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Closing your eyes and daydreaming allows you to go anywhere, fulfill any desire and face any fear. However, what is this type of trip for? Science has discovered that this simple and enjoyable exercise increases intelligence and provides a moment of pleasure. Next, we’ll talk more about the benefits of daydreaming.
There are many cultures and environments in which the imagination is almost outlawed. The habit of daydreaming is considered a waste of time and useless exercise. Today, we know this is not true.
They also say that daydreaming is associated with adopting a passive position. This is not believed to be an activity, but rather something that inhibits action. Again, this is a mistake. Today, we know that imagination can be a great stimulus to action.
The Benefits of Daydreaming for Memory
Psychologist Alan Pavio says that closing your eyes and visualizing ideas has an excellent effect on intellectual abilities. This Canadian expert, famous for his studies of the imagination in the 1970s, found that it is easier for people to close their eyes and imagine specific, concrete things like a flower or the sun.
On the other hand, it is more difficult to imagine and remember abstract concepts such as good or bad, happy, balanced, etc. From his observations, he concluded that the concrete visualization of ideas in the mind helps to enhance memory. In other words, translating ideas into mental images makes us remember them better.
This was confirmed by neuroscientist Eleanor Maguire. This University of London specialist studied the famous “memory athletes”, people who win competitions because they are able to recall an extraordinary amount of information. She found that almost all of them use the technique of mental visualization to fix information in memory.
the power of imagination
Steve Kosslyn of Harvard University is another expert who has been interested in the phenomenon of imagination or creating mental images of reality. His studies led him to conclude that when we imagine an object, we activate two-thirds of the brain zones that participate when we see that object in reality.
It has also been proven that imagining very negative events emotionally affects people. Closing your eyes and daydreaming about a disaster creates fear and anguish, although we are aware that this is not happening in the real world.
The good thing is that the same happens with positive events. Closing your eyes and daydreaming about desired or rewarding events generates emotions of well-being, helps reduce stress and relaxes us. This also contributes to increased productivity.
More imagination, more intelligence
Available data indicate that it is possible to train the imagination to improve memory and optimize learning. This is considered a way to increase overall intelligence, improve mood and even physical fitness.
A story about neuroscientist Vinoth Ranganathan is well known. In 2004, he explained that if a person imagines that they are flexing a muscle, it would have a physical effect. In fact, he showed that those who performed this mental exercise, after a few weeks, had more muscle strength than those who had only exercised on the physical plane.
He also proved that, several months after stopping training, the muscle in question retained its strength. With all this, it showed that if we do an imaginary task repeatedly and for a long time, we will generate physiological changes that are fully verifiable.
The gymnastics of imagination
The benefits of daydreaming and letting your imagination fly are many and can be our allies in our daily lives. In fact, without realizing it, we are always imagining and visualizing situations.
The key, then, is to become more aware of all the mental images that run through our minds. We can deliberately manage them and make them play to our advantage in different situations. In other words, we have to harness the vast potential of imagination.
Like any skill, this one also takes practice. As Ranganathan said, it’s about forming a specific mental image and daydreaming about it over and over again. Images of personal well-being, positive change, developing some skill. Everything indicates that there is a point where this materializes in reality.
