Take a Mental Break: Word Puzzles Let Your Brain Engage in a Different Way
One of the health benefits of your daily Solve ritual is that the puzzles allow you to lose yourself for a little while: take a mental break and find your flow. Spending a few minutes each day doing an activity that takes you completely out of your daily stresses is a form of meditation. Your Solve puzzle ritual is Zen!
In the 21st century, our world is so stimulating that we live daily with our brains always engaged, always buzzing, always “on”. So much is on our minds on a daily basis -- the bills to pay this month, the kid’s projects and activities, what’s for dinner, the meeting at work, the grocery list, Cuddles’ upcoming vet visit!
Sometimes it feels nearly impossible to let our minds go and just wander freely. Your Solve puzzle collection can help your brain engage in a different way by temporarily taking your brain to another place – a relaxed place.
Recent studies have shown that word puzzles can be a great way to let your mind play. In a 2013 study at the University of Toronto, researcher Bonnie Hayden Cheng studied 178 undergraduate students and found that stressed-out students could benefit from taking “mental breaks”. And though some were able to turn their brains off by taking a nap or going for a run, others found (word) puzzles more effective because the activity took their minds off the task at hand. “Activities that engage the brain, like reading or (word) puzzles, may be an effective way to stop ruminating about daily stressors,” said Cheng.
A recent study out of the University of California, Berkeley, showed that brain-sharpening activities like solving word puzzles and Sudoku helped relieve stress and anxiety better than mindless activities like watching TV or shopping.
Many puzzle solvers say that focussing on their Solve puzzle collection for periods of time produces a meditative-like state. It takes you away from your stresses and into a tranquil place. Add your favourite music playlist and you have a great combination.
So next time you want to let your brain engage in a different way, away from the daily stresses of life in the 21st century, go to your daily Solve puzzle ritual.
