Right up until he passed away, Dr John Hinwood was a prolific blogger (an award-winning blogger in fact!). John’s blog’s shared musing from a rich history of experience, learnings, travel and wisdom

The Hinwood Institute is named in honour of Dr John and to continue his legacy, we’re republishing his blogs to keep his wisdom, wit and wise words alive for the world to enjoy.

You can learn more about the legacy of Dr John Hinwood HERE.

Over many years we have taught thousands of people to change the way they are using their brain during any 24-hour period. As stress is a perception, when we change our state, we change our physiology and we change how our mind is functioning.

Susan Biali Haas M.D. in an article in Psychology Today titled ‘Working With Your Hands Does Wonders for Your Brain’ states that activities that use your hands relieve stress and help you solve problems.

Haas goes onto to say…

“First, when we use our hands on a task that doesn’t demand much cognitively, it gives the mind a chance to relax and rest. As a knowledge worker (I’m a doctor, writer, coach, speaker, etc.), I’m constantly using my brain. It’s gotten worse with the advent of the smartphone, as I spend so much of my downtime reading interesting articles. I also love reading novels. My brain rarely catches a break.

I get a huge sense of relief and pleasure from doing something with my hands that doesn’t require me to think much about anything. It’s magnificent.

Second, when my brain is ‘offline”, it gives it a chance to work on problems behind the scenes. From a number of essays and articles that I read on this topic, it’s not uncommon for people to have breakthrough ideas while mindlessly working on something with their hands.”

“Third, working productively with our hands is profoundly pleasurable. There is something primal about this. We are made to be active and have actively used our hands as part of our daily survival for thousands of years. With the advent of so much technology, many of us move through our days with minimal physical effort. We push a button instead of scrubbing dishes or laundry. Overall, we get far less physical activity than would be optimal for our bodies and minds.”

“Using our hands may actually be key to maintaining a healthy mood, and the lack of this type of activity may contribute to feelings of irritability, apathy, and depression.”

“Third, working productively with our hands is profoundly pleasurable. There is something primal about this. We are made to be active and have actively used our hands as part of our daily survival for thousands of years. With the advent of so much technology, many of us move through our days with minimal physical effort. We push a button instead of scrubbing dishes or laundry. Overall, we get far less physical activity than would be optimal for our bodies and minds.”

“Using our hands may actually be key to maintaining a healthy mood, and the lack of this type of activity may contribute to feelings of irritability, apathy, and depression.”

Times are changing though, and this obligation is increasingly being enforced. Common law claims for negligence with workplace stress are emerging, and it is anticipated that stress injuries to employees will in the near future be treated in much the same way that injuries sustained from accidents, falls, jars, slips, jerks, jolts, falls and manual handling or being struck are treated.