Some of you might have already heard about the concept of 'mental integration'. This is sometimes used by the trainer at the end of a training day to bring participants into a state of meditation and focus. The goal is to help the brain remember more sustainably what has been learned throughout the day by recapping the contents but also by connecting the contents to positive feelings.
The way how it works is that the participants close their eyes and relax while the trainer slowly and verbally walks them through the day, starting with the arrival in the morning and then continuing in a story-telling mode. He/she also asks for significant feelings and individual perceptions of all 5 senses: 'Remember how you arrived here in the morning. What did you feel like? What was on your mind? …'.
This is how you can do it even if you are on your own:
Sit down in a comfortable position.
Take three slow and deeps breaths.
Mentally go back to the beginning of your learning session.
Then slowly move through the session and mentally recap what you experienced. Maybe you were on your own, maybe with other people: 'We started looking at the concept xyz, then we went into a breakout session with person xyz ….'
While doing that ask yourself: 'Which feelings did I have throughout the day? What did I hear, taste, see etc.?
Once you have arrived at the end, take three slow and deep breaths and slowly open your eyes.
If you need some mental reminders of the day and there is no one to guide you through, you can also place the agenda of the training in front of you and look at it from time to time. Just make sure it's not only a cognitive exercise but also an emotional one.
Try it out next time!
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