I know a lot of people who have expressed that the happiest they have ever been was in a previous job when they were younger, doing labouring, construction or building work.
Then, they went to university and now work in a bank, or drive excel spreadsheets. They want to add value in this new area, but miss the clarity of the mind that the previous work helped cultivate.
When we work with our hands with an actual object or project that is tactile (rather than a screen), we quieten down the default mode network (DMN) – a part of the brain which is associated with the wandering mind, past and future thoughts and our sense of self.
We see this in children (basic play with blocks etc) and also with adults (adult colouring books, the enjoyment of hobbies)
I feel we also see this in physical activity or training.
I’ve always loved building and these types of tasks as well. Now it makes more sense.
While this is a seperate consideration from a formal meditation practice, this can be a great addition to a daily or weekly routine to quieten the mind, create space and clarity and improve wellbeing. Things that I’ve explored in the past that have helped hugely include:
- Drawing, artwork (mandalas, patterns, free-flow)
- Building projects (small, able to finish in a day or so)
- Cleaning/re-organising (this one took me 28 or so years to figure out, but now it makes sense..)
