Intellectual Wellness: Exercise for Your Mind!

So far in our intellectual wellness series, we’ve covered our emotional, physical, and occupational wellness. This week, the focus is on our minds!  Intellectual wellness often gets overlooked when considering self care.  When I ask people about their self care habits, I often hear “scrolling” or “watching Netflix” (typically with phone in hand, scrolling).  The common theme here is that a lot of times to unwind, we’re tuning into mindless habits that don’t add any value or excitement to our lives (and often times can add stress – especially if we’re scrolling through news stories or making social media comparisons).  

Intellectual wellness includes any activity that exercises the mind.  When we expand our knowledge, skills, and abilities or learn new things, our potential grows and we can experience a sense of accomplishment or fulfillment!  When we are coming from a learning perspective, we’re engaging in curiosity, expanding our repertoire, and growing as people.

While recovering from right ankle surgery, I compiled a Netflix list from others to keep myself occupied – and I got bored really quickly.  I found that there was only so much television I could watch before I started to zone out or feel really tired (even though I hadn’t done anything that day).  So, I got online and got creative.  I ordered some nonfiction books – one about the Mount Everest climb that inspired the movie Everest, another about the experiences of defectors from North Korea.  I ordered some puzzles.  I found new recipes.  I was energized!  I found that even though my body wasn’t moving (aside from using my scooter up and down the hallway), I had tons more energy and my mood was lifted.  I did still watch Netflix – but I was watching documentaries about the Everest Sherpas and other topics which really caught my interest – and the phone stayed down.  I would watch the Great British Bake-Off and then get my scooter over to the kitchen to try out new things I’d learned (my friends and family were grateful for that payout!).

Let’s check in with your intellectual wellness.  Are you open to new ideas? Do you seek to learn new skills?  Do you search for learning opportunities and stimulating mental activities?  Are you using creativity?  If the answer to any of these questions is no, now is a great time to find some new ways to stimulate your mind!

Here’s a list of ways you might start stimulating your intellectual wellness:

·      Sudoku puzzles

·      Jigsaw puzzles

·      Crossword puzzles

·      Logic puzzles

·      Reading a book (any will do!)

·      Watch a documentary

·      Take a pottery class

·      Take a cooking class

·      Buy a new cookbook and try some new recipes

·      Learn a new skill (home improvement? Sports? Art? The possibilities are endless!)

·      Research topics that inspire you

·      Anything that gets your mind going!

Engaging in intellectual wellness exercises can boost your mood, your energy, and your self confidence. Learning new skills builds a sense of self efficacy (that sense of “I can do things”) and give you conversation pieces for when you’re meeting up with friends (more on that in our social wellness post!).  It can even help improve memory and brain function!

What new ways will you engage in and nurture your intellectual wellness?