October 23, 2024

How Creative Activities Alleviate Stress

Are you looking for a way to alleviate stress in your life? Did you know that creative activities can help? What follows are a few benefits tied to engaging in creative activities. Keep in mind that you don’t need to be creative like an Elon Musk or a J K Rowling; just tap into what you’re interested in or something you’ve always wanted to try and let things progress.

Creativity Is Personal

As you go through your life you probably frequently find yourself doing things that you don’t want to do, whether it’s at your job, or in a relationship, or elsewhere. But when you engage in a creative activity that you like it will help you feel happy. As the feelings or happiness and fulfillment build your stress levels will start to melt away.

So, if you really want to experience all the stress relief benefits of creativity, you can’t let someone pick your creative activity for you—you need to pick your own. Choosing how you spend your time has the added benefits of giving you a feeling of power which can work wonders when it comes to relieving stress.

You Will Feel Accomplished

When it comes to creating something, you decide when it is finished. This means that success in creativity is at your own finger tips, and when you finish, you will feel a sense of accomplishment — a feeling that induces happiness and lowers stress.

And if you are struggling at knowing when a piece of art, or whatever you are creating is done, just remember that you are in charge; when you say it is finished, it will be. It’s entirely yours, so don’t let anyone tell you that you're doing it wrong.

Creativity Can Be Meditative

Besides just helping you spend time doing an activity you enjoy, being creative can actually benefit the body in the same way that meditation can. Reason being is it gives you time with your thoughts, helps you get to know yourself better, and it aids in processing difficult emotions.

For example, art is an activity that improves self-awareness and helps you experience clarity off thought.

This works best when you spend time being creative alone. This doesn’t mean you can’t take classes about your art form or join a club; it just means that you should also be sure that you have some time to practice your creativity on your own from time to time.

Creativity Is Fun

Above all else, the main reason that creativity helps to lower stress is because it’s fun and brings you joy. It can invoke other positive emotions as well. For example, think of the last time you spent time creating art. How did you fee afterward? You probably felt a sense of joy, satisfaction, and relaxation which leads to a reduction in stress and a feeling of calm.

If for some reason you don’t feel joy, happiness, etc. while being creative, then whatever you are engaging in isn’t the right creative outlet for you and it’s time to venture out and try something new!

No matter what you like to do to be creative, you should definitely spend more time doing it! After all, creativity connects you with yourself on a personal level, helps you feel accomplished, and can be a form of meditation. Additionally, being creative is a great way to leave stress behind because you’re too busy having fun.

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If you liked this article, check out my Substack Newsletter entry entitled, "Color Therapy" at: https://theunreliablemind.substack.com/p/color-therapy-101