Since parents are the best teachers, the art of storytelling has long been a respected ability and an essential tradition in many cultures. Community elders have long been considered as treasure troves of society’s knowledge, wisdom, and history – but it turns out that they also played another important role: teaching younger generations about their culture through stories that were more than just entertainment or education. Today, we know that this isn’t enough; medical research now shows that these lessons can improve cognitive health by allowing us to form social connections with others and teaching our brains new information through different senses (such as sight), all while assisting us in maintaining emotional stability during stressful times.
The Benefits of Storytelling for Brain Health
A increasing number of people with dementia are reaping the benefits of group-based community storytelling, often known as recollection therapy.
Studies on the effects of recollection therapy on people with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease have looked at how it affects both cognitive function and quality-of-life characteristics like happiness and mood — in fact, guided personal tales have a favourable impact on these.
Reminiscing and story-telling advice
Getting pumped: You’re in for a treat! Storytelling is all about sharing your excitement with your audience and then sharing it with the rest of the world. When you’re getting ready to share a storey, get enthusiastic by browsing over old images or videos of yourself, as well as written memories from a simpler time.
Smile frequently, even if you’re delivering an emotional storey that doesn’t appear to be amusing at first, because people can hear you smiling on the other end of the line, and smiles are contagious, so they’ll want one too! You should enjoy storytelling again and be enthusiastic while executing this skillful activity – make sure to warm up before going live so that everyone learns something new that will help them grow as people!”
Practice: Every morning, choose one storey to be your tale for the day. You’ll have a ready-made topic of conversation when someone calls or comes over, and they can’t wait to hear it! Keep them succinct and to-the-point, with enough of detail, so people will want to return tomorrow…and next week…
The more details presented, such as what clothes were worn by whom, how they moved around in their environment (or didn’t), and felt tones, the more information listeners gain about themselves while also enticing them into other realms/worlds where everything is possible.”
In my day-to-day existence, I’d say I’ve never been one to be overly friendly with strangers, but there’s always some exception. It started with the Petco checker and finished with a mailman who was just doing his job – there’s nothing wrong with engaging in small talk every now and then when you’re feeling like your “old self.”
It all started as usual: carrying two lively kids by each arm through the front door of our neighbourhood pet store (we’ll call them ‘Petco’) while attempting not to drop anything or take their eyes off what they were looking at on every particular aisle. I heard someone behind us as we neared the checkout counter.
