Are you easily moved by a work of art? Do you feel chills down your spine, or are you inspired to build a fantasy story around the visual topic? If you’re into the works of those who live to express their creativity through painting, pictures, drawing, and other types of visual art, you might be an art lover yourself. Think of an enthusiast who has been postponing exploring their well-rooted passion by reason of today’s hectic lifestyle.
If you can’t get enough of Banksy, Monet, Kandinsky, and so on, we’re here to unveil one of the best things to this delight. Art exposure directly improves your life. If you spend only half an hour monthly in an art gallery, your life expectancy could rise by a decade, recent studies show. If such a statistic feels far-fetched, we’re laying another thing out to you, namely how art improves your health and wellbeing in tried-and-tested ways made public by some of the world’s best-reputed research organizations. Are you ready for a change in perspective and, hopefully, in your spare time priorities?
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A little can go a long way
Arts and culture may feel like soul-lifting pennies from heaven, but enhanced mood and perspectives on life aren’t all they contribute. It turns out that they’re top health boosters. Consuming them can boost productivity, whether you’re freelancing, employed, or running your own business. First of all, the heightened wellbeing and decreased stress produced help you think outside the box – an essential skill in all aspects of life. Secondly, such routines help focus on the bigger picture and see sense where it looks like lacking.
Behavioral scientists encourage adding artwork in the workplace to stimulate engagement, creativity, and collaboration, eventually helping employees shortcut their ways to innovative ideas and solutions. It’s enough to find a provider who caters to the tastes of a broad art lover category, offering artworks spanning more styles and forms. Once you’ve found that quality Fine Art Online Store, surrounding yourself with art in the workspace, at home, or in your own gallery becomes a beautiful walk in the park.
Creativity benefits everyone
The bulk of studies evaluating the impact of arts and crafts on people’s lives focused primarily on individuals diagnosed with specific conditions like depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other mental health issues. While a powerful tool in these battles, it’s time we realized that art has a positive impact on the ordinary individual, too. Thus, it should be given more importance.
A rising body of scientific analyses has assessed reduced groups of people and specific types of arts and crafts to come to a unitary conclusion. Such studies don’t just evaluate an extensive sample size, thus managing to target more types of individuals, but they also concentrate on the overall population. The conclusion is that unlocking one’s creativity and consuming art makes a real difference.
Standout art-related benefits
Art is a great long-term wellbeing booster—it slashes the stress hormone (cortisol) levels in the bloodstream, relaxing the mind and body. It can also improve focus when observed regularly, allowing the viewer to enter a “flow state,” aka the feeling where you’re completely immersed in the activity and focused on a single aspect. Losing a sense of time and place is a well-desired outcome of mindfulness sessions.
Lastly, art exposure and usage activate a number of networks, such as focused attention, a relaxed reflective state, and pleasure.
Art’s impact on the brain
According to the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, art can leave a positive impact on the brain, no matter if it’s produced or observed. Consuming art that profoundly pleases the user can help boost levels of serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin – the feel-good hormones associated with pleasure. As a consequence, the brain part that’s responsible for feeling pleasure witnesses heightened blood flow. This leads to an overall relaxation of the mind or the fertile ground for fostering new ways of thinking.
These experiences can occur in anyone, regardless of lifestyle, background, age, and so on. And who couldn’t use a more optimistic and confident outlook on life?
Art can also save money, research shows
Almost everyone is accustomed to that delightful kick triggered when attending an amazing art exhibition, concert, play, movie, and so on. Nevertheless, experts have only recently disclosed the extent to which such practices can improve health and wellbeing.
According to research from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport of the UK, something as simple as sporadic trips to art exhibitions, concerts, plays, or musicals have far-reaching impacts on physical and mental health alike. Regarding productivity levels, another UK-based study discloses that art exposure can result in better life quality and outputs, as well as fewer doctor visits – progresses that would save $10BN per year for the country.
This represents the conclusion of the first-of-its-kind UK study to quantify the effect generated by arts on mental and physical health in connection with the financial worth of the benefits brought. More exactly, attending cultural activities like art gallery trips can provide numerous considerable benefits, even if done only once in a while. The advantages found by the government-commissioned study include but aren’t limited to alleviated pain, depression, frailty, and medication dependence. None of this is a small feat!
Choose your favorite way of consuming art!
As discovered, consuming art can result in many health and wellbeing benefits. You can make trips to art galleries or museums to immerse yourself in relaxing visual experiences that trigger your feel-good hormone levels and lower cortisol. Or you can take on an art course, crafting your own art and exhibiting it in your home or other galleries. Whether you’re drawn to painting, drawing, or sculpting, you’ll sense how your self-expression and creativity improve. Mindfulness ultimately promotes emotional healing and satisfaction. Do you want to be a spectator? Then, you can look up various art-based performances in your area, like theater plays, concerts, museum events, etc.
Something as simple as observing street art for sudden bursts of joy can help you stay present and see the world that surrounds you in brighter colors!