In Defense of Leisure Part II
Learning how to give your brain a break

Months ago I heard the phrase ‘smooth brained.’ Not in the sense of lacking intelligence, nor in the rare genetic condition lissencephaly that causes the brain’s outer layers to appear smooth (which I had no idea was a thing until I started writing this article). But smooth brained as in a state of being when the muscle that is your brain is able to relax, maybe unclench in a way.

Now I know, or rather I’m pretty sure, that this is not actually how the brain works. However, when most of people’s life, work or otherwise, requires analyzing words, analyzing data, analyzing emotions, relationships, numbers, social media posts, strategies, advertisements and on and on and on, it begins to feel like the only muscle getting worked out on a regular basis is the brain. And any good gym rat knows that if you overwork the same muscle, it begins to cramp and strain.

The concept of ‘smooth brained’ activities requires you to move some of that energy and concentration from your brain to your hands, or your feet, really anywhere else. Take pottery for example. Especially when you’re first starting out, every thought you have while pottering is how to shape this lump of clay into the bowl you want to make. You’re hyper-focused on telling your hands to shift, add pressure, hold steady, because if you don’t then the bowl will fall apart. This blocks any other thought from coming into your brain and it begins to relax.

Activities like these have been proven to not only give your brain a break, but also “increase your self-esteem, reduce anxiety, improve communication and foster creativity” according to a new study from researchers at Angila Ruskin University who showed that arts and crafts improve your mental health and satisfaction towards life as much as a career.

However, these bigger arts and crafts activities aren’t the only projects that can help give our brain a break. Repetitive chores like laundry or dishes, if done with a little more intention behind them, can create a ‘micro-flow’ as well. Chopping vegetables and cooking require you to focus on a project in front of you so you don’t hurt yourself. Going to a workout class or dancing in your living room require you to think about how your body is moving in the present. While you take part in these activities, your brain is still working through all of those things you need to analyze day in and day out, but because they aren’t at top of mind, it allows your brain to think of them in new ways and daydream about new ideas.

We released an article in defense of leisure what seems like eons ago but was actually only 4 months ago. Clearly, the journey towards mental, and physical, leisure is still a work in progress. But we’ve accumulated some activities below that require us to move, do, and not think about everything so much all the time: