avatarSynthia Stark

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Doodles Reveal Mindfulness and Better Memory

Examining the Benefits of Doodling and Colouring

Photo by Yan L on Unsplash — Doodling gives many of us a sense of calm.

It’s been a crazy time for many people, especially with the explosion of coping mechanisms that have proliferated the landscape, ranging from video games to seeking a crisis line, or spending more time on various educational, linguistic, and counselling apps.

While I’m working towards becoming a therapist, I have previously worked and volunteered as a psychological student researcher for a handful of years. Critically examining interdisciplinary topics has become second nature, especially when deconstructing convoluted academic prose into everyday language.

Colouring and doodling are fun activities to pursue, even for us adults. Sometimes, we doodle and colour away because we want to spend time away from our computers and phones. Plus, no one wants to obsess or ruminate on deadlines all the time.

Either way, we don’t usually have a grand or conscious purpose for doodling. We just do it because we were in the mood for it.

Photo by Renee Fisher on Unsplash — I always find doodles fascinating.

If we take the premise of mindfulness, it’s basically the notion that we try to keep ourselves grounded by focussing on our present reality. When we are stressed, our mind sometimes wanders dangerously into the past, such as through remorse and regret, and into the future, such as through anxiety.

Remorse and anxiety can become problems when it interferes with daily living. To combat its severity, we often have to check in to present reality, such as through mindfulness.

Colouring and doodling are creative ways of provoking mindfulness. For example, while colouring or doodling away, you’re concentrating on what you are doing at the moment, and after a while, the fears and worries of your past and future fade away.

While these fears fade away, your brain gets a bit of relief. It can silently calibrate, so when you do get back to your problems, like emerging deadlines, it feels a little bit refreshed, kind of like a recharged battery.

We’re focussed on the task at hand, and we’re not overwhelmed. We are operating at a face appropriate to us and it’s stimulating because you can make your doodles as fancy as you’d like.

Photo by Anna Hecker on Unsplash — You could probably doodle or colour outside.

In a study conducted in 2009, participants listened to a recording of places and names and had to write down what they remembered. Half the participants were asked to doodle during recording. The ones who doodled recalled and retained more information than the others.

It seems that colouring and doodling are helpful for invoking mindfulness, attention, and memory retrieval, and is, therefore, a powerful learning aid.

As the artist Jon Burgerman once said,

“Why is it great to create? Because it’s enjoyable. It’s fun making stuff — you start with nothing and end up with something else. Being creative opens up new ideas, exercises our brain, and makes us feel good.”

For more articles from the author, please read:

Doodling
Colouring
Mental Health
Psychology
Mindfulness
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