Staying cool when the heat is on
Practical insights for more flow and less stress
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Creativity v Hopelessness
“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” Pablo Picasso
My latest blog is very dear to my heart (I may have said this before, they all are…). Despite a very science-based education and career, my passion for the arts, as a doer and consumer, has always been with me.
This post explores creativity as a saviour, as medicine for our troubles and as an elixir for our frazzled minds in multiple ways.
The ideas that are completely lighting my fire right now are:
Creativity and the brain
Brain research shows the arts promote mental health.
“Neuroesthetics uses brain imaging, brain wave technology and biofeedback to gather scientific evidence of how we respond to the arts...the arts can be used to create a unique cognitive shift into a holistic state of mind called flow, a state of optimal engagement first identified in artists, that is mentally pleasurable and neurochemically rewarding.”
Some of my favourite topics; flow, mental health, mindfulness and creativity, collide in this great article.
“There is a wealth of studies on the relationship between the arts, flow and mental health, and flow-like states have been connected to mindfulness, attention, creativity and even improved cognition.”
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Need a hand to lock in some tools to help you get through this time with your mental health intact? Book a complimentary private Zoom session with me here.
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Get creative
I don’t normally share products in this newsletter but I’m so taken with this one that I simply have to.
A local Melbourne business, Me Time Inc, is an at-home 'wellness through art' project that combines a product plus a digital experience to improve people’s mental wellbeing. You order a beautifully curated and very affordable box of art supplies including paints, brushes, easel and more, and then log on to their platform for an art therapy tutorial to get you started.
Another way you can get creative is with this gorgeous Courage Colouring Page designed by Andrew Footit that may finish up looking like the beautiful image at the beginning of this newsletter. He designed it to help families get creative during lockdown.
Perhaps best of all, creativity can make the world a better place when it is used to bring about social change. My latest absolute favourite online repository of inspiration is The Commons Social Change Library.
They "collect, curate and distribute the key lessons and resources of progressive movements around Australia and across the globe". This resource has so many awesome examples of ways you can get creative to fight for change.
Things seem more desperate than ever in relation to both mental health and the opportunities that are presenting for massive change in mainstream thinking through human right’s movements and awareness-raising.
I hope this newsletter helps you get creative and gives some relief from the pressures you may be facing, and maybe even inspires you to create something as a way to make the world a better place.
And as always, I'd be grateful if you'd share this fortnightly newsletter by forwarding it to friends and family you think would love it and on your socials using the buttons below. 🙏
And please let me know what topics will help you be less stressed.
With love and warmth,
Suse x
PS If you've been sent this fortnightly newsletter by someone else you can sign up here.
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Lilo Wellness
www.lilowellness.com.au
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