Try these mental simulations to improve skills:
- Pick an activity you want to get better at, like public speaking or a sport. Choose something you’ll do soon. It could be anything that involves movement, even small ones like facial expressions or hand gestures during a meeting.
- In your mind, vividly imagine doing this activity. Include every detail, even the pauses. Do this mental practice for 5-10 minutes, 2-3 times daily. The time may vary based on the activity’s complexity.
- After a few days of this mental rehearsal, perform the activity in real life.
Some examples:
- For musicians: Imagine the finger movements or breathing techniques needed for instruments like the saxophone or trumpet.
- For public speaking: Visualise walking to the podium, waiting for the audience to quiet down, and then starting your speech.
- For sports: Mentally practice the physical movements, whether it’s lifting weights or running.
This exercise can enhance various aspects of brain health by reducing stress when the activity is carried out for real, improving procedural memory, that is, remembering the different steps of an activity, and even building up some muscle mass for mental simulations that involve imagining movement.
