When working with my dementia clients and advising loved ones and carers of those meeting the every day challenge this brings the subject of memory triggers often comes up. The mind is an amazing storage system and the simplest of things can unlock a valuable or cherished memory

Any of our senses can transport us back to a memory and a time in our life and this may be hearing a piece of particular music or, perhaps,  the smell of a particular flower or a favourite childhood dinner. Our dementia hub members really enjoyed a musical quiz recently and had a good old singalong to boot!

Indeed this happened to me only this week, a belated birthday gift was some  hand cream and a brand I hadn’t seen for sometime – I remembered as a child seeing my mother’s jar in the kitchen. Not one for wearing gloves she kept it handy and always said:

‘I keep my cream in the kitchen for after I’ve washed up to remember to be kind to my hands.’ – On reflection what a great idea and I am going to do the same mum!

These simple memories all help us keep our loved ones alive and taking a moment in a busy day to be mindful and reflective never does any of us any harm…in fact I thoroughly recommend it. 

This post is for Peter who shared a musical memory earlier this week.