While we usually think of exercising to strengthen our muscles, crosswords to exercise our brain, even evaluating how our diet may benefit our minds, we often overlook one sphere of life โ art. While it may not be everyoneโs natural talent, and not everyone has the time or abilities for an at-home studio, art allows us to take a moment for ourselves and create a tangible product. Practicing art can even boost your serotonin levels, while simultaneously working on fine motor skills and emotional balance. This may be hard to believe, as it easy to get frustrated when a project does not come out quite as perfect as the Pinterest inspiration, but art truly boosts your overall mental health.
As Pablo Picasso said, โArt washes from the soul the dust of everyday life.โ
And, anyone can do it. For years, art therapy has been used to treat people of all ages and abilities for a variety of purposes. For example, the reputation needed to create a mandala, (a circular pattern originally created by monks in Asia as a part of Buddhism, but now is popular globally), benefits those with Alzheimers who begin to lose the ability to identify patterns.
In other ways, we have all used art as a form of therapy or diffuses a situation without even knowing it; Summer camp counselors, parents, and teachers can all relate to giving a child some crayons until they come down. Afterall, adult coloring books were created for a reason.
In short, while we carve out the time to regularly be on our phones, scrolling through social media or creating shopping carts that we will delete soon after, why not create some time to nourish our minds? And, there is no better place to do so than a paint-your-own-pottery studio, where you donโt even need to deal with the mess.