Learning To Juggle -- The Benefits Of Juggling

Traditionally a method of entertainment, juggling is frequently associated with circus and performance. Although juggled objects can as varied and unusual as the juggler likes (and can manage), the most commonly seen are balls, clubs and rings. Today, juggling has become something of a sport, with conventions and competitions held around the world for talented jugglers to attend and display their skill. A talented juggler is an impressive sight and often inspires people to take up the activity. Quite apart from being a fun and enjoyable hobby, juggling provides a number of additional benefits which are listed and described here.

Depending on the equipment used, juggling can exercise different muscles, some of which would otherwise be infrequently used. Regardless, the act of juggling serves as physical exercise involving many types of stretches, bends and twists of the body. The repeated movements - throwing and catching - can help develop muscle and act as a good cardio-vascular and pulmonary workout. Indeed, certain juggling equipment has been designed specifically for exercise purposes, an example being balls that are much heavier than normal and therefore requiring greater effort to juggle. It's recommended to limber up before any juggling session, but would be especially important when using equipment that places greater strain on the body.

Many people consider juggling to be a therapeutic activity, the concentration and focus required for it pushing all worries and troubles out of the head. This state is what's known as relaxed concentration and is the same method used by athletes and contenders in all manner of sports. When in this "zone" the focus is purely on the task at hand; emotions and stray thoughts are pushed aside and forgotten. As a result, the juggler is calm and collected. Some people might spend time juggling at the end of a hard day at work, gradually winding down until they feel a lot more relaxed. It is in this way that juggling can help relieve stress and ease tension.

A certain amount of hand-eye coordination is naturally required in juggling, and can be greatly improved with practice. As skills develop and the complexity of juggling exercises might increase, good hand-eye coordination becomes ever more essential. When juggling the juggler will have to predict where the thrown items will fall, moving their hands accordingly to catch them. It's not always possible to follow the path of the item with the eye, and so natural instinct and judgement come into play. Indeed, some juggling tricks involve not being able to see the items at all, for example, juggling blindfolded or behind the back.

In 2004, German researchers published a study in the journal Nature. They gathered a group of 24 people, none of whom had any juggling experience. Having divided the volunteers into two groups, they proceeded to perform brain scans using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) on each person. One group was assigned the task of learning to juggle over the subsequent three months, and the other was told not to. When the time had passed, the researchers performed another MRI scan on each participant. The group that hadn't been juggling at all showed no changes, but the group that HAD learned to juggle showed an increase in grey matter in two parts of the brain concerned with visual and motor activity. This experiment demonstrated that juggling really does help brain development, increasing the brain size of areas connected to juggling.
Interestingly, in this experiment, the increased brain size did not last. After three months with no practice, the jugglers underwent another scan, which showed that the regions of the brain that had previously grown as a result of juggling, had shrunk back to their former sizes. Although the research doesn't indicate whether increased juggling would make those brain enhancements permanent, it's certainly an interesting question to raise and one that additional research could attempt to answer.

Juggling is a complex activity, requiring a certain amount of problem solving ability. The juggler has to work out where the items should be thrown in order to fall in the intended places, the height to which they should be thrown, the speed they should travel and how they should be caught. If using more unusual objects for juggling, additional problems may arise, but the fundamental questions remain the same. The ability of the juggler to concentrate on the problems presented, to focus on them, work them out and practice them until performed correctly can be developed and applied to other areas of life.

One final benefit of juggling is that it can be done anywhere. A few balls carried around in a pocket or bag can be pulled out whenever a free moment presents itself. As with many things, the importance of practicing regularly, rather than intermittently can make all the difference when it comes to improvement. Daily practice would be ideal, though of course, the amount of practice needed varies depending on how much time can be spared and the goals of the juggler.

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