I am a student. Before two three years whatever I was trying to memorize that was easy for me, but now a days I became absent minded. Whenever I try to read and open a book my mind is absent. Means physically I am present and reading a book but mentally absent. Please help me out! What should I do?

Ms. Juhi ParasharPsychologist4yrs exp

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Hi lybrate-user, you need few lifestyle changes, do the following and include in your schedule: exercise regularly. Targeted exercise goes a long way toward freeing your body of stress hormones and increasing your endorphin levels - responsible for feelings of happiness. Carve out time during your busy day to exercise to both keep your body healthy and as a natural outlet for your stress. You should notice the difference get enough sleep. Give your body the sleep it wants, and your stress levels will take a nosedive. Sleep is a mechanism by which your body recuperates and restores its energy reserves. If you're not getting enough sleep, your body will use stress to keep you active and alert in the absence of stored energy. Most adults need at least 7-8 hours of sleep per night. Young children and older adults need more, about 9-10 hours of sleep per night. Eat properly. Your body needs to be healthy, strong, happy and properly fueled to help you tackle stress. Like it or not, stress is a bodily reaction to anything that disturbs its natural state, meaning that your body can have a profound effect on producing and relieving stress. Water has been shown to relieve stress. That's because a dehydrated body creates cortisol, a stress hormone. An under-hydrated body creates stress to motivate the owner of the body to properly care for him/herself. Start decreasing caffeine and alcohol intake. In some cases, alcohol intake increases stress response in humans while being linked to substance dependency, a stressful condition itself. Caffeine is also responsible for raising stress levels, especially at work, so try to stick to water as a general rule. Eat a healthy breakfast and healthy snacks during the day. It is better to eat several smaller meals throughout the day than to consume three large meals. For a healthy stress-free diet, consume more complex carbohydrates such as whole-grain breads and pasta, foods high in vitamin a such as oranges, foods high in magnesium like spinach, soybeans or salmon, and black and green tea, which contain antioxidants. Practice yoga and meditation. Although you could technically consider yoga your daily exercise, practicing the deep stretches and slow body movements will help you to clear your mind. Meditating - clearing your mind - while practicing gentle yoga will give double the relaxation effect to ease your stress. Use guided imagery to imagine a place that makes you feel at peace. Imagine somewhere that you feel happy; focus on the details to fully remove your mind from the present. Do yoga alone or in a group setting to help you learn new poses. As you advance in your yoga, you will be able to form complex stretches that force you to focus and take your mind off your stress. Practice deep relaxation by doing progressive muscle relaxation. This is when you work through your body by tensing your muscles, holding the tension for ten seconds, and then releasing it. This will soften and relieve all the muscles in your body. Do the following exercise for improving concentration: exercise 1: sitting still in a chair sit in a comfortable chair and see how still you can keep. This is not as easy as it seems. You will have to center your attention on sitting still. Watch and see that you are not making any involuntary muscular movements. By a little practice you will find you are able to sit still without a movement of the muscles for fifteen minutes. At first I advise sitting in a relaxed position for five minutes. After you are able to keep perfectly still, increase the time to ten minutes and then to fifteen. This is as long as it is necessary. But never strain yourself to keep still. You must be relaxed completely. You will find this habit of relaxing is very good. Exercise 2: fix gaze on fingers sit in a chair with your head up and your chin out, shoulders back. Raise your right arm until it is on the level with your shoulder, pointing to your right. Look around, with head only, and fix your gaze on your fingers, and keep the arm perfectly still for one minute. Do the same exercise with your left arm. When you are able to keep the arm perfectly steady, increase the time until you are able to do this five minutes with each arm. Turn the palm of the hand downward when it is outstretched, as this is the easiest position. If you will keep your eyes fixed on the tips of the fingers you will be able to tell if you are keeping your arm perfectly still. Exercise 3: watch concentration sit in a chair and place a clock with a second hand on the table. Follow the second hand with your eyes as it goes around. Keep this up for five minutes, thinking of nothing else but the second hand, this is a very good exercise when you only have a few minutes to spare, if you are able to keep every other thought in the stream of consciousness subordinate to it. As there is little that is particularly interesting about the second hand, it is hard to do this, but in the extra effort of will power required to make it successful lies its value. Always try to keep as still as possible during these exercises. All the best. 

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