Vlog: Daydreaming Pros and Cons

I have used daydreaming for stress relief for most of my life:  from about age 8 years to my early 20s.  I've used it since then as well, just not as much.  I probably used it too much as an escape early on, but I truly do feel that it helped me cope.

There are pros and cons associated with daydreaming.  

First, the Pros:

• Helps you get creative:  I do this with writing, disappearing into that world--getting into "the zone."  Creativity can also help you relax, find new solutions to problems you may never have thought of otherwise.
• Helps you understand where someone is coming from; empathize:  Daydreaming can help you think how it is for your family and friends when you have to cancel due to health issues or some other reason.  It can also help you feel more connected to those family and friends who live far away. Research shows that daydreaming/fantasizing can cause similar reactions to those you would experience in reality while in the same situations.  Excited.  Frightened.  Calm.  Refreshed.  Sad.  How cool is that?
• De-stress through letting go:  Giving yourself a little break from constant worry, medication schedules, doctors' appointments, physical therapy and so on by daydreaming.  It can aid healing and improve your wellness by boosting your immune system and the overall way you feel.
• Clarity and better memory:  Daydreaming can help you think more clearly and better remember new information.  This is excellent news for those of you who are facing meeting a new doctor or new diagnosis.  For planning, organizing and performance at work, too.  Use it to go into any new situations with more confidence.  

Now, the Cons:

• Distraction:  Daydreaming can take your attention away from learning, work, chores, family, and so on.  It makes retrieving information more difficult, say, if you're reading or taking a test.
• Unhappiness:  If you daydream about negative things you could become more unhappy.  If you daydream about positive things, it doesn't seem to help you become happier.  It all depends on your view of your daydream experience and the topic.  Go into it realizing that it is only a tool that can help you temporarily zone out and relieve stress.  Use it for good rather than bad.  
• Staying in a dream world:  If you stay in the dream world and can't function in the real one; if you avoid socializing with friends and family, chronically miss work or school to spend time daydreaming, it's important for you to recognize this as unhealthy and seek help from a healthcare professional.    
• Putting people on a pedestal: If you imagine a person to be a certain way in your daydreams, it could negatively affect your life and even be dangerous.  For example, if you're in an abusive relationship and disappear into your daydreams as an escape, and while there imagine that the person is really amazing and loving, and then come back to reality and convince yourself that this same person is really kind and deserves your love even though they are abusive toward you, that is not healthy.  On the flip side, you could also go into your dream world and imagine doing terrible things to someone in your life you dislike strongly, although they are basically a decent person. That will not help foster understanding or a healthy relationship with that person in reality.

You absolutely can learn to use daydreaming as a tool to get you through the tough times.  Just remember to use it for good and not stay there.  

Do you use daydreaming to cope with chronic health issues or other problems?  Has it hurt?  Has it helped?  Let me know.  Thanks.  See you back here next week.  

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Frontiers in Psychology:  Pros and Cons of a Wandering Mind: A Prospective Study

  

Vlog: Part 2: Using Your Imagination To Manage Stress

Hi! I'm back to bring you the second part of my vlog on imagination.  In the first part, I talked about how I have used imagination to relieve stress throughout my life.  In today's vlog, I talk about how imagination can help you and how to actually tap into your imagination.  Here we go.  

How can imagination help you?

Stress relief:  Some stress is good.  It challenges you to get things done, meet deadlines, grow/change for good, and so on.  But getting too stressed out can be harmful to your health.  Stress can cause:

• physical symptoms
• missed work due to illness
• psychological symptoms
• relationship issues and more.  It can touch all areas of your life.

Using imagination for good:  While imagination can cause disease, it also can heal.  You may worry yourself sick (literally) about money, tests, surgery, relationships--even about getting sick!  How about using it for good instead to: 

• see the big picture 
• relieve stress 
• work out problems/find solutions
• practice conversations with doctors, bosses, friends, teachers, family, lawyers, insurance agents--anyone  
• get relief from the negativity that's bogging you down either in your head or from others 
• improve your emotional and mental well being

So, how do you do this?  

How do you practice imagining to reap the benefits of it?

• Ask yourself what imagination would do for you that's positive
• Make room for imagination in your life
• Use active imagination, which was created by Carl Jung, to connect the conscious and sub-conscious. Examples are dream interpretation, visualization, and daydreaming.  You can imagine an army representing the immune system fighting the disease, or enemy.  Or you can imagine a meadow of wildflowers or the seashore that is calming.  You can also use meditation to bring yourself to a safe place in which to work out problems that cause fear.  And how about viewing your health issue as a movie?  What do you see?  How do you feel?  How did you get this health issue?  What can you do to ease the symptoms or recover?  
• Commit to taking action based on what you learned from your imagination
• Do more of what you love (sing, exercise, eat your favorite foods, place fresh flowers throughout the house), in order to attract positive energy.  This positive energy sharpens your critical thinking and decision-making skills, which you need in order to solve problems and reduce stress.
• Keep a lookout for signs, symbols, and synchronicity.  For example, when I'm feeling down and I see a cloud in the shape of a feather, I take it as a sign that my guardian angel has my back since the feather is a sign that your guardian angel is nearby.
• Make sure to review what you're doing to see what works and what doesn't.  Make adjustments as needed.

It is very important to become aware of what you need in order to facilitate change.  Go within yourself, using your imagination, to help you find out.  

PNI

Robert Ader, a psychologist, and Nicholas Cohen, an immunologist, came up with the term psychoneuroimmunology.  What's that all about?  Let's take a look:

• The idea behind the big name is that the mind can activate specific neurological processes which in turn can stimulate the immune system to suppress illness and improve health.  Yay, I love it!
• And, as I mentioned earlier, while the mind's reaction to stress can stunt immunity and promote illness, visualization, imagination, and such can stimulate the immune system to better fight disease.  Who-hoo!  

Okay, here are more ways to tap into this awesome thing called imagination:

• relax
• get a clear image of your immune system fighting your disease--whatever health issue you're dealing with.  This could be an army fighting an enemy, a bunch of big fish representing your immune system devouring a bunch of other fish representing your disease or another stressor, or a stream of light that surrounds you and fills you with healing energy.

Here's the but, and a counter but

All this isn't backed by copious amounts of research, but it can be used safely as a part of your healthcare plan in conjunction with your traditional medical treatments and therapies.  It can't hurt you to use your imagination for good.  The only way it could hurt you is if you decided to live in your imaginary world and never deal with reality.  Try it to ease your mind and stress lwhen you most need it and see how you feel.  See if it helps.  And, if it does, which has been true in my case, wow!  Imagine, with more solid research data, what a wonderful feeling it would be to have your doctor actually prescribe imagination as a potential treatment for what's ailing you!  

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Resources:  www.psychologytoday.com and www.goodtherapy.org

Vlog: Using Your Imagination To Relieve Stress and Promote Healing, Part 1

Hi all!  I'm back from vacation.  We had a good time in California celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary and visiting a friend.  

This vlog is a summary of how I used imagination to relieve stress throughout my life, especially during my early years.  

• I invented an imaginary world in my bedroom from as far back as I can remember where I was healthy, strong, talented, popular, married, a mom, working at a job I loved, and so on.  
• I worked out problems
• Practiced conversations that I would have with doctors, teachers, family members, friends, and job interviewers
• I was creative: drawing, painting, singing, dancing, writing for hours on end.
• It freed me from the stress, provided an escape, at least temporarily
• It helped me build confidence

I did overdo it a bit as I got into my teens, spending as much time as possible in my sanctuary.  That probably wasn't as healthy as tempered imagination would have been, but I say it still benefited me and may have saved my life.  I was very insecure, lost, depressed throughout my childhood as a result of dealing with my chronic health issues, surgeries, pain, doctor's appointments, therapies, and so on.  And I hated using a wheelchair.  I felt like it made me stick out rather than giving me freedom and mobility.  The imaginary world I created gave me a much-needed break from the stress.

In Part 2, I'll talk about how imagination can ease stress and promote healing as well as how to actually tap into your imagination and use it for good rather than negative means.  

Do you use your imagination for stress relief?  Or do you use it to worry, imagining the worst?  What type of results have you seen?

Part 2 will be coming soon.   Take care.

Fostering Friendships

Happy Friday!  I hope you have some fun plans for the weekend.  A friend of ours from California is coming to visit, so we're looking forward to that.  

Friendships are important to our well-being, as I've mentioned before.  They help keep us healthier, improve mood, reduce stress, and so on.  But, how can we foster friendships in this crazy busy world we live in?  There are many ways to do this:

• Take a class--Do this with a friend and/or to find new friends with a common interest.
• Go on a day trip--Grab your bestie and hit the road!
• Have a heart to heart--Simply sit and talk with your friend(s).  Really listen.
• Play a game--Sports, board games, charades, yard game, hop scotch, anything.  Just play!
• Go out dancing--Or turn up the music and spontaneously dance with your friend in your living room.
• Chat on the phone or via Skype--Call a friend you haven't talked to in awhile and chat.
• Visit a friend--Arrange to visit a friend, either local or out of town, you haven't seen in awhile.
• Volunteer--Grab a friend and work together to benefit a good cause.  Or volunteer by yourself to meet new people with the same giving spirit.
• Get crafty--Invite a friend over and break out the fabric, super-glue, construction paper, yarn, paints, anything crafty, and go to it.  Crank up some high energy music to add to the fun.
• Go to a sports event--Invite a friend to go to a local or big-league game.  Bond over burgers, dogs, and drinks while you're at it.
• Work together on a big project--work with a friend restoring a classic car, building furniture, or restoring a house.

These are just some ideas.  What would you add to the list?  I'd love to hear from you.

Please consider joining my new Facebook group Fostering Friendships.  I'm really excited about it.  It's all about helping you make friends and foster those current friendships in your lives.  The group is free and I have a theme for each day, and lots of ideas to make the group fun.  Come join us!