From painting to baking to knitting: How creativity can improve your mental health

Do you sometimes yearn for a little more creativity in your life? Good news! Researchers have discovered that tapping into your creative energy can actually improve your overall health . It may sound too good to be true, but simply engaging in creative activities (even if it's just coloring in trendy adult coloring books) improves brain function, mental health, and physical health.

So how can making music or painting be healthy? In the following blog post, we'll look at the health benefits that creativity can bring and give you a few examples to try!

Creativity puts you in a flow state

Have you ever been so engrossed in writing in your journal, editing your photos, or dancing to your favorite song that you lost all sense of time?

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, one of the co-founders of positive psychology, calls this the "flow state ." During this time, you are focused on a task or activity with optimal attention. It's also called "being in the zone."

In this state we are more mindful and relaxed and it gives us a feeling of bliss.

How to increase your creativity

We may not consider ourselves artists or inventors skilled at developing new ideas. However, the most important qualities of inventors include energy, intelligence, and discipline, which we all possess to varying degrees.

Even if we may not be artists or inventors by profession, we can still find ways to expand our creativity – because we all have the ability to express ourselves in many different ways.

The good news for those of us who didn't excel at art as children is that the positive effects occur during the creative process. They're not based on the final product!

Drawing or painting

A growing body of research shows that activities like drawing and painting can reduce stress and depression. Artistic activities have been linked to improved memory and resilience in older adults and even help seniors with dementia reconnect with the world. Actively creating art, rather than simply viewing it, has been shown to halt cognitive decline.

Singing or playing music

Music connects us. Researchers have found that when we harmonize with other people, we have more positive feelings toward them. This happens even when they aren't in the same room with us.

Singing increases oxytocin levels* in both amateur and professional singers. If you don't like singing, you can always just listen to music. Listening to music alone releases oxytocin.

*Oxytocin influences our ability to trust others and form social connections.

Dance

 

Dancing is not only fun, but it's also really good for you! Studies have shown that dancing reduces anxiety, improves the quality of life of breast cancer patients, and reduces the risk of dementia in older people.

What's surprising about the studies is that the benefits aren't due to physical exercise alone. Compared to other forms of exercise, dancing was the only exercise that made a difference.

We too know that the mundane nature of our lives can make many things seem trivial and banal. The result is a numbing monotony or a feeling of endlessly running on a hamster wheel.

Creativity inspires new thinking and new ideas. So step out of your routine and treat yourself to creative and fun activities. Creating art, singing, or dancing will make you feel good and, ultimately, should be fun.