Art therapy has proved to be beneficial in improving mental, emotional & physical wellness & health. As a result, creative pursuits could be used for more than just entertainment purposes.
By: Shaznay Botha
The world is burning. There’s clearly a lot going on. There’s climate change, poverty, famine, genocides, just to list a few. Let’s not forget everything going on in your personal life too. It’s very easy to feel overwhelmed or listless when it seems as though nothing is going right. In moments like these as cliché and as odd as it may sound. Sometimes you need to take a moment to stop and just breathe. Remember your roots, the times as a kid or even during your teenage years where you allowed yourself to just be and to create. It’s not always the big things that make a difference.
Mental & emotional health benefits
Creating allows you to incorporate sensation into what you are doing. This is important as activities such as drawing, dancing, writing poetry, etc., allow you to immerse yourself in different modes of expression. Engaging in these activities result in you focusing on what you see, what you hear, and what you feel during this process. It is in these moments that you unconsciously and unknowingly find yourself expressing your feelings and thoughts through your art. Salience Health states that creative activities help with stress reduction, improve communication and create connections. As they allow you to redirect your thoughts and feelings in a more sustainable and productive manner. It allows you to communicate and connect with others that may be having similar experiences.
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Physical health benefits
Creative activities allow you to process, understand and accept aspects of yourself that you may be dealing with on a daily. Salience Health and the Indian Journal of Psychiatry confirm that creative pursuits can encourage you to engage in exercise and physical activity, it can improve pain management and immune system health as well. As it allows you to process, understand and accept the challenges that physical and mental illness bring about in your day-to-day life.
Other benefits
Creativity can improve self-expression, cognitive function and strengthen resilience. Verbal communication and words can be rather difficult to effectively use at times. Creative activities allow for alternate modes of communication and expression that many people can use. It allows you to find ways to cope with health challenges and improve your lifestyle. The arts can improve brain function and stimulate problem solving skills. As it allows you to engage with all the senses and engage in multiple modes of production and thinking.
Don’t sweat the do’s and don’ts
Creative pursuits are not limited to entertainment purposes. It can be used for so much more. When everything feels like it’s falling apart, perhaps engaging in the arts might be one way to process and deal with all of this. It can feel rather pointless and frustrating attempting to try to improve your health and wellness when being bombarded with the endless list of do’s and don’ts. So, keep in mind, that this is merely a suggestion not a demand. This is not a one size fits all solution. Feel free to try this out. If it works keep doing this, if not discard it and look for something else. Your choices are your own as you are not limited to what you’re presented with.
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