By Miette Dsouza
We paint what we feel, and we buy art that we emotionally connect with. That’s why art is a window into our souls. It is a medium through which we can unload our emotional baggage without feeling like a burden to others.
Art and wellbeing have always gone hand in hand. Whether you are producing or purchasing art, it prevails as a great stress buster and mental health booster.
With our anonymous heART project, you can own a piece of limited-edition art and help you support our life-saving work.
How does art help us?
It builds focus
Art can either tell a story, evoke a certain emotion, or help you recall a memory. When looking at art you are continuously analysing characters in the piece, observing splashes of colour or reminiscing about your experiences. Your mind is constantly stimulated by several elements of the artwork focusing you on positive emotions and helping to reduce stress.
Paying attention to details of paintings or focusing on the beauty of an art piece will also help increase your attention span and improve your concentration.
Give meditation through art a shot
Creating your own art proves to be a good distraction from everyday life. It gives you an outlet for release of pent up frustrations and an opportunity for growth especially if used as a meditation tool.
When meditating if you have trouble with being able to picture yourself in your happy place, making a visually appealing object the nexus of your attention could help you along the process. Staring at a landscape painting and imagining yourself in it or following lines that get lost within each other in abstract art could help you achieve a state of zen.
It encourages creativity and introspection
Art is fluid. There is no right or wrong answer. It is freeing and that’s what allows you to not stress about making mistakes. While creating compositions you are constantly thinking about what colours to use and what you can add to make your piece more attractive. You are actively thinking out of the box, making connections, and inspecting your artwork as you do so. Creating art propels creative thinking.
Creating art also motivates you to introspect. Sometimes, you may need to take inspiration from your past to get started on a masterpiece. When reflecting you’re thinking about the emotions you felt at the time and reflecting them onto canvas.
Studies have shown that the majority of people undertaking art workshops feel a decrease in feelings of anxiety and felt more socially included.
However art may help you, you can head over to https://heartresearch.org.uk/anonymous-heart/ to check out your favourite pieces.
