As you will be aware if you know me well or read my posts
regularly, I’m really passionate about wellbeing and getting people looking
after themselves better. Our lifestyle
choices such as eating habits, exercise and sleep hygiene all have an impact on
both physical and mental wellbeing, as does the way we spend our time; for
instance, working, being with loved ones and partaking in leisure
activities. I believe that by educating
people from a young age about the impact of all these factors on health &
wellbeing, we can potentially make a significant reduction in the number and
severity of people requiring the use of mental health services and generally
experiencing emotional distress.
The coming series of posts will each focus on a different
aspect of lifestyle and the impact of this on wellbeing. This one looks at the benefits of releasing
the inner child and having a bit more fun.
As noted by Stephanie Davies in her highly recommendable
book Laughology, babies and toddlers laugh up to 300 times a day, whereas for
adults the average figure is just 17 times.
She states that this could be largely a result of coming to care too
much about what others think, plus the increasing pressures and stresses we
find ourselves under as we get older and take on more responsibilities.
Just because we have more responsibilities and things to
worry about as adults (although most of us probably do a disproportionate
amount of worrying, myself included!) this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take the time to have fun. Why is it that as adults it becomes less
socially acceptable to play, to have fun, to laugh? There are actually a lot of benefits to doing
these things, both physically and cognitively.
As I learnt from Laughology the physical benefits of laughter include the following: It both tones and relaxes muscles, makes us
feel happier and more alert, is good for the immune system and even helps to
alleviate pain and other symptoms of illness.
Allowing time for play can also be good for our physical health if we
decide to devote more time to a sport or other physical activity. What I find more fascinating though is the
impact of play on cognition and the wider implications of this on day to day
life.
In a recent article in The Psychologist, editor Jon Sutton
proclaims that there is a crisis in the way in which children are
expected to learn and grow up these days. Play is
vital in learning as it allows us to problem solve, take control of situations,
be reflective and recognise the positives in things not going to plan. We try something, it doesn’t work, so we try
something else, that might not work; but eventually we succeed. It seems obvious, but children aren’t being
encouraged to learn in this way in as the fact-storing and examination culture
in schools grows. Not only is this
stressful for children in itself, but it means they do not build a tolerance to
failure, leading to a lack of resilience in later life.
The benefits of this child-like thinking style in
achieving outcomes is also recognised by NLP (neuro-linguistic programming),
which is all about using your thinking and behaviour to achieve excellence (or,
at least, the outcomes you want). As the
author of 5-Minute NLP states, “Curiosity and experimentation increase choice. They were part of your behaviour when you were
a child and you had an open mind towards the world. When you want to know more and try new
things, you are more likely to succeed, as more choices of action will be open
to you”.
I’ve adopted the technique of having more fun in my own life
to positive effect over the last couple of weeks: I was getting pretty stressed and decided to
take a load of pressure off of myself and spend more time doing fun stuff that
I want to do. So, I’m taking a break
from my cycle racing and top-end training, spending more time with family &
friends and starting to go climbing again, which I love but haven’t done for
ages. The result is that I feel far
happier and more relaxed, as well as more ready and willing to tackle tasks
such as writing my blog and taking productive and practical steps towards other
projects I want to start up. In other
words, releasing the inner child really does work and you should try it!
In summary, allowing yourself to have more fun and be more
child-like has a range of benefits, both for your wellbeing and for achieving
favourable outcomes in life. If you let
your hair down a little more often, try new things and free yourself of the
belief that play is for children only, you are likely to enjoy life more, feel
happier and healthier and achieve better results in your work or study. I'll wrap up by quoting two songs by one of my favourite bands, The Cab:
'We're all just kids who grew up way too fast', so let's 'Grow Up And Be Kids'!!!
References:
Boyes, C. (2013). 5-minute NLP. London: HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.
Davies, S. (2013). Laughology. Camarthen: Crown House Publishing Ltd.
Sutton, J. (2014). 'Play' is not a four-letter word. The Psychologist, 27(6), 393.
