Enhance Cognition Through the Ancient Art of Storytelling

Didn’t we just love it when our parents and grandparents used to tell us stories? Including stories of angels, demons, folklore, their own and other’s life? And we would just want to keep listening to it. Be it day or a bedtime story, we just loved it and couldn’t get enough of it. Slowly we all grew up and now gone are those good old days. As we are progressing materialistically, we find ourselves busy and not able to find enough time for ourselves and for our family.

As a result we are also slowly losing many traditions due to this. Storytelling is an art that has been practiced for centuries. In many cultures and subcultures, storytelling is considered as artistic and is quite respected. But as we can see now, even this art has been getting lost in time. We don’t have enough time in our daily lives to spend those quality moments with original storytellers – our grandparents.

We all love it and think that we are enjoying and benefiting from all this storytelling, but have we ever thought about what and how it impacts the one who is one the other side of the storytelling, on the storytellers? Recent studies have shown that storytelling is quite beneficial for storytellers, it affects and enhances cognitive health too. Yes, not only the listeners enjoy and learn funny things about the teller’s lives but here the person who is most gaining, is the teller. What are these benefits? Have a look.

Enhancing Cognition

How does storytelling enhance cognitive abilities?

A lot of studies were conducted on elderly people, many of them were done with the goal to determine the aging factors and what can help slow down the process. Some studies were based on adaptive and survival aspects of human nature. It was found out that people who were involved in group activities like storytelling and activities which involved remembering old memories and creativity were more likely to cope better with depression and various diseases.

This process of storytelling and creative reminiscing was then used as a therapeutic method to help elderly people and it was found out that elderly people who were suffering from dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and other mental disorders, were positively affected when compared to others. It was also found out that people who were put in therapy had also improved their cognitive abilities as compared to before.

How to do it

Here are some tips and suggestions for you to start. You can also start enjoying these benefits of storytelling. You just need to keep these things in mind.

1. Practice:

As mentioned before, storytelling is an art and to become better at creating art, one needs to practice. A lot of practice. Even though you just need to recreate the past incidents in your words, to put it creatively, is what you need to practice.

2. Avoid Distractions:

If you are going to put in unnecessary words then there is a high possibility that the person listening will slowly lose the interest and won’t engage then.

3. Detailing is a must:

You know what scene it was, the listener doesn’t. So until and unless you have a way with the words, the story won’t be effective. You need to put in details of people involved, characteristics, places nearby, etc.

4. Project emotions:

Projecting emotions is what makes a good story impactful. If you have an idea to convey but if it doesn’t resonate with the audience, then the impact may not be that powerful.

5. Be excited:

You want your audience to be excited about the story you are about to convey to them. For that to happen you will have to be excited to tell the story in the first place. Your passion and energy through which you are going to express should be exciting.

Try it

You can use this powerful tool too. Storytellers not only enjoy enhanced cognitive abilities but also have better interpersonal skills and strong memory. So whenever you pick up a phone from your friend or family member, do not just hang up. Talk, take some time and put a bit of strain on your memory and let out those words and stories creatively. It will not only engage them but will help you as well. Everyone starts as a beginner before they become good at it.

Hope it helps!

Thanks for reading!

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