'Your sense of touch, your sense of three-dimensional space, sight, maybe a little bit of sound - all of these are engaged in using several parts of yourself for self-expression, and likely to be more beneficial.'Ī number of studies have shown that coloring inside a shape - specifically a pre-drawn geometric mandala design - is more effective in boosting mood than coloring on a blank paper or even coloring inside a square shape. 'It engages both your hands and many parts of your brain in sensory experiences,' she says. Kaimal says modeling clay, for example, is wonderful to play around with. Some types of art appear to yield greater health benefits than others. Kaimal points to a 2018 study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, which found that flow was characterized by increased theta wave activity in the frontal areas of the brain - and moderate alpha wave activities in the frontal and central areas. You're so in the moment and fully present that you forget all sense of time and space,' she says.Īnd what's happening in your brain when you're in flow state? 'It activates several networks including relaxed reflective state, focused attention to task and sense of pleasure,' she says. 'It's that sense of losing yourself, losing all awareness. Ultimately, says Kaimal, making art should induce what the scientific community calls 'flow' - the wonderful thing that happens when you're in the zone. So that means that no matter your skill level, you'll be able to feel all the good things that come with making art. The paper also showed that there were no differences in health outcomes between people who identify as experienced artists and people who don't. They found that 45 minutes of creating art in a studio setting with an art therapist significant lowered cortisol levels. Shots - Health News Start Fresh: 6 Tips For Emotional Well-Being In 2020 Cortisol is a hormone that helps the body respond to stress. In a 2016 paper in the Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, Kaimal and a group of researchers measured cortisol levels of 39 healthy adults. This research suggests making art may have benefit for people dealing with health conditions that activate the reward pathways in the brain, like addictive behaviors, eating disorders or mood disorders, the researchers wrote.Īlthough the research in the field of art therapy is emerging, there's evidence that making art can lower stress and anxiety. And indeed - the researchers found an increase in blood flow to this part of the brain when the participants were making art. They measured blood flow to the brain's reward center, the medial prefrontal cortex, in 26 participants as they completed three art activities: coloring in a mandala, doodling and drawing freely on a blank sheet of paper. She and a team of researchers discovered this in a 2017 paper published in the journal The Arts in Psychotherapy.

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