Creativity isn’t just for artists and musicians; it’s a powerful tool that can have a significant impact on your physical health.
Stress Reduction
When we don’t have good coping mechanisms, the hassles of life can build up, what we refer to as stress, and which can have a profound affect our physical health. Doing creative activities can offer a great way to escape from the pressures of daily life. Whether you’re painting, writing, or playing a musical instrument, these activities can immerse you in a flow state, where worries fade away.
Creativity is a great coping mechanism to reduce those stress levels, which will have a direct positive impact on your physical health. Chronic stress is associated with health issues including cardiovascular problems, compromised immune system, and digestive disorders. By using creativity, you can manage and alleviate stress promoting better overall health.
Creative Visualization
Creative visualization is a powerful mental technique using your imagination and all your senses to create vivid mental images of your desired goals or outcomes. While it’s often associated with achieving personal or professional success, it also has a profound impact on physical health.
With creative visualization, we direct our thoughts towards positive outcomes and a healthier version of ourselves. This triggers the mind-body connection, the brain cannot distinguish between what’s vividly imagined and what’s real. When we visualize ourselves in a state of good health and well-being, our bodies respond by releasing healing and calming chemicals. The more you visualize the healthier future you, the healthier steps you’ll take, the better decisions you’ll make, and you will become that mental image.
Moving Creatively
Some creative endeavors might get you physical activity as well as giving you a creative outlet to express yourself. Dance might be the easiest example of this, it’s a great way to move creatively while reaping the benefits of physical fitness. It allows you to connect to your body, improve coordination, and release pent-up emotions; through a formal class or just turn the music up and let your body move to the beat. And if not dance, there’s yoga, tai chi, and parkour. Or even when you’re painting or doing sculpture, you’re not just sitting there, you are in motion.
Incorporating creativity into your daily life is a great way of self-expression and a powerful tool for enhancing physical health. Manage stress, harness the mind-body connection with creative visualization and engage in creative forms of physical activity.