Memory problems are often associated with the onset of old age, but faulty recall can affect people at more or less every stage of life.
Even the most physically fit, intelligent, organized people can go through periods where it seems like they are unable to retain any information, or call up knowledge learned several months or years previously.
Of course, treatments to improve memory problems are abound.
These can include special mental exercises and (complete with instructional videos) and diets, which may be useful and effective.
However, they may be quite bothersome, and especially in the case of diets, might cause unwelcome side effects.
Breathing is instinctual and natural.
However, the very "unlearned" nature of breathing often means that people develop less-than-optimal breathing habits.
They end up breathing very shallowly, for example, or do not exhale long enough to get rid of the carbon dioxide which is the poisonous waste of metabolic processes.
It turns out that proper-or improper-breathing habits have a significant effect on memory.
Out of all our bodily organs, the brain is one of the parts that expends the most oxygen.
Therefore, a great deal of oxygen in blood going to the brain will boost memory and other mental functions.
Taking deep, regular breaths also has an overall relaxing effect on the body, which aids in memorization tasks.
Better breathing or conscious breathing can make another, more indirect contribution to helping memory problems.
It can lead to better, deeper sleep every night, which allows the memory centers of your brain more time to develop and form connections.
Of course, a well-rested brain is also more likely to be focused and alert during waking hours, which means that you will be better able to retrieve stored information, and be less subject to "tip of the tongue" syndrome.
Relaxation breathing techniques developed by yogis tend to improve a certain type of memory called spatial memory.
This is the kind of memory that allows you to learn your way around new cities quickly, or remember where you have placed important belongings.
Here's an example: Hold one nostril closed.
Inhale air quickly through the open nostril.
(Your inhalation should be about a couple of seconds long.
) Hold your breath for eight seconds, then open your closed nostril (while closing the other one) and release the air over four seconds.
This exercise might sound a little strange, but some people who have practiced it regularly seem to have improved their spatial memory.
Of course, getting used to "better" breathing patterns can be a bit challenging, at first.
You might find the exercises tedious, silly or even difficult.
This is why many people who practice breathing exercises gradually build up their routine, starting with short exercises, then doing more and more repetitions over a period of several weeks.
Even so, the benefits of better breathing patterns are well worth the effort.
Hopefully, these improved patterns will become our new instinctual breathing.
People who get accustomed to these patterns will use them more or less automatically, even in their sleep.