School has started again everywhere, and universities will soon be starting lectures. In the past, parents, pupils and students were concerned about memory and learning ability at this time, but now there is a new dimension. More than ever, it is also about having a strong immune system and being able to control anxiety and depressive moods, which have massively increased among young people due to the Corona pandemic.

The current situation is not only difficult for pupils and students. All teachers, professors and educators are faced with extremely unusual and difficult tasks that challenge them completely.

As the 'science of life', Maharishi Ayurveda offers many ways to improve memory, stamina, mood and immunity.

Memory

All learners are expected to increase their knowledge. For this, a good memory is necessary. The Ayurvedic texts describe three aspects of memory (medhya) called Dhi, Dhriti and Smriti. Dhi is the intellect that distinguishes the important from the unimportant. It is responsible for the efficient assimilation of new information. This new knowledge must be well preserved in our mind-body system. This is what "dhriti" is responsible for. The ability to recall the right information at the right time is called smriti. The interaction of these three factors results in good memory and wisdom (medhya).

According to Ayurveda, every person has the ability to improve Medhya. The meaning of Medhya also includes the purity of a personality. Those who are constantly preoccupied with negativity or who live an impure lifestyle from an Ayurvedic point of view will also have to accept a reduction in their memory.

According to Ayurveda, the quality of our memory does not only depend on the fact that we deal with information, but also very much on keeping the container for memory, body and brain, fit through proper nutrition and a suitable bio-rhythm.

Rest breaks

Every pupil, student and teacher has experienced how beneficial the holidays are. The stress level has dropped, the burdens of the last school year have been dealt with. There is room for new things on the brain's "hard drive".

After each phase of absorbing new information, a rest phase is necessary in which this information is processed and assimilated. This works in exactly the same way as muscle building: training stimulates growth in the muscles, but muscle growth takes place in the breaks between training units. That is why the law of rest and activity is also crucial for the growth of knowledge. In order for new knowledge to be consolidated, rest breaks are absolutely necessary.

The art of the pause

Human bio-rhythms run at 90-minute intervals. At school, this is taken into account by taking breaks between lessons. These are also necessary for learning units at home. If you are sedentary, it is ideal to have some physical activity during the break. Even a few steps, squats, push-ups or ball touches are enough to give the learning brain the break it needs. Such exercise breaks should be inserted between learning units every 45 to 90 minutes at the most.

Just as important as these short breaks are longer breaks for (Transcendental) ;Meditation, meals and sufficient night sleep.

Avoid disturbances

From the Ayurvedic perspective, it is important for the learning process that attention is not divided. Ideal for this is a quiet environment where there are not too many distractions. Music as background noise should therefore be avoided at all costs during learning. During study breaks, short periods of physical activity are much better than computer games, television or social media engagement. This puts additional strain on the brain and makes it much harder to process the information that is "fed" to it during learning.

Summary

Good memory is not necessarily innate. It can be fostered through the right lifestyle with sufficient breaks and a suitable diet with avoidance of snacks and sugar in excess.

The products of the month September 2022 are suitable to strengthen memory, inner peace and nervous power.

In Part 2, you will read how anxiety and stress can be reduced and the immune system strengthened. Ayurvedic and orthomolecular food supplements can be an additional support