Engaging in video games can bring about feelings of excitement and involvement, but they can also significantly impact your overall well-being. Here’s a guide on how to play mindfully, utilizing straightforward habits to ensure you keep enjoying gaming and feeling your best.
Video games provide limitless enjoyment, immersing you in a stunning realm of art and narrative, along with the thrilling rush of earning points and the consistent escape of an engrossing visual experience. However, it can be challenging to step back from the screen, even when it’s necessary. Here’s an important point to consider: the constant sensory stimulation is comparable to running an engine continuously without letting it cool down. Practicing mindfulness techniques can enable you to manage your gaming experience better, leading to improved sleep, reduced fatigue, and ultimately making you more resilient and savvy in life’s journey.
In both life and gaming, when faced with unexpected challenges, you might feel overwhelmed or trapped. To regain your strength and resilience—think of these as your health points—it’s essential to recognize the resources around you that can assist in your recovery. These might include simple yet effective revivers, such as standing up once an hour, stretching, walking around, attending work or school, engaging with loved ones, playing with your pet, or connecting with the vibrancy of life both on and off the screen.
To regain your strength and resilience—think of these as your health points—it’s essential to recognize the resources around you that can assist in your recovery.
This concept embodies mindfulness. Other mindfulness methods can support you in staying focused on your goals, especially when life feels challenging.
3 Mindful Gaming Techniques
1. A simple breathing technique can enhance your presence, stability, and energy, both in the game and in real life. Additionally, practicing focused breathing can be beneficial when troubling thoughts arise.
Try This: Once you settle in front of your monitor, take a moment to notice your breath—feel the movement of your abdomen as you inhale and exhale. Concentrate on this experience for three complete breaths.
Level up: For deeper relaxation, encourage your body’s calming response by prolonging your exhalation. A longer out-breath supports your parasympathetic nervous system, aiding in relaxation and enhancing your focus. Practice inhaling for a count of three, then exhaling for a count of five, repeating this for several breaths. Experiment to find your ideal rhythm. Perhaps it’s two breaths in and four out, or five in and seven out? Discover the ratio that promotes your greatest sense of calm.
2. Tuning in to your senses is another fantastic gaming technique. Set aside five seconds each day to deliberately focus on one or more of your senses. Spend five seconds on keen listening, or five seconds feeling the chair’s support as you sit.
Level Up: When transitioning from the immersive game world to real life, it may take time to establish meaningful connections outside of gaming. Focusing on your senses instead of racing thoughts can provide an anchor, steering you away from anxiety about the future or regret about the past. Your senses are experienced in the present moment. If life starts to feel overwhelming, reconnect by indulging in touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing to enhance your sense of well-being.
Try This: A 5-Second Sensory Mission
Explore Sound:
- Direct your attention to your ears and listen deeply to the sounds in your environment for five seconds.
- Next, fully concentrate on the audio elements of the video game you’re playing.
- Enhance your awareness by recognizing how the creators have skillfully used sound to craft an immersive experience.
Seeing Is Believing:
- Look around your room or at your screen to spot something you’ve overlooked that’s been right in front of you.
- Take five seconds to appreciate the colors, art, and fine details. Slow down and truly enjoy what you’re observing. (This can increase the flow of dopamine, endorphins, serotonin, and oxytocin—the body’s feel-good chemicals.)
- Notice how your busy thoughts settle when you take five seconds to focus on your visual or other sensory experiences.
3. Engage in some real-life movement. Feeling restless? Spent the night gaming? Just finished a level and waiting for the next scene to load? Remember, your body also craves refreshment to keep up with your gaming.
Just finished a level and waiting for the next scene to load? Remember, your body also craves refreshment to help you keep gaming.
Try This: Stand up and walk around your room. As you move, focus on the ordinary sensations you typically overlook: lifting your foot, moving it through the air, and feeling it make contact with the ground. Continually redirect your attention to the process of moving your feet. Bonus: You’ve just discovered the powerful connection between body and mind.
Level Up: Spending 5-15 minutes outside in the morning sunshine can benefit your bones, help your sleep, and keep you in shape.
Incorporate these brief mindful gaming practices into your routine, using your senses to ground yourself in the moment, enhancing your sense of vitality, and enriching your gaming experience. Feel your feet touch the ground as you approach your gaming chair. Stay gently alert, since a calm approach allows for greater precision and is far less draining than unnecessary exertion. In doing so, you’re fostering mindfulness and concentration even before you begin playing. Well Played.