Art for mindfulness

Why is art good for you?

I would never try to pass myself off as someone with any knowledge about mental health but you do hear a lot about how art is used in therapy to help relieve stress. The buzzwords du jour are ‘mindfulness’ and ‘wellness’ but I’m not going to make any extravagant claims for what happens in my art class.  I will say this; there’s always a slight frisson of anxiety and tension at the start of my class which gives way to quiet and concentration as we progress towards the end of the 2.5 hours.

Students always tell me after class that the time flew by which is as it should be. That quiet time is when you’re flying -there’s only one task to do and you have to exclude everything else; you have to be ‘in the moment’. 

From my own experience, you need about 4 uninterrupted hours on an art project: No mobile phones, no internet. I often play music though – I find it helps.

30 minutes of the time to build towards that moment when you begin soaring and 3 hours up there in the firmament and then another short period to come back to earth. Usually because I’m hungry!

Source article

Anyway, here’s an article you could read that outlines some of the benefits of taking up a creative hobby: https://www.verywellmind.com/art-therapy-relieve-stress-by-being-creative-3144581

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