30 Days to a More Powerful Memory

Chapter 25. Body Language

You may have heard the old song about “dem bones”—the leg bone’s connected to the thigh bone, the thigh bone’s connected to the hip bone, the hip bone’s connected to the . . . and so on, until you end up with the head bone. Well, the body system for remembering short lists is something like that. You start with your foot and go up your body until you come to the hair on your head (or your bald pate if you don’t have any hair). Or you could go in the opposite direction, starting with your head. It’s essentially a number system, except you use your body—preferably for up to 10 items, though you could add more to your list by adding more body parts.

As in other association systems, you simply associate strong visual images ...