Juggling is a really good exercise for life. It has a lot of the fun parts of a soul sport (working to better yourself, non-competitive activity, etc.) but isn’t dangerous — unless you’re juggling fire or pancakes or something. That’s why I want everyone to learn. I’m offering juggling lessons in Los Angeles and an inexpensive (and most helpful) DVD because I want the world to juggle.
I’m sure juggling’s not a cure-all like alcohol, but it does a great job with the following 8 thingies:
- brain growth
- body comfort
- stress relief
- focus retention
- coordination boosting
- being interesting
- improved learning
- unboring meditation
#1 Save your Brain
It used to be thought that your noggin starts falling apart when you become an adult. The thinking went that you’d continue downhill until death or alien cocoons were found. Possibly sent from space, juggling can help prevent this deterioration and can even help you grow stuff in your old age.
There are studies that say you can…
Grow White Matter & Grow Gray Matter … Weird, huh?
#2 Got The Hunchies?
The average person spends 312 hours per day at a computer. Your back and neck get outta whack, your wrists start hurting and your legs fall asleep. You can combat this crappy feeling by doing light exercise – juggling is perfect. To hone the art of juggling, you need to think about standing up straight, relaxing, and using your hands correctly.
#3 I can’t de-stress you with my eyes
It’s nice to learn something new, do something active and get away from what seems important in your life. You can lose your tension through tons of hobbies, but juggling is a great combination of physical activity, brain stimulation, joy of success, and visual stimulation. Here’s another scientific study…
Effect of juggling therapy on anxiety disorders in female patients
#4 Focus
Sometimes it feels like A.D.D. makes you better at stuff, but when it comes down to it, we really need to be able to sit still and focus until something’s done. Juggling builds your focus muscles through regular practice and a built-in rewards system.
One of the top performing jugglers in the world, Reid Belstock, had his life transformed by juggling. Focus was a major benefit for him:
“Juggling is a fantastic way to develop one’s focus. I spent 4 years in a special school based on children with learning disabilities, and motor-skill impairment. I was on meds for years to keep me from being less scattered in school. I found that once I was able to juggle, I was constantly spending time working on something. Once my goal was reached, I would try the next logical step up. When you are trying to reach a juggling goal, you either can do it or not. Once you learn the new technique, it is a tangible result, and this helped me focus for longer periods of time, and allowed me to focus on one single task until it was finished.”
#5 Coordination
Juggling helps your eye/hand coordination… DUH! You don’t just get juggly, you have better coordination for life. Think of all the situations where balls are flying at your face ( sports, Christmas tree accidents, etc. ). It would be handy to have handier hands.
One baseball player I taught to juggle said that his batting improved in just 3 lessons and suggested me to several other players. Juggling has also helped people with typing and learning to play instruments as well as just being less clumsy.
#6 Being Entertaining
It’s not cool to always be telling everyone you can juggle. I know from experience. It is cool to pop out an unexpected novelty once in a while. Juggling can prevent a nephew from crying, surprise a date or prove that you’re not just a fascist dictator.
The main reason I like juggling is because it not only can make people excited about me, but it can make them excited about themselves and their own potentials.
#7 Learn how to Learn
You probably know someone who brags being a master of 6 dance styles, or has belts in 4 martial arts. It’s not as big a deal as it might seem. For example, once you learn how to learn one language, it’s easy to learn more languages. Your brain gets good at figuring out what’s important to remember and how to adapt.
Juggling involves problem solving, posture, hand and arm movement as well as balance, so if you learn juggling, you can learn anything. That’s my guarantee.
Add that “learning to learn” idea to the fact that aerobic activity can increase your learning ability (another study), and you’re on your way to being a super learner.
#8 Meditation
We’ve all heard that meditation can help you be better at hugging and make your hair grow longer. Well kids, there’s a new kinda meditation in town — Active Meditation. eHow.com tells us how to do active meditation and it’s basically:
- do something active
- focus on the present
- be aware of your surroundings
- be aware of yourself
- stop before your boss walks in
This stuff is built in to learning to juggle. People I teach often turn into little kids excited about a new skill and reconnected with their bodies. I am not a hippy, but I think that you should accept that you have arms and legs and that they can do more than keeping you from rolling down hills.
How To Learn
learn to juggle video on youtube
… or you want to give juggling as a gift, check out my Juggling DVD – Catch U; and my Los Angeles juggling lessons.
I make my money from performing internationally at corporate parties and special events. I am going out of my way to teach juggling because I want to be nice a little bit.
Comments
36 responses to “8 Reasons Normal People Should Juggle”
I’ve recently seen the skills you brought to Iona and Andrew. I’m amazed at how quickly they both have learned. I’m looking forward to taking the classes too.
As a professional juggler, I am chagrinned to say I know only one language, have no detectable increase in brain mass (white or gray), and still have anxiety around female patients.
Lili: Thank you! classes have been really fun.
Rhys: haha Please note, this article was written for normal people. You’re one of the smartest people I know. Also, please quit practicing amateur medicine.
[…] Read the rest of Scot’s column on his website, JuggleGood.com! Share and Enjoy: […]
What he says is true.. juggling has made me excited about Scot as well as myself!
I’m a juggler to, and I appreciate this post, but I’d like to add some other reasons: juggling lets you manage with fails and errors. But it’s not just a matter of errors. When you juggle you know that you are creating something that will vanish soon, and that’s quite good, because you always get a measure for what you are working on. There’s a good book by Dave Finnegan: The Zen of Juggling.
[…] 8 Reasons Normal People Should Juggle (via Kottke) […]
You should fix the sentence under point #2
“The average person spends 312 hours per day at a computer”
That is a bit much for a single day.
Otherwise you got me excited. Will try, as soon as the juggling balls got delivered.
You suck. Teach something. Or at least give us a link to a real jugger on youtube.
Terry:
The point of the post was to show a few major benefits of juggling, and if you come to LA, you get a free juggling class. Sorry you were misled. I hope you like me later.
USF:
It’s hyperbole. You’re sharp to catch it.
“The average person spends 312 hours per day at a computer.” Per day?
Scot, Nice to see you’ve got a class going. I teach a juggling class in New York City. We should talk about networking possibilities, but let’s do that when Rhys isn’t around, okay?
http://www.jugglingclasses.com
[…] Scot Nery, an accomplished pancake juggler, comedian and all around awesome performer, offers up 8 reasons normal people should juggle. Scot teaches juggling classes in Hollywood and has also produced a DVD on how to juggle. Juggling […]
[…] 8 Reasons Normal People Should Juggle [via Kottke] Tagged: circus freaks, juggling, showmanship, this blog sucks ass Related Posts“I had sex with my brother but I don’t feel guilty” […]
ONE MORE!…
Avoid little DISASTERS with new ability to catch things.
Allow me to demonstrate with a CHOOSE-YOUR-OWN-ADVENTURE short story:
You just adopted two pet hamsters. The previous owner warned you that they bite. You were told that they scared her children, so you’ve appropriately named your new friends Noam Chompsky and Skeleton Harvester (Harvey for short).
You bring them home and begin adding fun things to their cage and fixing it up. As you reach in to refill the food bowl, Noam Chompsky latches onto the end of your finger.
“Ouch!” you yelp, whipping your arm out of the cage. The little rascal is flung up into the air, arcing in slow-motion cartwheels, on a grim course to the hardwood floor…
If you have learned to juggle, Turn to page 12.
Otherwise, Turn to page 45.
Page 12:
Your juggling training kicks in. Instinctively, you extend your arm and the cute furry creature has a soft deceleration at the palm of your hand. It is dizzy, but unharmed. You return it to its cage gently, and leave to wash your hands.
TRUE STORY.
Page 45:
You die. The end.
[…] 8 Reasons Normal People Should Juggle (tags: fun lifehacks exercise juggling) […]
Great hamster story!
Liked this! Linked it at http://inmylittletown.blogspot.com/2009/12/up-and-up.html
Great website. Good call with this article, people love lists. I love juggling. I agree with your points and wanted to say: keep being awesome!
[…] If that doesn’t work out, try juggling. […]
I am definitely bookmarking this page and sharing it with my friends.
🙂
Great Article
Thanks for the article Scot! You may want to fix your summary at the top, you only list 7 items. #7 is missing (Learn how to Learn)
Updated! Thank you, Steve. Eagle Eye.
Another reason to learn: you don’t have a crick in your back from constantly dropping your balls and bending down to pick them up. Juggling is a surefire cure for this problem in my experience.
[…] last week after reading Jason Kottke’s blog I decided I wanted to learn to juggle a bit (here’s why). So I put it on the list. I have small projects on there, like packing for my upcoming move, and […]
Very, very well presented. I never thought to use juggling skills as a means to prove I’m not just a fascist dictator! An enjoyable read, Scot.
lol What a fun article! I think I need to learn how to juggle because I spend 312 hours a day on a computer 🙂 My daughter said last night, “Mommy, I can juggle.” She’s two, so she grabbed a little ball, threw it up in the air, and let it drop to the ground. Can’t be too difficult, right??
[…] Juggling as ADD prevention. Hmmm. 7 other reasons normal people should juggle. […]
[…] if all that isn’t enough for you, here are another 8 great reasons why you should juggle. They include – Neuroplasticity (BRAINCHANGING!), Stress Relief, Focus, Co-Ordination, […]
Very nice article. I never really considered the other positive effects of juggling. I’ll have to try it out… I could definitely use the improved coordination. haha.
Oh man, juggling is incredibly hard for me. It’s just hard to get my brain and muscles to work in that kind of rhythm. Maybe I should try it out exactly for the reasons you mentioned. haha. Good read!
hey just thought you know you have a major typo,,, 312 hours per day? haha
Ok great…so now what are the reasons abnormal people should juggle?
I love to juggle because it allows me to do something new. It gives me a challenge. I’m not exactly a master, but I can do up to 4 balls now and am trying to get 5 balls down.
Glad to see there are so many benefits to it. 🙂
This website is de facto interesting i’m longing for is there the other examples? however anyway thanks very much because I found that i used to be looking for.