Foreign travel, and trips to museums, galleries and music gigs are all awesome ways of stretching your horizons and keeping those little grey cells fit as fiddles.
But when you’re stuck in the house because of illness, childcare responsibilities or for any random reason, you’ll need to find alternative ways to slake your thirst for knowledge.
With that in mind, here are five ways to expand your mind from the comfort of your sofa.
1) Audiobooks
When you’re too wiped out to turn the pages of a paper book or even flick through a Kindle screen, audiobooks are the way forward.
There are millions of titles available, but listening to Aldous Huxley’s The Doors of Perception is as good a place to start as any — it’s currently available free with a trial of Amazon’s Audible service.
2) Meditation apps
If a secular version of Buddhist meditation sounds sublime, Mindfulness might be your bag.
And plugging into a popular meditation app like Calm is a cool way of learning techniques which help you filter out the interference of everyday pressures, focus on being present in the moment and embrace opportunities which might otherwise be missed.
3) Documentaries
Forget big budget Hollywood Sci-Fi epics, because beautifully-shot documentaries covering topics ignored by mainstream media open your mind to new dimensions of reality which are often even more mind-blowing.
For example, watching Vice documentaries provides insights on everything from working as a combat medic to making lobster dumplings — turn on, tune in and be delighted.
4) Language apps
Whether you’re heading on holiday for a couple of weeks or spending a year away from home during a career break, getting a basic grasp of the languages at your destinations can catalyze new friendships and keep you out of trouble.
Language apps like Duolingo offer accessible lessons you can dip into at any time you desire and mean that by the time you land in exotic climes, you’ll be waxing lyrical like you were born there.
5) Online learning
Attending university is one of the most immersive ways of learning about your chosen academic subject and the world at large.
But when you’ve got commitments, telling your better half that you’ve moving out for four years to take up campus accommodation will likely go down like a lead balloon.
Earning a degree with Anglia Ruskin Distance Learning is a far better choice — you can continue to work and care for kids while grabbing an onlinequalification that leads to a whole new career.
These five ways to expand your mind from the comfort of your sofa serve as a timely reminder that you don’t need to travel far or splash cash to stick to the lifelong path of self-improvement.
That’s our list! Share your own mind-expanding tips in the comments section.
