Healthy, Creative, Fun - Rest your Mind with these Brain Break Ideas

This column was inspired by this week's Weekly Topic: Fun Brain Break Ideas

Did you ever hear the old proverb - "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy"? Its message is that doing only work and nothing else makes you a bored and boring person.

Benefits like salary, career advancement, home maintenance, and health improvement are great and necessary, but they're not the only reasons to take up activities. Sometimes, we should just do things because they're fun or relaxing: because that's the joy of life. After all, what's the point of slaving away at a company if you don't use your free time to take a breath of fresh air.

So, here are a few of my favorite activities that make me feel refreshed and charge my batteries:

Taking a walk in greenery - whether that's a 5-minute stroll through the park nearby or a whole day in a forest, spending time in nature is an incredible way to remind myself what life is all about. From the little, yet unseen flowers to unknown insects, I'm always fascinated by the diversity and the beauty of nature. I always bring home a souvenir, like a pine cone or a stone.

Making clay figurines or linocut prints - these creative activities are inexpensive and not difficult, yet they're always so relaxing. Whether I make something simple like a few little cubes or a whole mini kitchen set, clay is always fun to work with, and the act of squeezing it around in my hands is therapeutic in a way.
Linocut is a bit more difficult but also very rewarding. It puts me in the zone, chipping away little bits of linoleum with a knife for hours really feels meditative.

Reading is generally considered a high-brain-wave activity, but it doesn't have to be. Not all types of reading are the same. Also, not every book we read needs to be difficult or educational.
For me, something fun and mysterious can transport me into another world, and I never consider this wasted time. Recently, I really enjoyed "Dexter" novels by Jeff Lindsay, a series of crime novels with wicked twists. They're the kind of light read that I do just for the fun of it.

Games like OpenGuessr are fun ways to keep yourself engaged without spending your mental energy on unnecessary tasks.
It's very simple: the game is based on Google Maps Street View. It puts you in a random spot on Earth. Your task is to figure out where you're located.
Walk the streets of unknown cities, look at people, street signs, cars, and nature around you - and you'll quickly start differentiating between languages and appreciate worldwide cultures more.
In fact, this game is a part of my English curriculum - we play together and discuss the things we see in front of us. I can help you figure out many of the world's writing systems and recognize cultures from different continents. If you'd like to try this type of class (or play any other game with me, while speaking English), check out my Learn with GAMES - ゲームで英語を学びましょう！lesson!