Video Games & Other Activities To De-Stress One's Brain

1

I’ve been listening to a number of different podcasts, and some of the hosts mention playing video games and doing other activities that occupy their brain in a lesser way (i.e. “Breath Of The Wild” from Nintendo, rather than a twitch game :slight_smile: ) for purposes of de-stressing, relaxing, giving one’s senses something to do when one is thinking about a thorny problem, etc.

Anybody have any recommendations in that department? Fun-ish stuff to do that’s not mentally taxing, leaving one’s brain largely free to think?

2

When I am in those situations…

  1. I play video games (Switch or PS4)
  2. I read comic books
  3. Catch up on a netflix series
  4. watch a random movie
  5. If I am still in “work” mode and no desire to de-stress, then I just do another work that involves a different mindset. (i.e. housework, yardwork, clean the car, edit photos, etc)
3

Frost is, um, pretty chill.
My favorites though are ProPinball, Pinball Arcade, and Zen Pinball is good too. Different breeds of pinball.

Having said that, I think there is great value in becoming bored. I think of it as my brain being caught up. We can have unresolved problems that our subconscious needs to work on. If we constantly occupy ourselves (usually screen time nowadays), that resolution doesn’t happen. So just sit and think sometime. Meditate too.

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4

I find that podcasts + driving are great for thinking time, as is the toilet actually.

I play a lot of different video games and I find that while it does not leave me thinking room, I am a huge fan of Europa Universalises 4, I have a way of falling into that game and missing 6 hours of my day.

Lastly I find that knitting is actually a surprisingly good task, since after a rather small amount of practice it can be done as a mindless exercise leaving the mind open.

5

Listening to music is a great de-stress activity for me. I also like to draw on my iPad using Affinity Designer, usually while Netflixing.

6

i do. if you want to go about your normal life and just have a quick “eat a pill”-type solution, then Holosync or EquiSync are audio tracks made for relaxing that use isochronic and binaural beats (headphones REQUIRED) to “assist” your brain activity from waking time alpha down to beta delta waves etc. right before REM. The goal is to stay awake but lower your brain activity to sleeping-states for relaxation.

But the real solution is what our culture is missing: soothing EXERCISES. to use an analogy:

water vs fire
benefits everything while competing with nothing vs destroys everything while conflicting with everything

physical exercises are “firey”, right? whether endurance or strength/resistance training, it still involves explosive exertion of energy, right? after pushing past the limits, the body is hurt through inflammatory exertion, thus keeping minor illnesses at way (fire purifies, right? burns away old filth?). we can easily measure this kind of strength simply by seeing how long you can endure or how much weight you can lift, we know this already…but:

“watery” exercises don’t have a name for their category as a whole in the West, but Asians call it “chi-gong/chi-kung/qigong”. this doesn’t involve exertion, but slow, curved, relaxed movements and even sometimes complete stillness for long periods of time. There ARE names of select branches of qigong that Westerners probably know, such as Yoga, Tai Chi, etc… Measuring your ability for these exercises is different, but it is actually even easier.

if you don’t want your arm, or your leg, to move, they won’t unless you tell them to, right? your first time walking, though, might result in your legs moving uncontrollably and you falling, right, which was due to insufficient practice and strength, right?

so what happens if you close your eyes - while you make a point NOT to go into a trance or semi-conscious state or sleep, but stay fully awake with your eyelids lightly closed - and decide to empty your mind of ALL thoughts? How long can you hold that “awareness of nothing”, that “completely empty” mind, BEFORE a thought INVOLUNTARILY pops into your mind? that is how able you are.

these kinds of qigong or meditation exercises aren’t understood by Westerners, but they provide the energy you are seeking: VERY POWERFUL, yet SOOTHING energy - rejuvenating, renewing, restoring, recharging, refreshing, healing, etc.

so the “real” solution is to make a fundamental change and include this concept of exercises into your regular life routine.

oh PS also:
Neurofeedback therapy can train you new ways of thinking at functional medicine doctors, and Brain Highways (it’s a brand but brainhighways.com) exercises can have effectiveness over the long term, too