Handwriting and your Health!

I love to write, I find that it is both therapeutic and a way for me to vent and get things out of my system. So when I was asked if I would like to share with you a guest post all about how writing is good for your health I knew that it would be fitting.

Photograph courtesy of Pixabay

Handwriting and your Health - A Collaborative Guest Post

Handwriting is good for the mind 

Handwriting is good for your health. Picking up a pen is a way of fast-tracking the memory banks to retain information.

Picking up a pen is good for your health 

In a research document published by Pam A. Mueller and Daniel M. Oppenheimer, they found that students writing out their notes longhand with a pen rather than using a keyboard could recall more information. It took them longer to write their notes rather than to type. The researchers emphasised how writing engages more parts of the brain and therefore aids memory retention. Laptops and tablets come alive with distracting alerts and pop-ups demanding more power from the brain’s processor.

Blue screen or notepad and pen? 

The Pen Is Mightier Than The Keyboard’ was the name given to the research programme. Over a period of time, the group of student’s results were analysed and those who wrote their notes had a better conceptual understanding of the subject than those who typed. They found that using a keyboard resulted in lengthy verbatim style notes compared to the hand writers who processed and then edited the information they wrote on paper.

Meditation in hand 

Adults are rediscovering something their kids already know works, the magical absorbing qualities of the colouring book. Handwriting is also believed by the people at the Mindful Organisation to carry healing qualities. Colouring and writing a journal is a way to focus and calm the mind by stimulating the brain. If you know someone who needs help relaxing a put their name on a pen and buy them notebook they want to be seen with in the coffee shop.

Healthy habits start early

Young children can benefit from some proficient writing habits. These are also effortless ways to engage and have fun too.

• Hand to eye coordination is a learnt skill and using your fingers to follow shapes and make patterns is good place to start. Try drawing in sand or on a steamed-up mirror.
• Stubby little pencils are better for little fingers to control.
• Have you noticed how messy adults handwriting is? The secret is to slow down! This applies to children and adults.
• How the pencil is held makes a lot of difference to the results. Look at how you hold a pen, then demonstrate this to the child. 
• One less tantrum. More time spent with pen and paper, the less time spent trying to remove a child from the magnetic black screen.