Elizabeth first contacted MBF with regards to the culture and respect of older people within society in Australia and how it varied to the respect she receives when travelling abroad, in particular Japan.
During conversation we learnt that Elizabeth, at 74, is a gym junkie, in great shape, has a small loving supportive family, a 4 year old granddaughter who lights up her life and a love of good food, cooking and gardening.
Further conversation led to the discovery that Elizabeth is a practising brain coach in Adelaide and believes
good food + brain fitness = good health + good memory
Good food is the best medicine.
We are delighted to have Elizabeth share her four secrets of memory this month in recognition of Dementia week.
Memory matters – 4 secrets to memory
1. 100% motivation + 100% attention
- be interested in everything
- quieten that little voice in your head talking to you and distracting your attention
- “what little voice? “= the one that just said “what little voice does she mean?”
2. Use it or lose it
- repeat repeat repeat repeat repeat 5 x what you want to remember asap
- write it down …Chinese proverb says “ the palest ink is stronger than the best memory”
- brain fitness = memory fitness = exercise daily
3. Relax to retrieve
- can’t find your house/car keys? firstly …..
- stop panicking about locating keys – think about something else and you will find keys
- solution = keep keys in 3 places only – car, house door, purse
4. Self confidence
- skills + work = confidence
- skills = visualising/picturing with 5 senses …use coloured pens for writing
- work = work …work …work …work…work…at what you want to remember
e.g. Nature + the orange tree work 24/7 to produce juicy oranges
Memory myths
- Writing things down to remember = memory fading. Writing it down = smart memory skill
- Memory weakens with age…..“brain fitness” = memory fitness