DARE exercise a different kind of muscle!
Give your left brain muscles a break and exercise the right brain muscles instead. Taking a break can make us more productive, industrious, and effective.  As I have mentioned in past blogs, it’s Dr. Herb Benson, founder of the Mind/Body Medical Institute at Harvard medical school who pushes for such breaks as the way to achieve “breakthrough†ideas for our left brains. So, indulge in right-brain activity and rest the left brain, and then come back to that problem that’s been vexing you. Right brain play helps left brain productivity!
Look for pleasurable ways to take a break – be a “pleasure activist†(not the same as a hedonist!) Actually, the term “pleasure activist†is from Fred Plotkin, a master at a lot of intellectual strengths.  A writer, speaker, seeker, and a fascinating (and fascinated) individual, he is best known for his musical analytical talents, and these two books, Opera 101 and Classical Music 101.
Fred Plotkin urges us, when using the senses, “to not analyze what is being perceived while we are doing the perceiving.â€Â Women over 40, and indeed most people, tend to crash through their lives – constantly rushing, and not hearing the sounds around them, eating but not tasting, smelling but not really savoring, seeing but not perceiving.
So, here is the DARE. Today, try to take pleasure in something that crosses your path – perhaps that flute player in the subway. Stop for a minute and listen to the exquisite note he lets ring. Or perhaps that bit of dark chocolate from Switzerland that you popped in your mouth as you ran for the taxi. Can you sit in the cab and let the velvety taste fill every sense? Close your eyes and enjoy that sweet moment with all of your awareness. That is pleasure activism, and let me tell you, it feels very good! Use your imagination. When you slide into the swimming pool this weekend, feel, really feel, the water over your skin, the sense of weightlessness, the cool relief after the heat of our summer sun.
Let that complete change of brain activity recharge you.
DARE exercise a different kind of muscle!
