Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t know what Stave Puzzles were either at first. I love sitting down and putting together a puzzle to pass the time on a long winter evening or just hang out with the kids. If I had known how extremely good it is for your health, I would have definitely done more! Most of these benefits are things you’ll notice after completing just a few puzzles, and it makes sense. My former mother-in-law is in great shape and every time you visit, she’s got a huge puzzle on the table that she is working on.
Decreased Stress Levels
Stress, even in small amounts, takes a huge toll on both your mental and physical health. The problem is trying to figure out how to ease stress. Puzzles can help. By focusing all your attention on the puzzle, you take your mind off things like problem co-workers, kids who aren’t doing well in school, and unexpected bills. Even if you only spend a half hour working on the puzzle, during that time the amount of strain the stress puts on your health eases.
Not only does giving yourself a break from stress improve your physical health, the time you spend putting together a puzzle also improve your family life. By giving yourself a break from the stress, you also ease your irritability levels, decreasing the number of times you snap at family members. The less frustrated you are, the happier and more peaceful your home life becomes. It’s a good cycle to get caught in.
Improved Problem Solving Skills
That half hour you spent working on a puzzle not only eased the physical and psychological toll stress puts on your body, but it also increases the odds of you coming up with a solution to the source of your stress. While you focus all your conscious mental powers on working out how the different puzzle pieces go together, your subconscious assumes the stressful issue and picks at the problem. Often, this results in your subconscious coming up with a really good solution that you never would have considered if you hadn’t taken a break.
Figuring out how the different puzzle pieces together is a fun way to teach yourself new cognitive problem solving skills that will improve your work performance. Not only will you soon become the person who quickly determines the best way to resolve a work crisis, you’ll also remain calm, cool, and collected in the face of all problems and soon be the person that everyone depends on.
Decreases Your Risk of Developing Severe Cognitive Disabilities
There’s a reason you’ll find Stave Puzzles in so many nursing homes around the country. Not only are these puzzles, beautiful and challenging, putting them together does wonders for helping decrease the damaging effects of incurable cognitive disorders like dementia.
Click here to see some of their award-winning wooden puzzles for adults.
Strengthen Family Ties
Social directors found that it’s not unusual for one person to start putting a puzzle together by themselves, only to have several other people quickly join them in the task, which leads to a stronger social life.
You’ll find the same thing happens when you sit down at your dining room table with a high quality wooden puzzle. It’s not long before even your most recalcitrant teenager feels compelled to sit down and help put pieces together. Eventually, they tell you about their day, something they wouldn’t have done if you hadn’t gotten the puzzle out.
Soon your entire family starts gathering around and spends a few minutes each day working on the puzzle. This time results in a stronger family unit with the problem solving skills needed to weather any challenge.
The great thing about putting puzzles together in an effort to improve your health is that it doesn’t take a great deal of time. Spending just five or ten minutes on the Stave puzzle makes a difference.
