Mental state — get your mind ready for learning#
The last learning state layer, mental state, deals with the mind. The inner state layers (cell and physical) influence the mind and its workings, however this layer is also influenced by our own thoughts. Six key contributors to good mental state are:
- General mental health . Good mental health supports learning performance. Stress and Depression are prevalent today and have a harmful effect.
- Mental fitness . Like physical fitness, mental fitness benefits the whole brain. You can develop mental fitness through mental exercises and other activities.
- Mental relaxation . Mental relaxation also plays a role in supporting good mental performance.
- Attention and concentration . If you concentrate and pay attention when you learn, your content has a much better chance of making it into your long-term memory.
- Positive mental attitude . Your self-image influences your memory and learning performance. You can alter your self-image through self-talk.
- Clear, desirable and achievable goals . If you don’t believe in the direction your learning is taking you, it’s unlikely you can sustain good learning performance.
General Mental Health #
Like good physical health, good mental health contributes to good learning performance. This section covers:
- General activities that contribute to good mental health.
- Disorders that can negatively impact learning, such as anxiety disorders, Attention Deficit disorders, Borderline Personality Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive disorders, Panic Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Schizophrenia, and Phobias.
- More information on the two most prevalent mental health issues in the western world today — excessive stress and depression.
- For stress — how stress impacts learning because of cortisol, and its long term impact on the hippocampus
- For depression — how a lack of a key neurotransmitter called serotonin impacts learning.
Read about General mental health .
Mental Fitness #
You can improve your memory and learning performance if you improve your overall mental fitness. This section covers:
- A comparison of mental fitness to physical fitness.
- Details on specific exercises that can improve your mental fitness, including Neurobics, Music, Signing, games and puzzles (such as “concentration”), software (eg IQ builder, MindGym, Brain Builder), and travel.
- More exercises include: Learn another language, develop your social networks, do volunteer work, read more widely, try a new hobby, get creative — learn to write, draw, or paint; learn photography, change careers, or learn to fly!
Read about Mental fitness .
Mental Relaxation #
The primary purpose of mental relaxation, for learning, is to control stress. This section covers:
- Mental relaxation and its role in controlling stress.
- Further information to dispel the “highly accelerated learning through relaxation” and “classical music” learning myths.
- The best times to use relaxation.
- Details on some common mental relaxation techniques, such as meditation, guided imagery, music, and anchoring.
- Using these techniques with physical relaxation techniques
- The impact of stress, fear and nervousness on learning, and using relaxation to control it.
Read about Mental relaxation .
Attention and Concentration #
Attention and concentration are fundamental to learning and memorizing. This section covers:
- The need for attention and concentration during learning.
- The influence of other Memletic State principles on attention and concentration.
- Short term and longer term exercises to improve attention and concentration.
- Short term techniques such as “be here now”, the spider approach, paragraph marking, distraction logs, topic switching, and interactivity.
- Longer term techniques such as games, meditation and other exercises. Also includes important information on expensive memory and concentration improvement software.
- Specific information on how the environment impacts your concentration. How to reduce distractions from sources such as friends, family and colleagues, electrical noise, and peripheral vision. Where to sit in a library, and how to train yourself to better handle distractions.
Read about Attention and concentration .
Positive mental attitude #
Our beliefs significantly influence how well we learn and remember. This section covers:
- How your self-image interacts with two other parts our mental attitude — Self-Talk and Self-Esteem.
- How to change your self-image via changing your self-talk.
- Specific information on using assertions, mental firewalls and anchoring to help change your self-talk.
Read about Positive mental attitude .
Clear, Desirable and Achievable Goals #
A clear, desirable and achievable goal is important for good learning state. This section covers:
- The role that clear, desirable and achievable goals play in learning.
- Key ways to highlight your goals, such as writing objectives, setting rewards and using images (such as photographs).
- (More information is in Memletic Approach).
Read about Clear, desirable and achievable goals .