A few years ago, I was going through a bit of a rough patch when my friend invited me to go on a walk with her. I decided to go because I knew I could use the exercise and fresh air. What I didn’t realize, was that the walk would provide me with a unique perspective of my wellness that I hadn’t yet considered.
As we were walking, she began to tell me about her newest interest “true crime podcasts” (this was before they were a BIG deal). I can vividly remember how big her eyes got and how expressive her hands were as she recounted the story about some murderer, who killed some family, in some sleepy town in middle America. Saying she was passionate about the podcast series would be an understatement.
Although the story she was recounting was entertaining, I found myself lost in my own thoughts. I was focused on the realization that I had not felt this passionate or this excited about anything in a long time and I wanted it again. I wanted to get out of my own negative thought patterns and get into a world of possibility, creativity, and learning. Hence the start of my lifelong journey of learning.
We can easily become obsessed and ruminate on all the negativity around us. Instead, with proper knowledge and preparation, we can use the time we have to fill our lives with things that inspire passion and light a fire in our souls.
Intellectual health is much more than traditional schooling and reading books. It is about using our minds to their fullest capacity and living a life of growth and purpose. If you are interested in learning about how you can take care of your intellectual health, keep reading The Holistic Wellness Series – Intellectual health.
What is Intellectual Health?
Luckily, you do not have to be a scientist or a university professor to improve upon your intellectual health. You can take care of their intellectual health by continually challenging yourself, increasing your understanding, improving your skills, and maximizing your creative potential.
By stimulating our brains through activities that involve curiosity, critical thinking, reasoning, decision making, and exploring novel ideas, we increase our brain’s plasticity, which is a tremendous protective factor for our brain’s health.
When we explore intellectual health we open up the possibility to tap into our innate skills and gifts. For instance, before I started this blog I didn’t know that I would be this passionate about it. But it makes a ton of sense looking back. I used to geek out by spending my downtime at work and at home reading relevant research. I also would secretly write in journals about my life, create my own poetry, and write essays in my own spare time.
An easy way to think of taking care of our intellectual health is by becoming a lifelong learners. When we continue to expand our minds and challenge ourselves we see benefits in memory, creativity, and increase positive emotions. It is also very common to enter into a flow state, which is associated with numerous health benefits.
How to Take Care of Your Intellectual Health
Just like all of the other domains of wellness, finding intellectual health needs to be unique to the persona seeking it. It is not a one size fits all type of answer. It is important to take some time now to really get to know your interests. Here are a few ways to tap into areas of intellectual health that are uniquely tailored to you.
1. Explore possibilities
Grab a pen a paper, or you can use a note-taking app on your phone because this is a brainstorming activity. Start by creating a list of several categories that you can continue your brainstorm on. Below are a few categories to get your wheels turning…
- geography
- mental health
- entertainment
- technology
- business
- travel
Now, let’s take the topic of travel and brainstorm a few Intellectual health activities. For instance, you could…
- Learn about a country you want to travel to through books, magazines, or podcasts,
- Research cheap travel hacks through online forums and blogs,
- Watch travel-related documentaries or TV shows (I recommend checking out Departures).
See what I did there? Now you try it 🙂
2. Inner Child
Think back to when you were a kid and try to answer the questions below.
- Can you remember doing anything that was super exciting for you?
- Did you take a class, join a group, or discover a topic that you absolutely loved?
- What would you do those hours would pass by and you would lose track of time?
For me, it was sitting outside and playing improv sort of games and making skits with my friends. It was my first experience with brainstorming and creativity and I loved it. Hours could pass by and I wouldn’t notice or really care, just being in the flow of creativity, laughing, and expressing was something that lit my heart up.
Does that mean that I need to overcome my fear of stand-up comedy and join an improv group? Nope, it just symbolizes my love for creativity, and working with others is a healthy, supportive environment. Creating and developing new ideas is my jam.
3. Learning Styles
As I am sure we are all aware, we are learning in different ways and research has shown that there are unique learning styles. The VAK Learning Styles Model was developed by psychologists in the 1920s to classify the most common ways that people learn. It was updated recently to include the R (Reaching/Writing). The theory is, that we all prefer to learn in one of the following four ways:
- Visual: a visually-dominant learner absorbs and retains information better when it is presented in, photos, diagrams, and charts.
- Auditory: an auditory-dominant learner prefers to learn through listening. Repeating new information back out loud is also helpful.
- Kinesthetic: a kinesthetic-dominant learner prefers a “hands-on” approach and responds well to being able to physically interact with objects or learning props.
- Reading/Writing: a reading- or writing-dominant learner uses prefers to learn by organizing things in their mind by reading and taking down notes.
Your awareness of your unique learning style will help you narrow down your choices for intellectual health activities.
Set Yourself Up for Success
Just like everything else, before you jump right in and begin to take action on your intellectual health there are a few things you should be aware of. Awareness of these concepts will set you up for success and help you stay committed along your journey.
The ‘F*&@ing First Times’
Dr. Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston and a NY Times best-selling author best known for her work done on vulnerability and courage. She is a brilliant mind, so hearing her theory on the F’in first times was hilarious and completely relatable. No one does something for the first time perfectly. It just doesn’t work like that. There is a learning period that can be extremely frustrating and it is often where most people start on their new projects. Your ability to recognize that you are in the “f’in first time” of trying a new intellectual pursuit is the only way to get through it, is to accept that this is where you are at, its all part of the process, and the only way through it is to experience it fully.
Beginners Mind
There is a simple beauty in being a beginner. The pressure is lifted and you can fully experience the full spectrum of the situation. Developing your beginner’s mind is all about total acceptance that you are not yet the expert, and that to become one you must fully experience the now. Mindfully, like the mind of a child approach your new pursuit with an eagerness to learn, creativity, and wonder. Even if you have done an activity a trillion times, developing a beginner’s mind means being able to see the same routine activities as new and exciting with the eyes of a person doing it for the very first time.
Fixed vs. Growth Mindset
Before partaking in a new intellectual activity, it is important to check your mindset. Set yourself up for success by developing awareness for fixed mindset beliefs and developing your growth mindset behaviors. According to Carol Dweck students have either a fixed or growth mindset.
Students with a fixed mindset believe that a person’s ability begins and ends with their natural talent for a given task. These fixed traits cannot be developed and rather than make mistakes, you should avoid failure in order to avoid looking “dumb”. Students with a growth mindset believe that a person’s ability can change over time, and with head-work dedication and persistence, you can develop skills. These students understand that everyone has unique skills, but that you can learn and develop new skills over time.
7 Intellectual Health Self Care Ideas To Try
1. Learn something new
Right now is the perfect time to learn something new. Challenge yourself to step outside of your comfort zone and take a course, learn how to make kombucha, or start a backyard garden.
2. Online learning platforms
One of my go-go intellectual health self-care activities is taking a Skillshare course. Recently I have expanded my knowledge in, productivity, taking and editing photos with my phone, and the basics of drawing. Click here to get two free months of Skillshare.
3. Read a book
Sit back, relax, pour yourself a cup of tea, and read a book. If you don’t have access to books at home right now, try the free library app Libby. You could also re-read a book… I’m thinking about starting my 4th round of the Harry Potter series.
4. Write
Express yourself through words. This can be done in so many ways. Try writing an essay on a topic you feel passionate about. Start a blog or offer to guest post on someone else blog. Even an Instagram that you put effort into counts!
5. Try a new exercise
Double whammy here! Take care of your physical and intellectual health all in one swoop, Activities like Zumba, cross-fit, or karate require learning new sets of skills and the bonus is that I usually get my best ideas when I am exercising.
6. Listen to a podcasts
Do a little research and find a podcast about a topic that interests you. Heck, start a podcast about something that interests you.
7. Explore new environments
Hop on google maps and do a little international travel online. Right now you can check out national parks, museums, and art galleries all from the comfort of your own home.
