty remembering some things, try to use acronyms or tricks called mnemonics to help you remember. An example of this is to use Roy G. Biv to remember the colors of the rainbow as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. These types of tricks can really improve your memory.

If you find yourself having difficulty recalling information, take a deep breath and relax. Sometimes all you need is a bit more time to allow your memory to retrieve the information. Feeling pressed for time can result in stress that inhibits the recall process. Remember that the older you are, the longer it takes to retrieve information from the memory.

Protecting your cells is vital to keeping your brain healthy and active. Eating foods that are rich in antioxidants like blueberries, strawberries, and other fruits and veggies will give you a leg up in taking care of your brain. These antioxidants not only keep your brain working in optimum condition, they also may help slow the aging process.

After you learn something new, teach it to another person. When you teach it, it forces your brain to manipulate the information in another way in order for you to articulate it. This manipulation of information strengthens that part of your memory, and it is an effective way in committing the new information into your brain.

Jigsaw puzzles are good to improve your memory. Choose the harder ones (500-600 piece puzzles) for greater benefits. This game requires visual judgment, critical thinking and shifting focus from the small pieces to the big picture several times. Mastering your jigsaw puzzles skills will help you when you need to use your memory in your everyday life.

Knowing what type of learner you are will enable you to reinforce your memory! If you know that you are a visual learner, for example, then keep a small notebook with you at all times to write down the information you need to remember, or if you are an auditory learner, use a small recorder. These small aids will be a big help when you need to call on your memory later!

Getting plenty of exercise will help your memory. Exercise improves the blood flow throughout your body, including the brain. This can invigorate your mind and improve its ability to remember. Even a brief walk for ten minutes can increase your circulation. The fresh air wakes up the brain and keeps it alert, which improves its memory capacity.

It may sound silly, but one way to improve memory is to surround yourself with good friends, and to maintain an active social life. A Harvard study suggests that those who had active and fulfilling social lives, showed rates of cognitive decline significantly lower than their less socially active peers.

A good tip that can help you improve your memory is to make sure that you’re keeping your stress levels in check. Too much stress has been shown to severely impair memory functions. Take some time to relax and unwind if you are looking to improve your memory.

Pay attention to your surroundings and live in the moment. The more attention you pay to what’s going on around you, the more likely you are to remember it later. You won’t be able to remember things that you never experienced. Try not to dwell on the past or future while creating new memories.

A great tip that can help you improve your memory is to review information shortly after you’ve learned it. Doing this periodically will help you recall important things. What you don’t want to do is cram. If you cram you won’t retain as much information as you want.

Now that you have these strategies, try using them every day and see how your memory improves. Chances are you’ll still remember all 50 states and you won’t know the exact number of cars that you passed on your drive home but can you remember what you had for dinner now?

Non-Medicated Treatment For Those Suffering From Memory Loss was originally published on Spring