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Just steve's avatar
Just steve
Jan 6

It may be just me but the following from the article stands out as extremely important; "What makes this study stand out is how directly applicable it is to everyday life — You don’t need to take up a formal art class or master an instrument to experience these benefits. Even small daily creative choices like journaling, doodling, cooking without a recipe, or designing a garden engage the same neural systems that keep your brain young."

In our modern culture we are feed never ending constant images, messages, music, so forth.

When it comes to the Creative Side I've noticed so many are discouraged to even begin to try to do a painting, drawing because they focus on their efforts don't echo Leonardo or Bob Ross. This stops creativity before it has a chance to start. A foundation for Creativity is to Just Do It...Just Start Creating. Afraid to sing because others will make fun of them because they don't sound like the Digital Manipulated Top Ten Artist works. Screw that, so sing in the shower, sing in the woods, sing in your car when you are alone. Same as far as drawing or oil/watercolor painting...Just Do It...many artist who excel will admit it is the act of creating that is the reward, if they get paid or able to make a living doing it is just a welcomed bonus.

Also coming to mind is from days gone by, many decades ago being a rural area especially in Summer months relatives from all over would return to the original family farm on weekends. All kinds of activities would be engaged in. People were creating bringing food to pass. Just sitting around the picnic tables discussing their lives, our world, their problems and possible solutions. What was working for some, what wasn't for others. In other words -They/We Came Together to share and care. The act of Creating is to be engaged in Life, to be engaged with Creation itself.

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Guillermou
Jan 6

Walking has been used for centuries as a technique for thinking. Nietzsche, Rimbaud, Rousseau, and Thoreau, among others, did so. Kant, Marcel Proust, and Walter Benjamin were great walkers. Pilgrims have walked for centuries to get closer to their god, and Gandhi led the most famous political march in history. Frédéric Gros recounts this in detail in *Walking, a Philosophy*.

Nietzsche believed that sedentary morals had poisoned humanity. “We are not those who only think surrounded by books, inspired by books. We are accustomed to thinking in the open air, walking, jumping, climbing, dancing, preferably in solitary mountains or by the sea, where even the paths become contemplative.”

Walking heals our sorrows and helps us open our minds, clear our thoughts, and is personally liberating, both physically and psychologically. Through walks, we give ourselves the opportunity to put our problems into perspective and connect with our deepest selves, the ones we neglect in the whirlwind of daily life.

Nietzsche wasn't a city walker. He was a nature wanderer. On his walks through the forest, he escaped his infernal headaches and sought ideas that weren't tied to anything. Nietzsche worked while walking, according to Gros. He walked alone, sometimes for up to eight hours a day. He wrote *The Wanderer and His Shadow* while walking. He walked and simultaneously wrote down his thoughts in six small notebooks.

And we can also practice mindful walking. Walking with full awareness means ceasing to move on autopilot and being conscious of every movement we make and everything around us. “Walking with full awareness brings us peace and joy, and makes our life real…” Several studies have shown that mindful walking improves mood and reduces anxiety, stress, and depression.

While you can practice mindful walking anywhere, the benefits multiply when you do it in nature.

One study shows that mindful walking in nature improves the function of the immune, cardiovascular, and respiratory systems, in addition to reducing depression and anxiety and fostering a sense of mental relaxation and awe at the surrounding beauty.

Specifically, the study focuses on the practice of Shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, which has existed in Japan since the 1980s as a therapeutic technique.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27429096/ .---

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28788101/ .---

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