How Storytelling Affects the Brain?

Do you remember those days when your grandparents used to tell you so many stories? I till now remember those days and they were the best days.

When you tell a story, you spark a connection. That is how humans have communicated since the beginning of time by telling stories. Stories have been told since even before humans learned to read and write.

Everyday events became stories to tell children, scribes and priests told stories of religious affairs, and leaders told heroic tales of their adventures. These stories have passed on from generations to generations and some of them fill up history books, some are integral to culture, and some are embedded in family values.

Why do you need to include storytelling?

Storytelling works, whether you’re writing thoughtful long-form or Instagram captions. But why should you have to incorporate this flowery style into your writing?

A lot of people love to read stories rather than reading simple plain sentences. Moreover, stories are the best way to learn things easily and quickly. So, learn how to use storytelling skills aptly.

What are the Effects of Storytelling on Brain Health?

There have been studies that have looked at the ability to tell compelling stories as something that may have provided some survival advantage in human evolution. There have been others that have looked at the psychological and therapeutic effects of storytelling.

Perhaps most interesting in the world of longevity research, however, is the growing number of people with dementia who are benefiting from participating in group-based community storytelling, or reminiscence therapy, which is also used in treating other mental health concerns like depression.

Studies of the use of reminiscence therapy with people suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's have looked at the impact the therapy has on both cognitive function and quality of life factors like happiness and mood — both of which appear to be positively influenced by the use of directed personal and autobiographical storytelling.

How to Use Storytelling for Brain Health?

While research is going on and time is required to fully understand how reminiscence therapy may be used to benefit all ageing populations, the current data suggest that several benefits to storytelling from improved memory to better mood to better interpersonal relationships.

Unfortunately today too often we just pick up the phone to talk with someone without thinking of what we have to say. Try giving your brain a workout and strengthening your relationships by telling stories. This really helps a lot.

Why Are Stories Important?

Stories are central to human cognition and communication. We engage with others through stories, and storytelling is a lot more than just a recitation of facts and events.

As human beings, we are automatically drawn to stories because we see ourselves reflected in them. Humans inevitably interpret the meaning in stories and understand ourselves better.

But we now live in the fast-paced information age, where information, concepts, and ideas continuously bombard us from every direction. Do stories really matter to us anymore?

Yes, definitely it does matter. The Two Reasons why stories matters and will continue to be essential to human existence are:

1. Stories are universal

Every culture has stories to tell. These stories form the basis for how you think about the world and live your lives.

Stories preserve culture and pass on cultural knowledge from one generation to another.

Stories provide a timeless link to ancient traditions, legends, myths, and archetypes. But they also connect us to universal truths about yourselves and your world.

Through stories, you share passions, fears, sadness, hardships, and joys, and you find common ground with other people so that you can connect and communicate with them.

2. Stories helps to shape your perspective of the world

Everyone has a story to tell. You have yours, and if you pay close attention to your story, you will realize that your stories are collections of your experiences.

In the same way, when you hear stories, you come to realize that you share the same fundamental experiences as others, and yet your experiences differ from each other because everyone has a different perspective and one thing is for sure that you should respect each other's perspectives.

Stories help you to explain everything in your experience from science to relationships, from feelings to memories, and from questions to objections.

And with every story you hear, read, or listen, your mind makes cognitive and emotional connections that shape your perspective of the world.

So, these are the most important reasons to why stories are important.

How to create better stories?

If you want to make an interesting story then here are the ways:

1. Suspense works so well

Suspense in stories really allows you to create an addictive narrative, as long as the suspense appears early enough to capture interest, and doesn’t keep people hanging on forever.

2. Characters

Before you start writing the story, please do know your characters well. Your main character should be someone readers can feel something in common with, or at least care about.

You don’t have to describe a character completely. It’s enough to say one or two things about how a character looks or moves or speaks. Make the character relatable as much as possible.

3. Setting

Set your story in a place and time that will be interesting.

4. Style and Tone

You don’t have to write fancy to write well. It rarely hurts to use simple words and simple sentences. That way, your writing is easy to read and understand.

Always use the best possible word—the one that is closest to your meaning, sounds best, and creates the clearest image.

CONCLUSION

The art of storytelling has long been a respected skill and an important tradition in many cultures. Over the course of history, community elders and their stories have been regarded as a treasure trove of society's knowledge, history, and wisdom. Older members of a community were encouraged to share their stories with younger generations, keeping the oral tradition alive.

Today, medical and social science researchers are interested in more than just the importance of storytelling as a means of teaching and entertaining, but also cognitive health. So, storytelling is pure magic.

A few months back I did a podcast with the great Storyteller. You can hear both of us. Happy listening.

Podcast links

Spotify:- https://spoti.fi/2TEn5dL

Apple Podcast:- https://apple.co/3oEcSwj

Google Podcast :- https://bit.ly/31Y46iZ

Thank you for reading it till the end. Hope you found this blog post helpful.

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