5 Reasons Why Art is Good for You
There’s loads of benefits of art on your well-being and it’s been proven that creative people are happier!
I’ve put together a list of 5 reasons why art is good for you, and I also give you 4 ways you can get creative so you can lead a happier, healthier and smarter life!
Life can get pretty full on sometimes. With family, work and life in general it can take all your energy and wear you down.
Every day our emotional bank accounts get drained by daily life and challenges, and all the things we have to think about and deal with.
And it can often feel like a lot to handle, especially when things are out of our control, like the last few years.
That's why it’s so important to take time to do things that recharge you, things that put ’happy deposits’ into your emotional well-being account, But if life is busy it can be hard to find the time.
Every day brings new things that can drain us, and if we don’t take time to recharge, our well-being accounts risk going into overdraft!
If you’re like most of us, your commitments are important, so you’re probably always putting yourself last when all you really need is a way to escape from everything and just do something that makes you happy so you can recharge.
Running a Paint Party business takes pretty much all my time, so I know exactly how it feels. I often feel totally zapped out by the end of the week.
And I know how important it is to have regular time to recharge, where you don’t have to worry about anything other than relaxing and enjoying yourself.
I want to help you be a more relaxed and happy person through art so you can enjoy regular ‘happy deposits’ and keep your well-being account in positive.
Below I share some of the amazing benefits of art for adults that can help you lead a happier, healthier and smarter life! I’ve put together a list of 5 benefits art has on mental health, physical well-being and social harmony.
Aside from being super fun, it’s a proven fact that BEING CREATIVE IS GOOD FOR YOUR WELL-BEING, even if you’re just learning. Doing anything creative distracts your mind from everything and gives you a chance to escape, unwind and recharge.
Like Carol, one of our Paint Clubbers, once commented about painting:
“Paint Club with Silke helps me forget time. No ‘to do list’, just ‘be’ for a while.”
So many of my Paint Club members tell me how much painting has made a difference in their lives and I know how much it helps me too. That’s why I paint at least twice a month!
So read on below to see how good art is for you and all the positive effects it can have on your mental and physical health.
1. Art relieves stress and anxiety
As I already mentioned, the stresses and worries of our daily lives can be quite daunting. They can take a serious toll on our mental health without us even realising it. If left unchecked, mental health disturbances can turn into long-term issues like clinical anxiety and depression.
A great way to fight mental health problems, to overcome them or prevent them is to GET ARTY! Yep, be creative, do anything artistic. It doesn’t have to be anything major, a little sketching or a painting session every now and then is often enough. What art does is that it creates more positive sensory experiences for you to focus on and it diverts you from the worries of your day-to-day life.
To prove the mental health benefits of art, a study conducted on over 23,000 participants with a mean age of 47 years concluded that arts engagement led to lower levels of distress and higher levels of life satisfaction.
Similarly, a study was conducted on 39 students belonging to a vast age group of 18-59 years which found lower levels of Cortisol; the biological indicator of stress in 75% of respondents.
The interesting part was that none of the participants were artists or had any experience in an art-related subject. They were given 15 minutes to do clay-modelling, make collages or simply draw with markers. Most of the participants responded that they felt relaxed, less anxious and stopped obsessing over all the things they had to get done that day.
That means ANYONE can enjoy the stress relieving benefits of art, even if you’ve never done anything artistic before! Awesome.
2. Art has healing powers
When it comes to the health benefits of art, art therapy has been around for decades. It’s been used to tap into people’s emotions, allow them to express their deep-rooted feelings and insecurities and help people discover themselves.
However, art also has positive effects on people with physical illnesses and diseases. In other words, you can say that there are numerous physical benefits of art.
Researchers at the Michigan State University found very promising indications of art on people with physical disabilities. For instance, art helps relieve stress and anxiety in people who have asthma. It helps people with Parkinson’s disease fight depression. It helps children with cancer to overcome feelings of fear and pain.
In short, art is an effective way of managing overwhelming feelings related to physical disabilities, pain and trauma. The study went on to prove that art increases your concentration span and helps you retain memories, preventing the onset of dementia. In general being creative keeps your brain stimulated and active.
3. Art builds self-esteem and confidence
Thanks to the many health benefits of art and how it’s related to the brain, there’s now a new field in biological and neurological science called neuroesthetics.
Neuroesthetists are using all sorts of technology like brain imaging and bio feedback to find out how artistic activities like painting or drawing can affect the brain.
They found that art helps you address your feelings in a healthy manner and simply makes you feel good about yourself. That’s scientific proof that Art makes you happier!
The sense of accomplishment you get from finishing a painting and realising that it actually looks much better than you anticipated is quite real! It also makes you realise that it’s perfectly alright to make mistakes and start over. Feelings like this also contribute in the long-term, towards building your self-esteem and confidence.
4. Art fosters a sense of community and belonging
When COVID-19 was on the rise, many people started to pursue artistic activities and ambitions to overcome the feelings of loneliness and isolation. Some people started learning to play a musical instrument, others started to paint and actually got pretty good at it! We had loads of Paint Clubbers join our online painting community and they're still improving with each new painting.
Art gives people the opportunity to express feelings and thoughts that can’t be adequately put into words. As a result, they feel like they belong to a much larger community of creative people. Same rule applies to art events like paint parties where people come together to not just get creative but also to socialise and feel like they belong somewhere.
All the massive smiles and happy new painters we have both at the Heart for Art Studio and those who join us online in Paint Club is proof that art can eradicate every barrier and bring people together.
5. Supportive guidance in art helps overcome fear of failure
While there’s loads of benefits of art for adults, one that I’ve experienced first-hand is the positive effects of supportive guidance.
When I teach painting at my studio and online, I give my students step-by-step guidance on how to create a painting from start to finish. I also help them avoid or get through common mistakes, both during classes and in my On Demand painting tutorials, which further builds a sense of accomplishment and togetherness in painting.
From an artistic perspective, it also gives them confidence, because they know that every time they get stuck, or get confused or make a mistake, they have someone experienced to help them and guide them through it. This instantly relaxes them and they paint without the fear of messing up! It also significantly improves their artwork.
And, often when I give someone an art tip or help them with their painting, I hear it repeated back later in the class as they share it with someone else who needs the same help! How’s that for team building and team work.
Conclusion
Whether it’s the physical, mental or social benefits of art, there is no denying that art is an essential part of human life. And the best way to enjoy the full benefits of creating something is without the pressure of being perfect or ‘getting it right.’
For those who are new to the world of art and painting in general, you’ll be pleased to know you don’t even need to be artistic or have any experience to enjoy the benefits of creativity.
With my easy to follow step by step painting tutorials, anyone can have fun learning to paint. I developed my proven teaching method because I want to create a society where everyone can experience the uplifting effect of being creative. Art makes you feel good and I want that for you too.
So, now that you know how awesome art is for your well-being and that creative people are happier people, what next?
Are you ready to be happier, less stressed and more confident and get all the feel good positive benefits of art for yourself?
Here’s 4 ways you can add art to your life.
- Join my mailing list to get regular free painting tutorials that you can enjoy at home. You’ll also hear about other painting designs I teach. And, most if it’s online so you can join in from anywhere. Click here to sign up
- Check out Paint Club my online painting membership and see if you’d like to join our community of awesome people all learning and creating together with a new painting tutorial every month. Click here to find out more
- Get straight to the good bit, and check out some of the easy fun paintings you could learn to paint with me right now, go have a browse through my On Demand Painting Tutorials. Click here to see them
- Paint with your friends, family, colleagues or any group at your own private paint party! Click here to find out how
Have fun choosing how you’ll get creative!
