Why Art - Art Therapy

Why Art?

By Amber Robinson

Those of us who are born artists would scoff at a question like “Why Art?” Why NOT art is the real question. Those of us born with the natural inclination to take paint to canvas, put our hands to instruments or our bodies into motion or music understand the grounding effects of art. It is that grounding effect that makes art the beautiful healer that it is.

I’ve met so many people throughout my life who tell me they are not artistic or creative. But, I believe we all are. No matter how we build our lives, it is through our own creativity and ingenuity that we do so. But, there is something especially grounding about making art for the sake of its beauty. The world of dance, theater, paint and poetry is fraught with avenues of healing one can take.

In a study published in Art Therapy Magazine, 39 healthy people were tested for cortisol before and after 45 minutes of art making. For those who don’t know, cortisol is a stress hormone that your adrenal glands make. A body saturated in cortisol is a body very stressed and undergoing deterioration.

According to the study, cortisol levels were notably lower after art making. Participants were able to create with an array of materials and reported feelings of calm, peace, and better focus. They also wrote that they felt the art session was helpful for learning about new aspects of self, in helping conflict resolution and in understanding the concept of “being in flow”.

So what is it about art that lowers our stress levels and connects us more deeply to ourselves? According to a thoughtful blog on the Henry Ford Health System website, through art and creativity we are able to connect to our “inner child”, usually the part of ourselves that is most pure and unscarred. The blog also says that art is the only activity that forces us to forge a connection between body and mind. Through those connections back to dormant parts of self, we find healing, or wholeness.

In fact, the blog even goes so far as to suggest asking your art to communicate with you! As you connect your different parts of self, art is a messenger between them. What is your art trying to communicate to you about yourself?

In my experience, art has always been my saving grace. From poetry as an angsty teen to abstract painting as a war-mottled veteran, art has always been where I have met myself again and again. You meet yourself within the process somehow and that is how we heal. The person we were before life messed us up is always inside of us. Art is like a magical key that opens the door to that person again. Art allows us to be new again.

As we all end 2021 I encourage everyone to create some holiday art; paint a painting, write poetry or sculpt! Get eccentric with trimming the tree and with holiday food. And, If holiday stress starts to raise those cortisol levels, you know to reach for the markers and paper, not the vodka.

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