A blindfold can improve memory and imagination

Last night there was a power failure in my neighborhood. I was writing some emails on my desktop computer when all of sudden the power went down. Total darkness followed. And because the hour was pretty late (3 in the morning) I decided not to wait until the power comes back and I have gone to sleep.

But getting to sleep meant getting to the bedroom, and even though I don’t live in a huge apartment, getting from one room to another can be a tricky business if the visual sense can’t help.

I managed to reach the bedroom without too much trouble, but stumbling around in the darkness, without any visual sense of direction, has been a challenge…

We all know that our brain gets rusty if we don’t challenge it too often. If you, like me, aren’t too fond of geeky sudoku or crossword puzzles, you should want to mix up your daily routines and make a challenge out of ordinary things.

Challenge your brain (one way of doing it)

My late night stumbling through the house challenged my memory and imagination. Also, in the absence of any visual cues, the rest of my senses were sharper.

“Dennis Hendrick, a stone mason, sometime ago, for a wager of ten guineas, walked from the Exchange in Liverpool, along Deal-street to the corner of Byrom-street; being a distance of three quarters of a mile, blindfolded and rolling a coach wheel. On starting, there were two plasters of Burgundy pitch put on his eyes and a handkerchief tied over them to prevent all possibility of his seeing. He started precisely at half past seven in the morning and completed his undertaking at twenty minutes past eight, being in fifty minutes.” – Curiosities for the Ingenious, 1825

It may sound a little silly, but doing usual things while blindfolded is an extremely powerful workout exercise for your memory, imagination and senses.

So here’s one exercise you can do. Dress yourself up with your eyes closed. Just set everything on the dresser and accomplish it without having a single look. Not only does this will train your other senses to function without the sense of sight, but it will also prompt your mind to operate based on your memory of where everything is and how each article of clothing functions. Try it out and you might find that buttoning a shirt or blouse can be a real challenge without the aid of sight.

Need more exercises? Try doing all your daily activities blindfolded – not necessarily all in the same day. Also, sports like chess are very challenging when playing blindfolded.

During the first few exercises you’ll probably have a black image in your mind and you’ll feel very disoriented, but as you keep doing it you’ll find that your imagination will get to a level where you can “see” what you are doing without actually seeing it.

Sounds interesting? Well, that’s because it really is! Just try it!

NOTE: Activities that rely heavily on your sense of vision and are potentially dangerous are not to be done blindfolded.