It’s common knowledge, that being outdoors by the sea, or in green space for example, enhances our wellbeing by reducing stress hormones and improving both physical and mental health. It is also no secret, that the predictability of art making, helps to reduce stress and anxiety. Art making “lowers our nervous system’s need to be on edge, as it prepares to react to the next surprise event. This lowers blood pressure, pulse and heart rate, offering the brain a lot more capacity to decide with clarity.” Weinstein, 2022.

So it goes without saying, that combining both of these things: art making, whilst outdoors, has the potential to offer even more positive health benefits!

I have been enjoying some down time, at the other side of the world, in New South Wales, Australia. Spending lots of time outside in the Australian spring sunshine, drawing, painting with water colours and needle stitching a rainbow. I have been loving taking photgraphs of some of the beautiful wildlife I have the privilege to witness everyday. A feather from a rainbow lorikeet, inspired a drawing. A photo of a kookaburra, inspired a painting. Families with brand new baby ducklings by the lake, inspired me to spend time on a bench needle stitching, hoping they would stroll past me again.

Our lives are busy and often, stressful. We come home from a busy day at work, school, college, University, and often the last thing we can think about, is taking ourselves outside or making art. But when we are stressed, and lots of cortisol (the stress hormone), is being released within our bodies, one of the best gifts we can give ourselves, is even just 10 minutes of physical activity outdoors, or engaging in something creative. Creativity doesn’t have to mean drawing or painting. It could be baking, knitting, sewing, crocheting. Painting by numbers, colouring in, digital art making. The list is endless. Anything that involves turning an imaginative idea, into a tangible or intangible reality, is creativity.

Give yourself permission, to take 10 minutes, even just a few times per week, to engage in art making, or getting yourself outdoors in nature. And if the weather is decent, find a quiet spot, where you can engage in your chosen method of creativity. It won’t be long, until you start feeling the benefits.

Kind wishes,

Belinda

Reference

WEINSTEIN, S. 2022. Art therapy and the brain [Online]. Indigo Art Therapy [Accessed 6 October 2022]. Available from: https://www.indigoarttherapy.com.au/blog/art-therapy-and-the-brain/

Art making and nature

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