by Suzanne Murray
I’ve long known that being creative has increased my sense of well being and satisfaction with my life dramatically. I have also seen this in the people I’ve worked with in my writing classes and creativity coaching over the years. Now I am reading fascinating book titled Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross that documents research showing how much this can be true for everyone.
Out this year, the book draws on cutting edge neuroscience and medical research to provide a wealth of information and insights on how engaging with the arts offers tremendous benefits to our physical, mental and emotional well being. This includes our appreciation of the arts, like visiting a museum or attending a concert, as well as our personal creation of art.
This relationship to the arts doesn’t have to be complicated or take a lot of time for us to feel the affects. You don’t have to be “good” at it. The authors site that “just twenty minutes of doodling or humming” reduces stress and improves our physical and mental state. Using a very broad definition of the arts there are countless ways for us to reap the rewards including music, singing, dance, movement, theater, poetry, writing, pottery, gardening, cooking, mask making, painting, collage and drawing.
Neuroscience shows that we are actually wired for the arts. We now know that our brains have the capacity to physically rewire and create new pathways in response to environmental stimulation throughout the whole of our lives. Being creative, as well as appreciating the arts, provide new experiences and an enriched environment that are good for the brain.
I’m only a third of the way through the book but wanted to share just how much evidence they show for the importance of engaging the arts in our lives. Creativity offers tools that can help us in these challenging times. A few examples of the research results include: In working with the arts our physical health improves including increased longevity; there are successes in dealing with pain; teens who read, even comic books, are less likely to get involved with drugs; the arts help mental health professionals get to the core of trauma to facilitate healing. It appears the arts are every bit as important to our well being as a good diet and exercise.
I think one of the reason engaging with the arts is so effective is that it brings us into the moment and satisfies some deeper part of our self. Like meditation, this relieves stress in the body and helps quiet the mind allowing us to feel connected to something larger than our everyday self. In this relaxation we can find a place to thrive.