Amit Ray once said, “Yoga is the artwork of awareness on the canvas of body, mind, and soul.” What he meant by this is that yoga is both an art and a lifestyle, and it impacts more than one aspect of your life. While yoga is definitely a physical exercise, it is also a mental one, and it comes with a variety of mental health benefits. You may be aware of how it can reduce stress at work, but how do we maintain that same mental awareness at home?
Why Yoga Is Art
Yogis have known it for years, but yoga has been shown to alleviate anxiety and symptoms of stress. Yoga has been shown to have a positive effect on your brain: it increases frontal cortex activity, and can increase brain waves that contribute to creativity. Creative energy itself can improve your mood and productivity.
Though you may not realize it, yoga is an art form — and in more than once sense of the word. Yoga is an art, in that it takes skill, patience, and diligence to fully master it. However, like other traditional forms of art, it is easily accessible to people of all skill levels, from novice to expert. It also draws from lines and shapes in much the same way that dance does, pulling inspiration from the world around you and replicating it in abstract, yet thoughtful ways.
How Art Can Help
The creative boost you’ll get from a simple yoga routine also lends itself to other art forms with their own mental health benefits. Creativity and self-expression go hand-in-hand, and are a very therapeutic combination. So why not try your hand at another form of art to help achieve that? Being able to make your ideas come to life is extremely beneficial for your mental health as well, because you’ll soon be able to express feelings in a more abstract way that allows you to connect with an audience — and also gives you a confidence boost when you receive good feedback.
Where To Start
Photo by Gavin Whitner https://musicoomph.com/
If you’ve always wanted to dabble in visual arts, but aren’t sure where to start, give drawing or sketching a chance — you can find tutorials for subject matters you know and love, and continue to develop that skill as you practice. Having a basic understanding of how to make your ideas form on paper will also help you take them off paper as well, whether it’s sculpting, animating, film-making, or a fresh new concept. Being able to produce something that represents you can feel calming and relieve stress, and sharing it with an audience can help you feel connected to others. You can also find groups of people with similar experiences that can become a support group.
If you’re more into auditory art than visual, give music a shot — there are benefits to be had from both listening to and playing music. Listening to music can affect your mood and worldview, which is why music typically played during yoga is very peaceful and soothing. There are, of course, other ways to utilize this benefit: you can hype yourself up for a daunting task, feel powerful, or even get ready to sleep depending on your choice of genre. Playing music is a little more inaccessible for those who don’t have a lot of free time, but like visual art, can help with therapeutic self-expression.
If you participate solely in corporate yoga, that’s a great start, and there’s plenty of room to grow. Boost your creativity by utilizing your breath and mind the same way you do for yoga. You’ll surprise yourself with both your artwork and your peace of mind.
Jane Sandwood