Three Ways Creativity Affects Your Physical and Mental State

The COVID-19 pandemic has completely challenged everyone’s level of patience. We’re used to spending our weekends outside our homes by going shopping, hanging out with friends, and attending public gatherings. But with social distancing being the norm, people have no choice but to lock themselves indoors to prevent the spread of the virus.

With all the free time during the lockdown, many people found themselves looking for activities to pass the time. Many are returning to their old hobbies while others found new activities to overcome boredom. These include arts and crafts enthusiasts who found a creative hobby with scrapbooking. They found joy in collecting rubber stamps, colored pens, and stationery items. Meanwhile, others found their creative pursuits through dancing, writing, sketching, cooking, and other creative activities for casual enjoyment.

Art is more than just a hobby or vocation. It allows us to harness our creativity and promote spiritual well-being. Although most people view creative activities as something kids do at school or for people with innate artistic skills, being creative has no definite criteria. In fact, modern psychologists encourage more people to use their inner creativity because of its health and wellness benefits. For these reasons, we’ll talk about how creativity positively affects our mental and physical health.

Improves work performance

When we’re kids, our lives involve a lot of creative activities, such as coloring, imagining scenarios with our toys, making shapes out of clay, and creating sounds out of household items. By the time we’re teens, we actively participate in photography classes, join the school band, and participate in scrapbooking groups. But as we grow older, we gradually lose hold of our creativity as we crowded out our lives with daily chores, errands, academic and vocational pursuits, and time for our family and partner.

A study found that organizations that are more innovative and are capable of navigating change masterfully were those companies run by creative leaders. These include global CEOs who view creativity as a vital trait in handling the complexity of technology, company regulations, and corporate data.

It’s logical to say that injecting creativity at work will help employees feel more satisfied and improve their well-being and mental health. Creative ventures have various positive effects on our cognitive function since they encourage our minds to think outside the box. If applied at work, employees are more proactive in pitching creative ideas or projects to the team.

Boosts mental health

Self-expression through creative and artistic activities keeps our mental health at bay. Several studies have proven that creativity helps relieve shame, anxiety, stress, anger, and depression, especially those who suffer from trauma.

Military hospitals have art therapy programs for soldiers suffering from post-traumatic disorder (PTSD). Often, veterans struggle to discuss their trauma verbally. With art therapy, soldiers can use their creativity to express their deep emotions and things they aren’t comfortable telling other people.

The way the mind functions during creative activities is no different from what we encounter during mindfulness, meditation, or yoga sessions. These activities help you feel calm, happy, and at peace by blocking unnecessary distractions or any external stimuli. Like meditative exercises, creative activities promote feelings of joy and contentment.

Puts you in a euphoric state

Whether you’re dancing to your favorite song, posting photos in your scrapbook, or writing your thoughts in your journal, we often find ourselves completely immersed that we lose our sense of time. Any form of creative activity requires utmost concentration and focus. But when you try to multitask, you often make more errors and feel more pressured and frustrated, especially if things don’t go well.

In psychological terms, this scenario is known as “flow state” or being “in the zone,” where you place your optimal attention on a specific task. These moments compel you to give your rapt attention to absorb everything that happens in the present. You get extremely focused on the current task that everything starts to disappear, including other performance aspects, allowing your physical and mental state to go beyond the roof.

This euphoric state is an excellent way to feel more relaxed and mindful. It allows you to be more optimistic and experience a sense of self-satisfaction. As a result, people who frequently enter the flow state report a spike in productivity, creativity, and happiness.

It feels great knowing the activities that make us feel good are actually good for our moods and our overall health and well-being. So when life gets flat and mundane, we can always indulge with our creativity to do some fun and playful activities. This will not only kill the boredom but also revitalize and renew you.