Massage Your Ears!

Memory listening ear massage--in the Brain Gym pedagogy it's called “The Thinking Cap”--is a simple self-massage technique that stimulates over 400 acupuncture points in the ears. By simply massaging your ears from top to bottom using your thumbs and pointer fingers, you access all of these points in just a few seconds.

Ear massage is especially helpful for people who frequently feel over-stimulated by too many sounds and need help in discerning distressing or irrelevant sounds from relevant ones. This technique is also known to help with short-term memory; to relax the cranial bones, jaw, tongue, and face muscles; and to improve hearing and concentration.

I find this exercise to be especially helpful when I need to listen more clearly, concentrate more acutely, or to relax my jaw. When I give massage to those who describe neck or jaw pain, I almost always incorporate ear massage, for I find that it opens the jaw, softens the face, and even loosens tight neck muscles.

Try this: During your next long meeting or class, when you feel you are about to fade out, give your ears a little attention. Massage each ear for 20-30 seconds. Let me know how it works!