Health Benefits of an Arty Life

In an era when STEM has become STEAM and books are being written about how AI is going to bring a wave of change to how everything is done by humans on planet Earth, I read a very interesting book that completely resonates with me. It is titled – Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us. This blog post is being written not as a book review but something that fits in very well in the forum of this blog. Also I have been a big proponent of many creative activities that bring me great joy and this book provides well researched scientific explanation behind the cause of such joy.

This book is set in the world of neuro-aesthetics and explains the science behind “how our brains and bodies transform when we participate in the arts and how this knowledge can improve our health, enable us to flourish, and build stronger communities”. This book brings forth many simple aha moments and how they benefit our health and well-being. Here are a few examples that are very relevant to the current times:

• The best cure for burn out is a nature walk! It lower the stress hormone cortisol.
• Playing music enhances learning.
• Just 20 minutes of coloring mandalas reduces anxiety levels.
• Just 20 minutes of doodling or humming can provide immediate support for your physical and mental state.
• Doctors are prescribing museum visits to address loneliness and dementia.
• Colleges are offering pottery workshops to overwhelmed students to help relieve anxiety.
• Just one art experience / month can extend your life by ten years!
• Arts and aesthetics rewire the brain. They are a secret sauce that helps build new synaptic connections.

As an artist and architect I have long known that nature enriched art and biophilic spaces create a huge positive impact on our well being. Now I learnt how impoverished environments (e.g. windowless offices) have a slow, corrosive effect on health and well-being. With scientific backing this book proves how arts have major applications in healthcare industry and learning facilities. In the former they promote speedy recovery among patients, reduce stress among hospital staff and in the latter they contribute to enhanced learning. I loved reading about the immense benefits of nature and bringing it in with plants, botanical art (wall paper etc.).

I made a ton of notes from this book and gathered information about many organizations, forums, grants etc. that are hungry for work from good artists. So if you are an artist and want to make a positive impact in this world, then this book is a must read for you. As I wrap up this post, here is a quote by Steve Jobs that I find very appropriate at this time:

Technology alone is not enough – its technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the result that make our heart sing.

Lastly as a blog post is not complete without an image, here is a ceramic tile designed by me, that shall make a nature enriched wall accent in school corridors. This brings the outdoors in and creates biophilic interiors. As for the future, let the robots and AI do all the mechanical, grinding work in all fields. It shall free humans to refine their ambitions and reach higher goals.

Ratna

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Practice any art, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow.

– Kurt Vonnegut