Let’s face it. We live in a stressful world – so stressful that watching the news causes stress. Here’s an idea. The next time the boss yells, your laptop crashes, or a friend ghosts, ease stress by engaging your inner child in play activities suited to your measured 16Personalities test preferences.
Carl Jung, the psychoanalyst who developed the type theory behind this inventory also originated the concept of the inner child, the part of adult personality formed in early childhood when type preferences develop. Most inner child literature focuses on early trauma, which is best addressed with a competent psychotherapist, However, the inner child can also lead you to find joy and improve your emotional well-being.
Indulging your inner child in the simple pleasures you relished in your early years can help ease stress and boost mood. If your parents nurtured your preferences, you may have engaged in play activities that suited your personality. If not, try experimenting with these fun pastimes according to your psychological type.
Extraversion vs. Introversion
Since Extraverts seek contact with others, they often pursue group activities. Just like Polly, they love to talk … and talk. They enjoy busy places with lots of noise, color, and bustling activities. Most will happily ditch the quiet meditation sessions to ease stress with active stimulation.
As an extraverted child, do you recall spending hours playing with neighborhood kids on slides, swings, and monkey bars at the local playground? Maybe you played team sports or relished vintage games like Marbles, Charades, or Twister ™. You may have preferred to watch movies at the theater (to talk not to watch). In fact, you may still enjoy carnivals, festivals, amusement parks, colossal birthday parties, fireworks, and loud rock concerts. The ultimate extravert may even transform solitary video gaming into a group activity by playing online and making new friends in the process.
On the other hand, Introverts prefer solitary activities or those pursued with one other person. Since excess stimulation tends to cause them stress, they seek quiet, peaceful settings where they can emotionally refuel. They are the folks shushing the talkers at the theater (or the library).
As a girl, you may have retreated into your bedroom to play with your “hidey cat” while your like-minded brother hid in his tree house. Perhaps you enjoyed your favorite alone-time games, including Solitaire, Sudoku ™, or Simon ™. Reading, creating art, playing with dolls, watching movies at home, and walking in a nature preserve may still offer serene experiences to savor. However, a friendly chess game could fuel your need for competition while allowing for quiet concentration. And yes, Introverts tend to prefer one-player video games. Remember Pac-Man ™?
Sensing vs. Intuition
Sensing individuals usually focus on their five senses in the present moment, like dolphins endowed with especially keen sight and hearing. Practically inclined, people with a sensing preference enjoy collecting facts, pursuing hands-on activities, and doing things in a prescribed manner. Mindful activities like deep breathing soothe stress effectively.
You may recall indulging your sense of touch with Play-Doh ™ Barrel of Monkeys ™, or Koosh Ball ™ Along with providing entertainment, playtime with an Easy- Bake Oven ™, Mr. Potato Head ™, or a Trivial Pursuit™ game may have built life skills you carry into your adulthood. Soothing sight (art), sound (music), scent (lavender essential oil), touch (petting a real or stuffed animal), and taste (dark chocolate) likely have a particularly grounding effect for you now (see research).
However, Intuitive types like Pegasus seek creative possibilities. Why bother with reality when fantasy is so much more alluring? Creative visualization, the art of actively imagining future goals, can ease the stress of mundane day-to-day chores.
Was your childhood filled with imaginary friends, dressing up in costumes, and crafting accessories for your Barbies ™ or toy soldiers? Perhaps you played with Magic 8 Ball ™, Mystery Date ™, or Dungeons and Dragons™? Or you may continue to develop your creative thinking skills with activities like free-hand drawing with sketchpads and markers, mastering magic tricks, or creating elaborate worlds on computer games like Sim City™.
Thinking vs. Feeling
Thinkers rely on objective data and logical analysis for making decisions. They may feel more stressed when coping with heavy emotions or ambivalent values. Logical stress busters like good nutrition and sensible exercise work especially well for thinking types. Of course, seeking the owl’s wisdom is the ultimate pursuit.
As a thinking child, you may have relied on playtime activities such as Lego’s ™, Rubik’s Cube ™, or Etch a Sketch ™ to ease school-related stress. You likely developed logical skills with problem-solving puzzles, chemistry sets, or strategic games like Battleship ™ and Scrabble ™. Even now, you may enjoy calculating the odds of winning a poker hand more than playing the game.
Feelers tend to make decisions based on factors related to personal values or strong emotions. As dog lovers will attest, Fido possesses a full range of emotions like humans. Those with a feeling preference prefer to ease stress by expressing their emotions in writing, through art, or verbal expression with trusted friends or helpers.
As a feeling-oriented child, you may have expressed your emotions with Barbie Dolls ™, Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robots ™, or Beanie Babies ™. Fairy tales or games like the Game of Life ™ may have helped you build empathy, while expressive arts helped you to release stress. By any chance, are you still a sore loser when playing a game? No worries. True feeling types are also quicker to forgive so they can resume harmony in their relationships.
Judging vs. Perceiving
Judging Types manage stress with a structured routine, similar to their Panda counterparts. They also enjoy making to-do lists and crossing off each item after completing the task. Since they feel most anxious with unresolved situations, they ease stress when they make decisions.
Structured play activities like coloring books, paint by number, jigsaw puzzles, and model airplanes may have provided comfortable boundaries for you as a child. Precision toys like Operation Game ™ or Spirograph ™ helped build organizational skills for school and adulthood.
Perceiving Types feel most stressed when situations have been resolved. They manage their stress by keeping their options as long as possible, often through procrastination. As the American eagle soars and explores miles of territory, so do perceivers.
During childhood, messy activities like Slime ™, Finger Paints, or free-form games like Frisbee ™ or Hula Hoop ™ may have filled your free time. Exploration video games or riding on a Big Wheel ™ allowed you to discover new territories and a world of new options. Your childhood explorations likely encouraged your resilient ability to roll with life’s punches. As an adult, nothing beats an unplanned road trip with no destination to destress when necessary.
The next time you need a mood booster or stress buster, try engaging your inner child with play activities that you may have enjoyed in youth or those that fit with the various dimensions of your personality. Relive your happy childhood times to find genuine fun in your life. You never know; you may find inspiration to solve those adult nagging adult problems as well.
Check out this link to learn more about your personality type.
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Easy Ways to Ease Stress 