Blog Archives

All work and no play....

1/31/2016

Think about the early days of your childhood. If I ask you to recall your favorite memories, do you think of time spent playing with blocks, climbing trees, pretending to be ____, jumping in leaves, riding your bike, swinging, chasing others, coloring, trying different sports with neighbor kids, sled riding, trying new instruments, doing cannonballs in a pool, building forts, playing cards or board games, catching critters, and so on? What emotions bubble to the surface as you think back on your days of playing? My guess is these memories trigger the positive emotions you felt while doing the activities. My question to you is do you still actively engage in free play as an adult? If yes, I'm impressed. If no, my goal is to encourage you to get back to your roots of happiness.

When I lived in Texas, which I found particularly difficult, I ran to a playground several times a week. I reintroduced swinging, climbing, jumping, and chasing into my world again. In Munich, I rediscovered the pure joy of riding my bicycle. I was fortunate to know some musicians in Tokyo so I spent many nights singing along with friends. While I was in Dhaka, I played a lot of tennis. What I loved on the weekend, though, was goofing around in the pool after we finished our tennis group. I also had a weekly Pictionary night with a few close friends. Now I find myself on a beautiful island where I can run, bike, and swim, but at least once a week when I do interval training, I skip. You can imagine how ridiculous I look but I'm convinced that you can't stay in a bad mood when you skip. I'm also fortunate to have a little one so I find myself on the floor building with blocks, talking and singing in funny voices, reading silly books, splashing in water, you name it. I'm a very big believer in being a kid at heart and now there is research to back this thinking.

Benefits of play include:
Stress relief
Boost in creativity, imagination, and problem-solving
Improved connections to others
Boosts in energy, vitality, and resistance to disease
Improved sleep
Release of negative emotions
(Patterson, 2011) and (Robinson,Smith, & Segal, 2016)

Benefits of experiencing positive emotions:
More resilient
Increased productivity, activity, and creativity
Improved overall health
More likeable and friendly
Increased helpfulness
Perceive life as more meaningful
(Lyubomirsky, 2008)

I consider myself lucky in that I had role model parents who believed in playing as part of their self-care. My dad was boxing and my mom was bowling and both were sled riding and playing ball in the yard with their grandkids at 70+. I'll leave you with this lovely quote by George Bernard Shaw because it's time for you to get back to being playful.
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."

Lyubomirsky, Sonja. The How of Happiness. New York: Penguin, 2008. Print.
Patterson, Cheryl. "Adult Play. Have a Healthy Dose of Fun." Alive.com. 29 Sept 2011. Web.29 Jan 2016.
Robinson, Smith, & Segal. "The Benefit of Play for Adults." HelpGuide.org. Jan 2016. Web. 29 Jan 2016.
(Photos are mine.)

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Awe, Nature, and Exercise

1/11/2016

Comments

I'm going to throw a challenge your way and the challenge involves combining exercise, nature, and awe into your self care practice. I'll start by sharing the basics for how each improves your mental health.

Awe is the positive emotion you experience when you suddenly feel like a small speck in the universe. Think about the goosebumps you get standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon, looking over the vast Indian Ocean, or riding your bicycle surrounded by the Tirol mountains. Awe might happen while being somewhere in nature; observing a mind blowing piece of art or architecture; listening to someone's theories, musical compositions, or inspirational speeches; or sensing a divine intervention. Researchers are finding that beyond the benefits of experiencing positive emotions, experiencing awe lowers cytokine levels. Why is this important for you to know? Elevated levels of cytokine are common in people with depression. The increased cytokine levels block the release of serotonin and dopamine, which help regulate moods, appetite, memory, and sleep (Anwar, 2015). Experiencing awe is natural mood booster, as I'm sure you've experienced.

Doctors are recognizing the benefits of nature to the point where some are writing prescriptions for patients to get outside. Beyond physical health benefits, nature is proven to:

reduce feelings of anger, stress, anxiety and fear
increase pleasant feelings
help us tolerate pain
give us a sense of calm and balance
inspire feelings of connection (activates the love and empathy parts of the brain)
make us feel alive
refresh our minds for new tasks
improve our focus (Meadows, 2014).

(Thank you, Erica, for sharing this funny clip with me.)

Moderate exercise is where you increase your heart rate while maintaining the ability to talk to an exercise buddy. Moderate exercise, like walking briskly, is better than intense exercise if you are struggling with your mood. The mental health benefits include the release of dopamine and serotonin, stimulation of other chemicals that promote growth of new brain cells, and reducing negative changes in the brain caused by stress (Taylor, 2012). There is strong evidence that moderately active people are less depressed than inactive people and therapists are now recommended to get inactive clients moving.
One key when starting out is to ensure that you do remember to exercise moderately because getting above the point where you can talk to someone means your mood enhancing benefits are delayed by thirty minutes after your exercise, while moderate exercise allows the benefits to kick in five minutes after you finish (Weir, 2016). Perhaps this will be more encouraging. Sometimes the first time you head out to exercise after being inactive, you go overboard. Sore muscles the next day might be a deterrent. Start slow and be patient with yourself, but get moving.

I recognize that this is the time of year where those of you in the Northern Hemisphere are experiencing more darkness. It's quite possible that you wake up in the dark and head home from work in the dark. Trust me, I know this can be a challenging time of the year for some. What better way to get natural mood boosts than to combine your moderate exercise with getting out in nature during the times of the day where you do have access to daylight hours. Get a group of people you work with to walk in nature during your lunch break or right at the end of the day. Have walking meetings instead of spending more time staring at a screen. Think through your weekend plans and see if you can incorporate awe into your exercise in nature. Can you walk on a beach and take in the sounds of the waves? Can you hike, ski, or bike to a spot that makes you feel like you are at the edge of the world? If you happen to live in a place where pollution makes exercising challenging, be creative with ways you can sneak in your moderate exercise. Perhaps you walk around a museum and take in some art. In Dhaka, I found playing tennis in a club with courts surrounded by gorgeous flowers helpful. I made sure my vacations involved spots where I could take in nature in large doses. You won't always be able to combine awe and nature while getting your daily exercise. See if you can manage to do so once a week and make note of your mood during and after.
Get moving and take care,
Sharon

Anwar, Yasmin. "Can Awe Boost Health?" Mind and Body. Greater Good The Science of Meaningful Life, 12, Feb. 2015. Web. 8 Jan. 2016.
Meadows,Charlson. "How Does Nature Impact Our Wellbeing?" Taking Charge of Your Health & Wellbeing. University of Minnesota, 25 June 2014. Web. 8 Jan. 2016.
"Feeling Tired, Irritable, Stressed Out? Try Nature." National Geographic. YouTube, 15 Sept. 2015. Web. 10 Jan. 2016.
Taylor, Adrian. "Physical Activity and Mental Health." Physical Activity and Mental Health. RC Psych, 1 Nov. 2012. Web. 8 Jan. 2016.
Weir, Kirsten. "The Exercise Effect." Monitor on Psychology. APA, December 2011. Web. 8 Jan.2016.
Photos are mine.

Comments

I like to share brief, researched tips to help people lead a balanced life. Typically I send ideas via emails to expat teachers or students where I work. I've decided to share to a larger audience. While some parts of my blogs will clearly be geared toward expat educators, many shared ideas will be generic tips that apply to anyone.