The 365 Commitment

Memorization as Meditiation

I decided to jump into memory again this year. I have relearning my 100 room Method of Loci Mind Map. Gives me about 30 minutes a day to completely not think of anything else except for this map in my brain where I store information. I had an experience today that caught me by surprise in relation to this memory methodology. My running is suffering lately due to a problem with my hips. As it turns out my hips have developed some small tears in the tendons holding the hip joint together. On top of that some calcium deposits, which are probably the ones causing me the pain. Anyway, I had to get an MRI today to see just how bad it is.

If you have not experienced an MRI, then you will not understand. It is a person with claustrophobia’s nightmare. Tightly squeezed into a long tunnel and then to have a bunch of sounds blazing at you for 30 minutes. Try not to panic. I have a high tolerance for discomfort, but even then after 10 minutes you start to feel that panic rise. We humans just do not like confinement. So I decided to meditate to ease the panic.

Then it occurred to me. Why not go through my entire memory map, room by room, until I got through all 100 rooms? Slowly I did so and slowly the panic feeling went a way. Then I found myself in a trance barely aware of the surroundings and my mind map became very vivid to me. I believe that I was actually and truly in a meditation state. I had no idea that recounting a long series of memorized numbers, people and places was a tool that could be used for relaxation.

Guy

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