three dot drawing
CREATING NEW NEURAL PATHWAYS THROUGH A STATE OF PLAY
EXERCISE:
time required: 3+ minutes
materials: paper, pen or pencil
Make three dots on a piece of paper and connect them without picking up your pen or pencil. Repeat multiple times on separate sheets of paper. Notice how you make changes each time and push against your natural inclinations, thinking outside of the box. Compare your first and last drawings. This exercise is meditative, low pressure and great for any age. Mistakes aren't possible here, and you can repeat and experiment with different shapes and ways to connect the dots.
BENEFITS:
promotes divergent thinking and open-mindedness
helps overcome functional fixedness (the cognitive bias that negatively affects a person's ability to problem-solve and innovate)
hones problem-solving skills
increases playfulness
stimulates neuroplasticity in the brain
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change itself constantly by creating new neural pathways and losing those which are no longer used. Encouraging the brain’s neuroplasticity is the key to sustained adult learning and emotional intelligence. It helps the brain remain open-minded, intuitive and able to overcome biases throughout adulthood. For the brain to rewire itself it requires sustained practice of a new behavior. This will sufficiently challenge the brain to think in a new way.
(left: embroidered self-portrait by Juana Gomez)
