Mind Wandering - The Less Trod Path to Creativity, Productivity and Calm
Child Cloud Gazing - source: https:::www.fluidphysio.com.au:.png
What seems intuitively obvious is backed by data: daydreaming with a wandering mind is conducive to creativity, emotional balance, problem solving, and even productivity. In April 4, 2022 Washington Post article, “Here’s why you should let your mind wander — and how to set it free,” journalist Pam Moore consolidates recent research that gives us all an incentive to let our minds wander.
A Few Excerpts:
“According to Moshe Bar, a professor of neuroscience at Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv and the author of “Mindwandering: How Your Constant Mental Drift Can Improve Your Mood and Boost Your Creativity,” mind-wandering is essential to creativity and problem-solving. “This is how good ideas are born,” he said. When we reflect on memories, imagine what could have happened or how a certain scenario could play out in the future, our brains store this information the same way they do a real experience. And just as our experiences inform our future decisions and ideas, so can these simulations, Bar said.”
“Experiments that Bar and his colleagues conducted suggest that the less stressed we are, the further our minds can roam. The experiments also suggest that, in the absence of significant cognitive demands, original thinking is our “default setting.”
When subjects were given a free-association task while being asked simultaneously to perform cognitive tasks of varying levels of difficulty, there was an inverse relationship between mental load and the creativity of their responses. For example, those who had to memorize seven digits gave more predictable responses, while those who had to memorize two digits responded more creatively...”
“Because mind-wandering promotes creativity, it can also have a positive effect on mood....
On the other hand, when your mind maintains a more narrow focus between similar thoughts, mind-wandering becomes rumination....
The high value society places on productivity means we often keep working, even when we notice ourselves slowing down or making mistakes. But by preventing such issues, taking breaks might make us more productive. Meanwhile, Dane points out that, if our minds never strayed from the current task, we wouldn’t remember the other tasks we need to complete. Research shows a link between mind-wandering and the fulfillment of goals.”
There are many entrees to the unstructured path:
Avoid multitasking.
Put your phone down.
Engage your hands.
Let go of goals.
Make a (gentle) commitment to the practice.
Of course, my favorite is an Awareness Through Movement® lesson. It is the ideal blend of body connection, directed movement, curiosity, and play with just enough structure to guide the mind away from unhealthy rumination. Make a commitment to wandering and practice ATM.