How Doodling Can Help You Relax
How Doodling Can Help You Relax
How often do you find yourself drawing random pictures on the corner of your notebook or journal during a long meeting or a particularly boring class?
The act of doodling is extremely common among people around the world and has become even more widespread with the shift to online learning and working. Now, more than ever, students, employees, and bosses alike are doodling their way through online classes and virtual meetings.
Unfortunately, doodling has always had some negative connotations attached to it. Most professional settings consider it a sign of distraction and lack of interest. But, that really isn't so!
Research has proven that doodling actually offers tremendous mental health benefits. It sharpens your memory, allows you to focus better on the present, and even helps you relax in stressful situations.
Scibbling and doodling is so beneficial that numerous world leaders and presidents have been reported to be dedicated doodlers. So, it really isn't just a meaningless action that helps us make those long lectures more fun.
It is actually a fruitful activity that allows us to strengthen our minds. Let's learn more about it and how doodling helps you relax.
What is Doodling?
The conventional definition of doodling is to 'scribble absent-mindedly', or to make meaningless marks on a piece of paper. But, say this to many doodlers, and they may take great offence at the past-time being reduced to such an insignificant activity.
In reality, it is the art of making spontaneous marks with your body and mind working in unison to help yourself think and feel.
It is also a way to translate your thoughts and feelings onto paper through abstract art that speaks to your soul and is an underappreciated tool that offers great clarity to the doodler while also helping them relax and unwind after a tiring, long day.
It offers the drawer solace and serves as their happy place where they can spend an endless amount of time just acknowledging and appreciating the beauty of their thoughts.
Discovering the Benefits of Doodling
Excellent Way to Practice Mindfulness
While doodling seems like a mindless escape from reality where one gets lost in their own head and just draws random scribbles, it actually is quite the opposite.
It’s actually considered a great way to introduce mindfulness and better clarity into your life. It promotes a sense of deep thinking and concentration that allows you to fully engage with your thoughts and feelings.
The past-time requires you to slow down and focus on the paper and pen in front of you. It takes your mind away from the hustle-bustle of everyday life and brings forth a feeling of relaxation and contentment.
Improves Your Memory Recall
A Harvard publication revealed that most people tend to doodle while listening to dull or boring messages that don't spark their interest.
However, a rather interesting fact was that despite being engaged elsewhere, these doodlers actually recalled 29% more information from the messages than people who didn't doodle.
This is clear evidence that doodling helps in improving your memory recall and allows you to be more attentive, even when you're engaged in a different activity.
It also helps prevent your mind from going blank and keeps your brain engaged in the free drawing while, in turn, making you more aware of your surroundings and any information you might be receiving.
Relives Anxiety and Stress
To many people, doodling is that refreshing breath of cold air that allows them to take a break from the regular strenuous activities and errands of their lives. It offers relief from any psychological distress you might be experiencing and allows you to make better sense of any negative feelings and emotions to work through them.
Experts often say a doodle a day keeps the doctor at bay. This is a result of its stress-busting properties allowing you a great way to limit the damaging effect that daily stress and anxiety can have on our minds and bodies.
The rhythmic and repetitive motion of doodling triggers our body's relaxation response. It also synchronises hand and eye coordination that offers a calming and almost meditative effect.
Allows Better Focus and Concentration
You have probably been to numerous training sessions and seen YouTube videos on how to improve your focus and concentration. But did you know that there's a way to focus better on something by taking your concentration off it? That is the beauty of doodling!
Doodling is a somewhat aimless, spontaneous type of drawing that can help you focus better and listen more attentively. It does wonders to relieve stress, which naturally makes your brain more receptive to new information.
When you think about it, most people tend to draw out the information they're receiving as they doodle. This drawing will remain active in their mind and allow the brain to focus on it better as compared to just receiving multitudes of information in a single, continuous manner.
Polishes Your Creative Spirit
With so much negativity attached to the persona of a doodler, you probably think you need to squish away that part of you and instead focus entirely on the matter at hand. However, engaging the doodler inside you is a great way to fire up your creative spirit and improve your productivity on a regular basis.
Doodling itself is a wonderful art that allows your creative juices to flow and take on new heights. When used in a mindful manner, it activates a part of your mind that is often left shut and untouched. Mindful doodling lets you explore who you truly are and gives it a platform to shine through.
This forms a significant feel-good response in our minds and bodies, which can then be seen in everything we do. It allows doodlers to view their tasks from a fresh perspective and offer the best of their creativity.
Focus in the Present Moment
Did you know that many popular journalists use doodling to contextualise the mood and feeling of a certain situation?
They sketch out the information they're receiving in real-time and then go back to it to paint the perfect, accurate story of what went down during the press release or interview.
It helps people focus better on the present moment instead of getting lost in their own thoughts. It allows you to enjoy and really live in the now instead of worrying about what has happened in the past or stressing about what's to come in the future.
Regulates Your Mood
Since the onset of COVID-19, people have been spending more and more time indoors. They can no longer participate in social settings and groups like they used to before, which can cause a significant negative effect on their mental health and mood regulation abilities.
People are now depending more and more on unhealthy habits like binge-eating and spending hours watching Netflix or Disney+.
It can help to regulate your mood by offering a simple, pleasurable activity that comes with no adverse effects. It's not addictive, doesn't cause your mind or body any harm, and even activates the reward pathways in our minds.