A new study shows that daydreaming is good for your health.
Daydreaming is not the same as ruminating which is more about negative outcomes. It is also not just letting your mind wander. Daydreaming is thinking for pleasure. It’s a skill, takes effort and is not easily developed, although children are experts at it. The mind, by it’s nature, looks to the negative to look for threats in the environment. Thinking positively for pleasure takes practice to overcome this negativity bias.
Scientists have found that having a positive topic helps. Some instructions below.
Well, it’s nice to know it’s good for your health because I’ve always been a daydreamer and I wouldn’t want to stop.
My older siblings tell me I used to live in world of my own a lot as a child and I have never grown out of it.
From the article -
[The psychology professor, Erin] “Westgate says that in order to daydream, “You have to be the actor, director, screenwriter and audience of a mental performance.” “
That made me smile because my daydreaming stories often feel like I’m writing a story or producing a film, with me playing all the parts and directing how everyone else in the imaginary scenario acts and responds - I provide the sound and visual effects in my head.
I love to listen to the chatter of young children, as they are acting out their fantasies and stories - I love how they can make-believe it’s all real - their imaginations are amazing and they are not at all self-conscious about acting out and verbalising their unrestrained thought-play.
I sometimes think the only difference between the children’s daydreams and mine is that, as adults, we learn to keep it all inside our head - all the imaginary movements, conversations and sound effects stay inside my head instead of acting it out and saying it out loud, as children do.
the buddhists of course have the opposite view and they too have been around researching for many years - they suggest that daydreaming or as they call it “the chattering of the monkeys” just gets in the way and that to achieve top level enlightenment we need to calm the mind and remove the “chattering of the monkeys” and allow the mind to connect to the rest of the universe?
In the study, this is not considered daydreaming. Monkey mind is considered ruminating or negative thinking. The study agrees with the Buddhists in this case.
Daydreaming is thinking about positive thoughts and outcomes.
sounds dubious to me thought still - my great buddhist teacher from Nepal would need to give this serious consideration - this sounds like a half way cut to Nirvana??
I would imagine “daydreaming” is bad for business and housework and getting through junior school/high school; university and then the business world??
It reminds me of 'creative visualisation ’ … which they claim is more suited to the Western mind as our minds are far too busy to meditate successfully.
Is short … dwell upon and create in your mind something you really like. Like a secret garden …or walking along the beach and feeling the sea lapping at your toes. Whatever works for you.
Some might call it escapism but it is supposed to be rejuvenating and refreshing to a weary spirit.
a good mate of mine put up scaffolding for a job. One day he was seen by a bystander to just walk right off the top of a 100 ft building - they said he must have been daydreaming - he always wanted to fly too??
Gumbud, lt’s funny you should say that… but when l have spoken to some people about my views on various things in life, they have remarked… ‘That’s what Buddhists believe in’!
Maybe, l should start kneeling and chanting for a few hours every day!!
