The life of a modern person moves faster than ever before in the history of humankind. Unfortunately, we are all familiar with stress and psychological and physical exhaustion. In order to somehow reduce its impact on health, many people engage in some kind of activity they practice for the wellbeing of their "soul" or "spirit."
A good example is creative hobbies. When we say "creative work" we mean a variety of things: writing poems, growing plants, knitting, or collecting something, for example. It can be anything that distracts us from the routine, anything that gives the brain a break and makes our lives less monotonous. After spending an hour or two engaged in our favorite pastime, we feel refreshed, rested and ready for to get back to work. It helps us to ease tensions, which is just what a modern overloaded person needs.
Here are the five main reasons why creativity is good for us, and the positive impact it has on our health and wellbeing.
Reason 1. Creativity helps to release stress.
Just as yoga and meditation help to relax your body, creativity helps to relax your mind. While doing something that diverts your thoughts, you help divert your brain from your work, reduce stress and anxiety, and as a result, reduce the harmful effects of stress on your health.
As research has shown, a high level of stress increases the risk of various diseases, including heart disease and one of the biggest problems of the 21st century - depression. Certainly, stress is not the only thing that causes health problems, but but if you ignore it, the situation may become severe.
However, there is an effective method of reducing the impact of stress that doesn’t involve medicine: just give yourself time to rest. Creative work is great for this.
It’s enough just to read a book, attend a concert, go out of town with friends, or visit an exhibition - anything that will make your brain think of other things.
It is very important to find time for relaxation. Do not ignore stress, because its consequences for your health might be very unpleasant.
Reason 2. Having a hobby restores the efficiency of your brain.
Your brain can be trained, just like your muscles can be trained in the gym. But while muscle training requires bars and dumbbells, your brain needs mental tasks. Finding the solution to a new problem stimulates the growth of neurons and establishes connections between them. And just as the muscles get tired of doing the same type of exercises, so does your nervous system. Therefore, a good way to let it rest is switching to different tasks.
Creative activity fosters mental activity and reduces your chances of developing mental problems like dementia.
Reason 3. Constant creative activity may prevent Alzheimer's disease.
Just like the rest of the body, our brain changes as we age. We cannot stop this natural process, but we can reach old age while still of sound mind and in good physical shape. Most importantly, we can minimize the effects of diseases that are typical for older people, such as Alzheimer's disease - the progressive degenerative state of the brain commonly associated with people aged 65 years and over.
If you are a young person, then this prospect may seem too distant to do anything about it now, but the way we age is directly determined by our way of life in youth. Constant engagement in creativity stimulates the establishment of pathways between neurons, fosters connections between different parts of the brain, and reduces the risk of various diseases.
Creative work stimulates memory , ensuring that connections between neurons do not weaken. To achieve a healthy mind, you don’t need some kind of superpower - just engage in some of your favorite hobbies regularly. Be involved in creative activities, make it a habit, and it will help you to lead a long and healthy life.
Reason 4. Creativity improves your mood.
As we have already noted, stress is one of the biggest problems of the modern era. Stress can affect all aspects of your life and both your mental and physical health. Constant stress can lead to a loss of interest in life, and this is the worst effect of all because under these circumstances you stop fighting for yourself, illnesses gradually take over your body, you grow old, and that's it.
Again, the recipe to prevent this is incredibly simple - engage in any kind of creative activity to distract your mind, relax, gain mental strength and feel refreshed.
Creativity helps you to form character traits and build psychological and emotional stability. It is this stability that helps you not only cope with stress, but even resist and reduce it.
Reason 5. Creativity helps you to have a better social life.
Every human being, even an introvert, needs a social life because this is part of our nature. In order to feel good about ourselves, we need a healthy social life. Without this important aspect, a person will feel unhappy.
The socialization aspect of creative activity, as studies show, contributes to better health. Those who are socially active are less likely to lose their memory. Those who frequently communicate and socialize have a 55% less chance of experiencing cognitive and mental impairment than those who don’t.
If you want to stay in good mental and physical form for longer, you need no expensive medications, special programs, or anything else out of the ordinary. Just practice your favorite creative activity or hobby and have fun while staying active and healthy!