Express Yourself: Using Art to Reduce Stress and Find Balance Every Day

Apr 09, 2015

As a child, do you remember finger painting in the bathtub, drawing with chalk on the sidewalk or making little sculptures out of Play Dough? More importantly, do you remember how these small and simple acts made you feel? Most likely, you felt happy and relaxed and experienced a sense of freedom – the freedom of getting lost in your imagination. So, as an adult, what’s stopping you from reclaiming these feelings every day, particularly in these challenging and highly stressful times?

Through art, whether it’s sketching on your lunch hour, taking photographs at any given moment or writing a story, you will discover many benefits to your overall well-being. Not only will the regular practice of art enable you to express your creative side, it will also help you find the outlets that work for you to reduce stress, get in touch with your feelings, think clearer, and overall, establish balance in your life. And now, more than ever, it’s critical to implement positive, daily activities to overcome personal difficulties.

From soothing tension to discovering a new talent, art can offer the optimum escape, joy and self-awareness. Moreover, the process of creation can take you out of one state of mind and put you in a better one — one that helps you manage your behavior, so you can find insight and focus and take on any challenge that presents itself.

Patou encourages you to take the time to find your creative form of expression, even if it’s as simple as looking at an art book, visiting a gallery or starting a new music collection.