3 Reasons Why Art Alleviates Anxiety

If you are looking to alleviate anxiety in a creative way, artistic practices have been said to calm the mind and aid creative expression. Here are three key reasons why art alleviates anxiety.

The Colours

Psychologists believe that looking at bright colours like yellow and green can help your mind release endorphins, aka happy chemicals! Here are a few key colours you can use in your art, and their associations in the brain according to psychologists.

• Red. According to psychologists, red inspires motivation, energy, and rejuvenation in the brain.
• Yellow. Yellow cleanses and refreshes the mind, helping you to feel creative, peaceful, and refreshed.
• Green. Green promotes calm acceptance. Green is associated with nature, which promotes a sense of calm and relaxation in your mind.
• Blue. Blue steadies the mind and establishes passivity and reflection.

If you practice sewing, painting, drawing, or even cooking, your brain will naturally gravitate towards colours that help it to feel these sensations and thereby alleviate some of the anxiety that you feel.

Alone Time and Self Care

Arts and crafts create space in your life to have self-care and reflection on your own. If you decide to indulge in making art, this requires you to set aside time in your day just for you, to do something for yourself. This, in itself, is an act of care and kindness for yourself. Making art, even if you have no training in painting or drawing and don’t consider yourself “good” at art, is a way of telling yourself that you deserve to have a break and cherish time just with yourself.

These rituals of setting aside time in your day to create something will help lower your anxiety levels and help you feel in control. This can manifest in different ways but ultimately will improve your confidence.

The Satisfaction Of Creative Something

Artistic practices, particularly abstract ones such as acrylic paint pouring, create a feeling of satisfaction in your mind. Anxiety can often stem from feeling as if you aren’t good enough, or that you simply aren’t enough, for the people around you. This can lower your self-esteem and make you feel like an imposter at work and with your friends. Creating something in your own time, even if it doesn’t look perfect or turn out how you wanted, gives your mind a sense of satisfaction; you have created something today, and for that, you should be very proud.