TFind your focus, focus on the here and now, thus appreciating what you have. It is the principle of mindfulness and of meditating on what one is doing, without doing it automatically: in recent years more and more people have started not only practicing mindfulness but doing it with Legosthe famous Danish constructions for children: «That which calms the mind is the how we relate to that activity» he comments Carolina Traverso, psychologist and mindfulness expert.
Mindfulness and Lego: their “power” to calm the mind
Not surprisingly, in 2019 the author Abbie Headon in his Build Yourself Happyinserts Lego among the fifty activities that help to calm the mind and stress: «It is necessary to make a clarification: what reassures you is not necessarily doing the buildings. If we are set on the goal, if we have a perfectionist approach, if we perceive the activity to be carried out as too difficult for us or tiring or boring, our mind will hardly calm down by doing it. On the contrary, it is very likely that he will be filled with judgmental thoughts about the activity or ourselves. This applies to Lego as well as to all leisure and work activities» explains the expert.
The point is in fact another. The fundamental aspect is in fact focus on the attitude you have while playing with Legos: «The focus shouldn’t be on building something specific, neither good nor bad, but simply putting together the few pieces of the buildings. The invitation is from going back to what we are doing through Legos whenever we realize that the mind has gone away and we are thinking of something else, exactly as we do in breathing meditation».
Focus on the present to lower stress
And the Lego bricks, but also other elements, fulfill this function to the full: concentrating on what is being built, on the noise they make while handling them, on the material and the sensation it gives in contact with the skin, unconsciously allows focus on the breath and then to calm down. “This it is a type of approach that is perfectly suited to all those actions that take place automaticallysuch as washing dishes or taking a shower. It is no coincidence that in the practice of mindfulness, one piece of advice that is often given is to consciously carry out a daily routine activity».
That is to say, reconnect with the senses, returning to what we can see, hear, sounds, every time we realize that we are thinking of something else. It is not essential how the action is being performed, it is no coincidence that the Lego company advises in these cases not to follow the instructions, but to let oneself be guided by one’s instinct, precisely because the important thing is not how to do it but just do it. This is why the writer Abbie Headon in her book advises to follow your own enjoyment, taste and instinct, to put aside what your inner voice may say, and to just enjoy the pleasure of creating something.
Step-by-step, mindfulness with Lego
How to behave then? On its website, the Danish game brand breaks down the practice into six steps:
1. Make yourself comfortablesomewhere where you feel comfortable and know you won’t be disturbed for a while.
2. Put the phone aside, perhaps leaving it in another room or setting it to silent: as the company explains, some studies have shown that people look at their cell phones about every 10 minutes. In this case it is best to avoid it.
3. Start building, no matter what but do it: Headon recommends use even only 5-6 bricksso as to limit distractions and further stimulate creativity.
4. Pay attention to your body: Do you have clenched jaws? Is the gaze fixed and the shoulders hunched? You have to relax and concentrate about what is being done.
5. Does the mind wander? It’s normal, there’s no need to get angry. Calmly, just move it back to the buildings.
6. Build and then destroy and rebuild. As Annie Headon explains, this gesture helps to dismantle problems and rethink something more satisfying, so as to “let go” and slowly relax.
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