Five Benefits of Painting That Can Improve Your Health

Did you know that using your imagination to create can help improve your health?

Research shows that painting can make you a happier, healthier person.

With news like that, you probably want to run out and start painting right now. (I know I do.)

The benefits of painting transcend age groups and positively impacts everyone from the very young to the well-seasoned.

Many studies shine the light on how painting can improve our quality of life while promoting good health.

It is incredible to realize that creating art can influence communication, self-esteem, mobility, brain activity, mental health, and even emotional intelligence.

Let’s look at some of the incredible side effects your well-being can experience when you paint:

Sharpen Your Memory & Concentration: When you paint you use both the left and right side of your brain, which allows you to express emotion without words.

Did you know that painting is currently used to treat illnesses like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease? In fact, those who practice painting regularly lessen their chances of developing these cognitive diseases.

Alleviate Your Stress: When you use your imagination to create, your brain has a distraction, and you enter “your zone.”

This activity magically places you into your own world where you escape the stressors of daily life. The more you focus on what you’re painting, the more you relax.

Enhance Your Attention to Details: When you know you’re going to paint, you start to observe the details around you and transfer them into the piece you’re creating.

You see shades and colors more vibrantly. Your unconscious mind works on ways to bring things you see in the real world into whatever you design.

Increase Your Communication Skills: The act of putting brush to canvas or whatever medium allows you to share your inner feelings—the ones you don’t speak—using paint.

You learn to use artwork to express yourself. This benefits all of us, but especially those who deal with shyness, autism, and other disabilities.

Unlock Your Creative Potential: Painting encourages the left and right sides of your brain to come up with unique solutions. And get this: When you create, there is no wrong answer.

The piece you design uses your imagination and problem-solving skills to help you innovate and bring things to life.

There are so many positive physical, mental, and spiritual results from painting that creating artwork is used to treat brain injuries, chronic illnesses, learning disabilities, and high-stress occupations.

With all these side-effects, it is a wonder that more people don’t learn how to paint.

So let me ask you. Do you paint?

If you do, I’m certain you’ve experienced positive benefits.

Let me challenge you to pause and reflect on the many ways creating art has impacted your life.

Write down a list, and share your findings in the comments below.