15-Min Wanderlust Challenge

(read time: 2 min)

When was the last time you went for a purposeless stroll? Or let your mind wander without feeling the least bit of guilt for not being productive? It’s counter intuitive, but there are HUGE benefits of letting your body and brain go where they please.

In Paris, when you have no destination in mind, but simply walk to soak up the beauty of the city, they use the verb Flâner (flah-nair). In the world of science, when you let your mind spontaneously daydream, it is called mind-wandering.

When you put the two together, you have a remedy for a quick destressor which will then allow for increased creativity and productivity.

YOUR BOOST

Take the challenge: Be like an unbothered, unstressed Parisien and take yourself and your mind “flah-ning” today. (Yes, I just conjugated a french verb with the English “ing” just for the fun of it.)

THE SCIENCE

When you are NOT engaged in a cognitively demanding task, your brain activates its default-mode network, it's like an autopilot that keeps your body moving, but does not require your conscious attention to it. The same thing happens when you are walking, you don’t have to pay attention to what you're doing, your automatic brain network takes over.

And in both these cases, you are giving the thinking part of your brain a break and allowing your body and mind to go where they please. Your breathing slows down, activating your parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system which counteracts the fight-or-flight stress response. By using both sides of your body, both sides of the brain are activated, and communicate with greater connectivity, a proven tactic for decreasing symptoms of mental angst. And when the default-mode network is active during these periods of mind wandering, scientists theorize that it helps you to create and maintain a meaningful sense of self and purpose while concurrently allowing for off-line processing (similar to sleep).

YOUR TAKE HOME

Take the 15-minute Wanderlust challenge today. Even 15 minutes of “Flah-ning” for your mind and body can give you the mental boost you need to come back to your work or life more creative, more productive and more at peace to tackle the rest of your day.

No shame, no guilt, just more good days,

Nicole