Juggling is Magic!
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And another significant nuance: juggling is primarily volumetric gymnastics, and volume tasks will always be more difficult than tasks in the plane. It is understandable that this affects the development of the brain. For example, if we compare the number of neurons in the cortex of the hemispheres in mice, rats and moles (representatives of the “flat world”) with the same pigeons, tits, magpies and rooks (inhabitants of celestial volume), then we will have to give the palm to birds. You will be surprised, but the raven will turn out to be smarter than a cat with a dog and at least not dumber than a noble horse! And the Ara parrot in intelligence will leave far behind the bears with lions and even confidently ahead of the huge giraffe! If we talk about the marine element, then this is still the same gigantic volume, requiring the brain of floating creatures to calculate calculations made in three dimensions at once. Perhaps it is for this reason that we observe that mammals living in an aquatic volume (grinds, fin whales, dolphins, orcas) are equal to humans by all formal features! Accordingly, draw conclusions about juggling, doing which, you break out of the plane into the volume…
And now a few words about mirror neurons – the very ones with which the whole animal world is armed and without which no training would be possible.
They were discovered by Italian neurophysiologist Giacomo Rizzolatti in the 1990s. A distinctive feature of them lies in the fact that they work not only during some action, but also when we observe the actions of other people. In other words, mirror neurons allow us to “try on” the behavior of another person. Like a network of small mirrors, a neurochain of similar neurons from birth sensitively tracks the volatile images of the outside world. At the same time, she not only passively reflects them, but forces the brain to copy these images, creating internal models, learning to move, talk, eat and dress. In fact, this is the same imprinting. Ducklings emulate their mother from the first days, repeating all her movements, learning to swim, and then fly. Smile at the baby and he will smile back, unconsciously copying your facial expressions. This is also an example of unconscious learning, and in addition to smiling, the child over the years takes on increasingly complex emotions from his parents: irony, politeness, anger, leniency. By the way, the kids also rise from the fours only because they copy the behavior of adults – without any pressure, over and over again making attempts to get on their feet. Lumps, abrasions – nothing stops them because mirror neuron commands are imperative. This works especially hard in the early years. To survive, a little man is simply obliged to learn – and learn as quickly as possible. This explains the speed at which we repeat certain movements, copy facial expressions, words and phrases, voice intonations. The example of children “Mowgli” once again confirms these conclusions, and, getting to the wolves, children run on all fours, among monkeys climb trees. No genes dance anymore, and none of them remember bipedal walking.
If anyone else doubts the existence of mirror neurons, pay attention to how infectious our yawn is. It is worth your interlocutor to yawn a couple of times, and your mouth begins to open itself. This does not mean that you are drawn to sleep, you just copy the visible image. And this is all they are, too – mirror neurons! By the way, the ability of other parrots (and not only) to repeat certain sounds and human words is also explained by the work of mirror neurons. If someone cries, and we see and hear it, our lips involuntarily tremble. Conversely – someone else’s fun boosts our mood, even if we have no idea – who laughs for what reason. We copy feelings and behavior, dance and sports movements, facial expressions and intonation – almost everything. And this is one of the most important natural components. A program that helps survival. We can confidently say that without mirror neurons, no personal development would be possible.
Of course, with age, along with the metabolic rate, the speed of building new neurochains also decreases, but on the other hand, there are already quite efficient neurochains, there is an invaluable experience in assimilating something new. This way we learn not from scratch, and this seriously facilitates our life path.
For example, knowing our native language, we are quite able to learn the second language, and the third and fourth (any polyglot will confirm this) will not give you an easier example. A child fond of drawing is able to succeed in serious painting, in descriptive geometry, and in spelling. A reading person loads almost all parts of the brain, and his mirror neurons perform uniform miracles during reading. Not seeing book characters, not hearing their voices, not feeling smells, earthly tremors, heat, wind and cold, an experienced reader reproduces all this with ease in his own imagination. It is mirror neurochips that allow us to turn into creators and virtual directors. Moreover, avid readers better understand their heroes, empathize with them, which turns the reading process into real art. Those who have reached this stage can safely call themselves established readers – Readers with a capital letter. By the way, the dreams of such Readers will not be as an example brighter, more interesting and more colorful.
But…
Paying tribute to Her Majesty the Book, I will still indicate one weak link. So, this is our vision with you, which, unfortunately, gets tired of books and screens. This is where juggling can come to the rescue. Why? Yes, because working with balls relieves the spasm of the eye muscles, giving the opportunity for full rest and high-quality training of our vision. Therefore, combining these two activities (reading and juggling), we find a new quality of life!
Both reading and juggling stimulate our mirror neurons – and in both hemispheres of the brain. But if multiple works have been written about the benefits of reading, then serious observations of juggling people began to be carried out relatively recently. The first researchers had to be content with logical tests and personal observations, but today theoretical assumptions are confirmed by the readings of all kinds of tomographs, clearly demonstrating that after 2—3 months of active juggling in volunteers from control groups, the amount of white matter in the parietal lobe of the brain increases by an average of 5%! A popular statement was also confirmed that the process is much more important than the final result, since the increase in white matter was observed in all students, regardless of their real success in juggling. At the same time, tests showed a confident increase in IQ by 3—5% or more. So the conclusion is unambiguous:
juggling and reading children (and adults too) are undoubtedly smarter!
It has been repeatedly proven that juggling people show better results of the mental rotation test of complex geometric objects (mental rotation test). It is also worth noting that research related to juggling is becoming more and more every year, and modern equipment only confirms the most optimistic conclusions. Actually, in the old days, craftsmanship and “handicraft” were directly correlated with the human mind. Recall the English “handyman” – which means master, skillful. And in Russia, many enthusiastic epithets were linked with hands: “manual work,” “golden hands,” “master of all trades,” etc.
Unfortunately, today we are seeing the opposite picture, since the dominance of keys and buttons is coming. This is called progress, but… Weaning children from manual labor, we do not protect their childhood at all, on the contrary, we mindlessly destroy them. Any hand work is in itself a semblance of a rebus for our brain. Trying to resolve it, the brain invariably improves and updates its “neuropark.” Old, non-viable neurons are actively replaced by new ones, and here we are talking not only about the development of intelligence, – already today scientists are seriously talking about the fact that by reviving neurogenesis (the creation of new neurons), a person not only smarts, but also significantly prolongs his life. It turns out that, among other things, juggling is also an elixir of youth.
Remember saying: “Nerve cells do not recover”? So – cross out this phrase with a bold cross; are being restored – and how! True, provided that we learn and continue to comprehend this world, if we strain the brain hemispheres.
As I said, if you combine reading with juggling, double winning is secured for you. New neurocheps created in the process of juggling further enrich the reader’s arsenal, simultaneously giving significant unloading to the eye muscles. In addition, fantasy and inner horizons receive an additional impetus, namely, according to scientists, this determines the success of children in school subjects that require spatial imagination – primarily in geometry. However, Academician Landau rightly believed geometry to be the science of sciences, and therefore certain breakthroughs in juggling can be expected in almost all subjects studied, from history to labor lessons.
Chapter 4 On Plans, Laziness and Great Goals
In the childhood besides animated films about Mowgli and the flying Carlson I liked to revise the animated film about “A brave portnyazhk” (the fairy tale by brothers Grimm). The main character in this fairy tale slammed time seven flies once then made an inscription on the belt: “I have a reputation for the athlete not without reason – seven with one blow”. The saying went to the people, and business here, of course, not in flies long ago, and that at competent approach it is possible to execute indeed at once several useful cases. I went to shop, in passing I took out garbage, I checked mail, I brought the receipt to the old woman to the neighbor, etc. Like nothing difficult, but similar tiny algorithms in life of any person hundreds and thousands over the years collect. As a result we receive saving of time, forces and own nerves.
And now I will make a confession: I am an idler. Not most, probably, malicious, but nevertheless I since early years regarded a saying about the laziness which is the progress engine with favor and gravity. How many various devices I invented to facilitate the life to what improbable amount of cunnings and tricks I resorted! I constructed the drafts helping from a fishing line and threads without getting out of a bed, to open a window leaf or doors, to turn on the light or radio. I studied temperature and composition of water most quicker washing ware. I tried to learn lessons in a dream from recorder tapes, and I made of the designer’s details again and again robots who instead of me could remove dust from a house carpet. Once, when I understood that to me laziness to set every evening the alarm clock (at the time of my youth there were no cell phones with numerous functions yet), I quickly studied the espionage science read from books to wake up in time. You adjust as appropriate a brain – and at the right time eyes open. In the eighth class, having been tired to cram portions of foreign words, I armed with a high-speed technique and for few weeks learned all school dictionary, and I had no more problems with cramming…
And now I will explain to what I conduct. And so, on my strong belief, juggling is the occupation which is ideal for idlers. Already at least because all spent efforts pay off even not threefold and where a big prize. Thinking first it is simple to surprise the acquaintances, you unexpectedly for yourself will find out that you became the owner of really magic abilities! I managed to tell about some of them, but, honestly, this list should be repeated once again as in a case with juggling we receive a package of bonuses about which we first don’t even suspect.
So, juggling:
1. It is the most effective help to our sight
2. It is a beautiful bearing and physical shape, an opportunity to train, without leaving the house
3. This controlled mood, an opportunity to struggle with depressions, the fast and operated synthesis of hormones of joy
4. It is a real opportunity to grow wiser and to noticeably move apart a framework of creative activity
5. This strengthening of motility of hands and improvement of natural reaction
6. This improvement of coordination between the right and left hemispheres of a brain allowing to solve effectively specific objectives, increasing attentiveness, strengthening memory
7. It is the simplest self-massage – due to impact on reflexogenic zones of palms and fingers
8. It is skill of planning and forecasting, ability to concentrate on the next specifics, on things there are enough abstract
9. This increase in the immune status, ability to resist to both bad mood, and unexpected diseases (physiology and psychosomatics)
10. It is an opportunity to get rid of addictions like a game addiction, smoking, alcoholism, overeating, etc. that is connected with “a phenomenon of substitution of hobbies” – one pleasure on another
11. It is some kind of philosophy, capable “to disconnect” the person from a material world, immersing in the accelerated self-scrutiny stream, allowing to perceive quietly misses, falling and unfulfilled expectations…
Whether all it? No, not everything, however you shouldn’t abuse your long-suffering. The immediate goal, in my opinion, is executed as I intended to depict the most important parties of juggling and to draw your attention to this most useful occupation.
I remember how the books urging “to reformat a brain and memory guarded me”, assuring that for full-fledged life we need to make a turn by hundred eighty degrees. As it was sung in one popular song: “at the price of hard we have to get happiness, otherwise it won’t please”. Beautifully? Yes. And it is even metaphoric, however, if to become thoughtful, you begin to realize that in realities everything is absolutely on the contrary.
Having fused and having worked too much, you won’t feel taste of happiness any more.
And, perhaps, this is what scares radical recipes that require tough self-denial, colossal patience, iron diets and hard work. No, I don’t vote for the available lightness of everything, however, talking about juggling, I was going to present you with a magical fire, capable of carving out the sparks of happiness without plunging you into long-term agonising states. By undertaking to radically redraw our brains, we can easily damage and something vital. And it is especially good to juggle balls, since it does not imply dangerous extreme. And if we talk about the creation of new neurochains, then all these processes will go gently and naturally.
And finally, another good news: a series of experiments conducted by scientists in various parts of the planet confidently proved that the changes observed in the human brain of a juggling person do not evaporate without a trace after graduation. Numerous tests already AFTER completing juggling training once again confirmed the stability of the changes that occurred, which formed the basis of a number of rehabilitation programs for people who have suffered traumatic brain injuries.
I have already written that the ball is the optimal form of perception – both visually and associatively. Including it in the juggling process, we affect all senses at once – vision, touch and even hearing. It is this property that allows, according to doctors, to recommend juggling as the most effective means of therapy. That is why juggling is increasingly used to treat Alzheimer’s disease, the consequences of stroke, hyperactivity syndrome in children, autism, daunism, delayed mental development and even cerebral palsy.
Perhaps I will surprise you even more if I add that such therapy can seriously affect ailments that seem to be far from movement, such as dyslexia (reading problem) and dysgraphia (drawing and spelling problem). And these are not some kind of pills there that give a one-time and dubious effect! The results achieved by juggling are more fundamental and long-term. Patients are not just treated, they are armed with an amazing and powerful tool that no longer needs to be found in pharmacies and hospitals.
In other words – once you’ve learned to swim, start a fire, write, paint or cycle, you retain that ability for the rest of your days, and the same is seen with juggling skills. Having learned this art, you will never part with it. This means that you will be able to keep with you all the advantages that juggling gives a person.
Chapter 5 Juggling and Not Getting Sick
To be honest: when I just started juggling, the maximum I expected was to master the combinations called “ellipses” and “cascade.” I didn’t know about the medical benefits of balls then, believing that all this is a good physical education, a spectacular sight and nothing else. However, the very first acquaintance with the history of juggling, the study of the facts proving the serious impact of balls on our brain, our mood and our health, completely changed my attitude to the “fun hobby.” It turned out that the number of doctors who use juggling in their practice is extremely large – and every year their ranks only multiply. The reason is quite obvious: this is not just a “cheap and angry” medicine, but a medicine “cheap and cheerful.” The very cherished recipe that requires minimal volitional tension, more than compensating for all the efforts spent with a solid dose of joyful emotions.
And when the troubles with the coronavirus began around, and the population was driven home, it became clear that here, too, juggling for many people could become a real salvation, because, depriving themselves of movement and elementary walks, even young people (not to mention the elderly) doom themselves to illness. No proper ventilation – wait for pneumonia and infections. You will not serve time in four walls, and no locks will save you from the virus. Saves daily movement, saves cheerful mood and tone, directly related to the human immune potential. Thus, juggling into a state to help us in this situation as well. According to a number of doctors, even 30 minutes of juggling in effect are quite comparable to an hour’s walk, and any room can become a place for classes. No wonder the manipulation of balls is called portable gymnastics by many. Is there no mood to get outside, they scare slush, rains and frosts? It’s all right! We open the window, pick up the balls – and organize a small training session.
You can talk endlessly about the benefits of juggling. And today they say and write – and not just ordinary people, but specialists in the field of neurology and neuropsychology, defectologists, children’s doctors and adult doctors. Medicine has not yet studied the full range of possible assistance from juggling classes, since it is extremely extensive. But it is enough for us to know that the healing effect of balls is indisputable.
In this book, I describe recipes for quickly mastering juggling. “Columns,” “ellipses,” “cascade,” “fountains” – all this is within the power of any of you.
I note that the ideal option for teaching juggling is undoubtedly to teach the living – directly from an experienced teacher and coach, but in the absence of such consultants, we have to be content with secondary materials – videos from the Internet, mechanical animations, pictures and texts. Often people adopt everything at once, and this is quite reasonable. No one knows that it is we who will be closer and more accessible to understand. Someone will understand video tutorials, someone will learn useful things from the texts. By the way, it was the texts that I sorely lacked during my studies. There were videos, and you had to come up with the necessary explanations yourself. For this very reason, this written work turned out, although I understand perfectly well that no even the best texts with pictures can replace a living teacher. Therefore, the conclusion is simple: read, try, watch and try again! A coach and teacher will appear in your life – wonderful! But even without his help, believe me, you are capable of very, very much.
Chapter 6 Juggling as a Remedy for Depression
For the rest of my life, I remember the phrase of one of the parents, said on the water base of the Caravel detachment. On the lake that day there were dark waves, the wind howled, and it was quite cool. I asked if parents are afraid that their children will catch a cold after today’s regatta. The answer surprised me with calm: “Everything will be fine! So they will go to school, a cough will begin there, and here they are heroes! Ordinary psychosomatics!”
And this is absolutely true: psychosomatics, in fact, controls everything. Children running around in light attire – many wearing shorts, T-shirts and regular slate – barely risked catching a cold. Even, capsizing on yachts and finding themselves in the water (and the water temperature was below twenty degrees), they quickly came to their senses and, changing into dry, hurried to return to the decks of the yachts. And sad as it was, parents were right about school. Today’s educational institutions often provide visual confirmation of a different kind: in warmth and dryness, seemingly fed and under supervision, children suddenly begin to catch the most trifle diseases – sneeze, cough, temperature. Why is this happening? Yes, because the motivational environment is radically changing. The excitement of summer hikes is replaced by forced obedience to the rules of the school, and boring lessons in half with teachers’ popreks drive into apathy, or even real depression. The “psychosomatics” mentioned above continues to work already in a negative plan, the immune system fails, the first waves of diseases begin.
By the way, curious moment! – earlier physicians didn’t doubt that October waves of infections are connected with weather changes – with approach of slush and the first cold weather. Today many of school psychologists are sure that they a flu epidemic and acute respiratory diseases are provoked first of all by psychological state of children. The first month at school they still slip by inertia – on a summer optimistic wave, but further today’s school – with her negative estimates, with passive long immovability, with abundance of homeworks – strikes a crushing blow. The depression becomes the constant companion of schoolboys, the immunity falls, children begin to be ill. By the way, at schools with other psychological approach other picture is observed absolutely.
Perhaps, someone from you will be surprised, but today more often identify a depression with a true pandemic. Psychiatrists of the whole world sound the alarm, appealing about developments of state programs on prevention of a depression. Physicians seriously assure that in some 15—20 years every second inhabitant of the planet will already suffer from a depression! The reasons for that a set, but the main difference from centuries past (too not angelic) is that if earlier stresses had temporary (situational) character, then today they became horrible daily occurrence – almost norm. In fact all information market is based on the panic attacks. Humour with music to some extent try to keep balance, however these directions, unfortunately, lose in quantitative ratio. It is simpler to frighten people, than to make laugh or plunge into deep thoughts. And therefore daily and hourly the real tsunami from dramas, black sensations and accidents fall upon us. News on television are supported with messages of the Internet and radio. It is necessary to add personal disorders, loneliness problems, professional problems, price increase, social shocks to it.
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