Imagination Important for Optimal Health

The greatest contributing factor to overall health and well-being is an active imagination. Daydreaming, fantasy, and participating in the arts stimulate brain development and help prevent atrophying of this very impressive organ. Empathizing with fictitious characters promotes emotional balance. Fantasizing can result in a more rewarding sex life. We encourage our children to use their imaginations. So why is it that we as adults tend to receive imagination with such distrust?

There are three primary facets of imagination: daydreaming, fantasy (which can include role-playing), and art. On their own, not one of these elements can be used to define "imagination," however any one can be used as a method to cultivate it.

Daydreams are imagination in its most raw and uncontrollable state. They involve us becoming immersed, for a very short time, in another reality. For this brief moment the world ceases to exist; and so too does stress. Daydreaming has many of the same benefits as meditation. However, due to its sporadic nature, long-term physical effects are relatively minimal.

Fantasy is similar to a game of "what if." The individual chooses a situation, location, or event and simply allows their imagination to run wild. The process is not guided in that a definite outcome is not determined before the process begins. Fantasy provides a safe means to release stress and pent-up emotion. It is also incredibly important to the development of the decision making process. Without the ability to empathize or become immersed in "the possible," skills that to a great extent characterize fantasy, an individual cannot properly predict the consequences of their decisions.

Finally, the very nature of art is to stimulate the imagination of both the artist and their public. Art is incredibly emotive. A picture can make you laugh; a song has the power to make you cry; drama plays with our heartstrings. The raw emotions that art is capable of evoking provide the opportunity to purge unhealthy reactions and stimulate pleasant emotions. Art may at times seem trivial, but it offers very real emotional benefits. Novels, for instance, can have an impact on us. As readers we feel particularly close to the author. He or she has laid out their minds to us, and we, equally exposed, have internalized every thought, every emotion, and every nuance. In reading, we lose ourselves. Books (fiction in particular) take us out of the mundane, everyday world; in essence, they give us a vacation from ourselves. It is through books that those of us unwilling or unable to participate in creative endeavors can exercise the imagination muscle.

"This is all well and good," you say, "But where is the real benefit?"

It has been proven that emotional and psychological well-being contribute to physical health. Stress, anger, depression, and other similarly negative emotions have very devastating effects on brain, heart, stomach, kidney, and liver functions. Purging the body of negativity and promoting positive emotions leads to a more balanced physical state and can even influence longevity. In fact, statistically speaking, symphony conductors have one of the highest life expectancy rates. This does not give you a license to stop exercising or to neglect your diet. But by all means, don't neglect your imagination either. The time that it takes to daydream or read a short story seems like a small price to pay in exchange for better health.