Moving Bodies, Wandering Minds

This book explores the deep connection humans have for both physical movement and letting the mind wander. Physical activity has many well-known survival advantages for overall health, longevity, and well-being, and more recently a growing body of research shows it also has cognitive benefits, such as improving memory and creativity. In addition, mind-wandering, as a field of research, has been quickly expanding over the past 20 years. Findings from this research have shown that intentional mind-wandering can enhance creative ideation. This book summarizes research from a broad perspective including cognitive neuroscience, psychology, and cognitive linguistics to review this connection between movement (both physical and mental) and creativity. In addition, this book considers the implications this has for language education, as creativity has become one of the more important skills for learners to develop.