Despite what I advise patients in the exam room, I fight a constant battle to get: 

• 8 hours of sleep
• 30 minutes of exercise 5 days a week
• 5 fruits and vegetables a day

So, if I’m already struggling to master those healthy habits, why would I add imagination-training to the list? 

Image courtesy of Ben Moore via unsplash.com

Because, cultivating our imaginations is like getting an oil change. We can run for a while without it, but at a lower performance.  

Imagination is where our bodies and minds fuse together. It is the place where we forge connections, concoct solutions, and envision new possibilities. Imagination is where our creativity flourishes.

Over the past couple years, I’ve started to realize that devoting time to imagination-health decreases my stress levels and increases my productivity. But, who has time to add one more thing to their schedule? 

So, here are a few (free) activities for stimulating your imagination in twenty-minutes or less. If you’re like me, you can probably scrounge up that time from somewhere in your week.

• Go for a walk—without your earbuds. Watch for dancing. Listen for music. Feel the tapestry of nature. Notice the details.

• Read or listen to John Keats’s poem “Ode to Autumn.” Read it a second time, slowly, swimming among the images. Then, read it out loud.

• Listen to Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet,” performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. Close your eyes, and see love’s first meeting, the swords, and the tomb.

• Observe Rembrandt’s 1667 “Portrait of an Elderly Man.” Then compose a letter from this man to his son, taking cues from the painting.