Yoga and Memory – Development at the Mental LevelYoga and memory are closely interlinked and development at the mental level through Yoga therapy is growing day by day.
The mind being a collection of thoughts, unrelated thoughts and ideas plus a disorganized mind-set is the starting point of descent. The first rung in attaining mastery over one’s mind is to steadily, methodically and thoroughly train it. This is done with a view to cultivate the power of concentration on a given subject.
All man’s thoughts are chanelized through the process of concentration. This is the job of the intellect. The next thing to do is focus one’s mind on a single thought.
This, in Yoga therapy is called Dharana and effortless Dharana becomes meditation, Dhyana. All the 3 stages, Dharana, Dhyana and together with the next step Samadhi help cultivate better memory. According to Yoga, there is an essential difference between memory development methods in the intellectual and mental levels. At the intellectual level, understanding becomes the key to memory. At the mental level, memorization happens by remaining with a single thought through repetition of the same thought over and over again. This is done through the relaxed, effortless process of dhyana. A person can enter into Samadhi of one’s own accord, or develop a photographic memory as the end result. In Superconsciousness comes the process of what is called Sanyama by which one is able to unravel that knowledge which is hidden deep within the subtler layers of one’s memory. Yoga therapy techniques include various ways of meditating. Some of these are Transcendental meditation, OM Meditation, Yoga Nidra and Trataka. All these help in Dharana and Dhyana that lead up to Samadhi. Yoga therapy has also come up with a set of games and songs that help enhance the memory at these levels. Breathing exercises (pranayama) are also widely used to cultivate a better memory. Some of them include, Kapalabhati, sectional breathing and other sorts of breathing exercises that help improve memory. |
