Need a Creative Idea? Take a Walk, Science Says
A problem has been bugging you for days — you just can't solve it, and it's driving you crazy. But then you go for a walk and suddenly the answer pops right into your head!
It's a great feeling — and this link between exercise and creativity has been studied by scientists around the world.
Dr. Chong Chen and his team from Japan's Yamaguchi University wanted to find out how different types of physical activity can help us solve problems and think creatively.
They looked at 21 past studies from places including the US, the UK, Spain, Sweden, China, India and Japan. The studied exercises included walking, running, cycling, dance and yoga.
And the hardest exercise actually didn't give the best results.
In fact, Chen and his team found that it was natural walking that almost always had a positive effect on people's creativity — even if it was just walking inside a room or going up and down some stairs, for as little as three to four minutes.
Dance is also good. Most of the studies Chen's team looked at found that dance helps significantly with creativity — particularly among adults.
However, the results for yoga were unclear. And low-intensity aerobic exercise like cycling was not found to have an effect.
There were some benefits from moderate and vigorous aerobic exercise, however, but "maximal effort" exercise seemed to have a mostly negative effect.
So completely exhausting yourself probably won't help your creativity!
Chen wrote that his team's findings could be used in schools and businesses by including short sessions of physical activity during the day to encourage creative thinking.
It's not even about keeping fit, Chen says — you just have to move!
As he told The Guardian: "Knowing that just a few minutes of walking, or other low-intensity physical activity, can enhance creative thinking should make getting up to move seem more worthwhile."
