You may have heard of the term intellectual wellness; it is not a concept that has been introduced recently. The word “intellectual” makes it appear that intellectual wellness is mainly focused on things someone learns in school/college or has something to do with a person’s intelligence quotient (IQ).
Still, it is much more than just academics. It deals with all of the knowledge a person has, both academic and beyond that. It is something most people develop in their entire lives without even realizing it. In today’s article, we will discuss some ways to increase your intellectual wellness.
What Is Intellectual Wellness?
Intellectual wellness motivates you to engage in various creative and mentally stimulating activities. These activities can expand your knowledge and skills while letting you share your knowledge and acquired skills with others.
This element can be developed through academics, various cultural involvements, community involvement, and personal hobbies. It’s a continuous process that develops throughout your lifetime.
As intellectual wellness develops, you can increase personal resources that work together with the other areas of wellness to achieve a more balanced life. Engaging in creative and mentally challenging activities—such as chess, reading, or solving puzzles—may help slow cognitive decline.
Ways to Increase Your Intellectual Wellness
1. Always Try Something New
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s capability to grow and evolve in response to various life experiences. Earlier views underestimated the brain’s ability to adapt, but research now shows neuroplasticity continues throughout life. Your brain can change and adapt through various stimulation, stress, and experiences. You should continue to feed your brain with those experiences.
Try to do something new outside your routine life. Come out of your comfort zone and try some new activity you never knew existed. Challenge yourself more to do better and get better. This is the first and one of the most important ways to increase your intellectual wellness.
2. Read as Much as Possible
Many successful people, such as Bill Gates, read about 50 books per year, using reading as a key learning tool. People like Oprah, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Warren Buffett are all enthusiastic readers. The question is, what should you read? Anything that increases your mindset broadens your views, enriches your experiences, and enhances your knowledge.
It can be anything like a magazine, newspaper, or some good fiction or non-fiction book. It doesn’t matter. If it excites your mind and produces interest or lets you learn something new or explore something interesting, go for it—your brain will thank you for it.
3. Exercise Daily
Exercise is good for your heart and body; it can also strengthen your brain by improving cognitive function. In a randomized controlled trial (Erickson et al., PNAS), aerobic exercise increased hippocampal volume by about 2% in older adults, the brain area responsible for verbal memory and learning.
Other studies show that physical activity elevates Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), supporting neurogenesis and memory formation, which helps the growth of new connections in your brain.
As a result, exercise enhances your learning abilities, sharpens your memory, and helps you to feel better overall. Aim for at least 30-40 minutes of exercise. This could include walking, running, biking, or swimming three to five days per week.
4. Travel as Much as You Can
Traveling helps you to experience other cultures in the purest form. You get exposed to other people’s lives, their economic and cultural activities, and their religious and cultural beliefs, among other elements that make up culture.
This inspires you to understand other people and how their background influences them. Traveling can open up an entirely new world before your eyes. Most people naturally enjoy traveling, which makes it an enjoyable way to expand intellectual wellness.
5. Be Social
We all are social beings programmed for connection. We need social engagement to cultivate happiness and emotional balance. Large meta-analyses (Holt-Lunstad et al., PLoS Medicine, 2010) show that strong social relationships are linked to higher well-being and lower mortality risk.
Moreover, when you are around others, you learn and grow because you get exposed to different perspectives and new stories. Try to foster healthy relationships in your life. Spend quality time—either in person or virtually—with friends, family, and colleagues, or people you value.
Join a hiking group, take some hobby classes, or play on a recreational sports team. Make a conscious effort to build deeper connections with people, listen attentively, and try to learn from the people around you.
6. Get Ample Sleep
It may seem counterintuitive that sleep contributes to intellectual growth, but it plays a crucial role in brain health. You might think being active is the only way to grow intellectually, but sleep is equally essential. When we sleep, our brain eliminates stored toxins and takes out the ‘mental trash,’ which helps our brains function better.
Sleep plays a restorative role—removing toxins and consolidating memory, per NIH and CDC research. Lack of sleep weakens reasoning, problem-solving capacities, and attention to detail. However, studies continue to come out on the significance of getting enough quality sleep and, more importantly, the consequences of not getting it.
Make 7 to 8 hours of sound sleep a nightly priority. Your mind and body will be more functional and efficient after that.
Read More: 9 Traits of High Performers
7. Be Creative
Creativity fuels intellectual wellness and enhances overall well-being. Consider music, for example—studies suggest musical training can enhance cognitive performance. Meta-analyses confirm musicians often score higher in executive functioning and working memory. These abilities include problem-solving, working memory, processing speed, and mental flexibility.
If you are not a musical type, that’s okay. You can get creative through painting, crafting, cooking, writing, photography, pottery, or even gardening—anything you can involve yourself with, with an open heart and mind.
8. Playing Games for Brain Stimulation
Many games require strategy rather than luck, especially those like chess or shogi. You constantly think about your next move. This stimulation of the mind enhances your intellectual wellness over time.
Playing with others helps you read body language and connect it with their decisions and strategies. Strategy and problem-solving games can enhance cognitive flexibility and planning skills when played moderately. Games are a fantastic way to interact, share, and challenge ideas.
9. Meditate
Meditation and mindfulness are proven methods to enhance intellectual capacity. They can help by increasing your brainpower. Meditation helps calm your mind, improving mental clarity, emotional balance, and focus.
If meditation feels challenging, practice deep breathing instead—it promotes mental clarity and calmness. Deep breathing enhances circulation by supplying oxygen to your muscles and brain. It activates your parasympathetic nervous system (responsible for rest and digestion), promoting a state of relaxation and mental clarity.
Conclusion
Intellectual wellness is about being more curious about the world and increasing your horizons. The more you learn, the more you can share your knowledge with others, and the better you do for yourself and the world.
There are several ways to increase your intellectual wellness. Motivate yourself to pick up reading again, or revisit a creative hobby you once loved. Brush up on old skills—bring out that guitar you played in college and start playing again. Go to a concert, play, or ballet performance. Intensifying your intellectual wellness can make you a better version of yourself.
