Creative activities are an excellent way to unwind, and a recent study confirms that participating in feel-good activities is vital for your mental health. The six top creative activities among the study participants are:

• Listening to music
• Solving puzzles
• Singing or dancing
• Drawing, painting, sculpting
• Crafting
• Creative writing

Any of these activities can enhance your mood and improve your mental health; they are not just for fun. These activities can help you recover from the daily grind and use your brain differently.

Listening to Music

Listening to music is the most popular activity for unwinding and regulating mood—approximately 77% of participants listed this as one of their favorite ways to feel better. Music makes working out on a treadmill and enduring a long drive much more bearable. Music has uplifting and inspiring effects. It is a brain workout that can reduce anxiety, blood pressure and pain, as it improves sleep, mood and mental alertness.

Puzzles

It does not matter if it is a jigsaw puzzle, sudoku or an escape room. Solving puzzles is an excellent way to decompress. Puzzles improve visual-spatial reasoning, short-term memory and problem-solving skills. Puzzles can also combat cognitive decline.

Singing or Dancing

Dancing provides the opportunity to listen to music and engage in physical activity. Dancing helps the cardiovascular, respiratory, skeletal and muscular systems. It can put you in a better mood and improve your cognitive skills.

Performing music lowers cortisol levels and increases the levels of endogenous opioids in the brain, which helps to reduce anxiety and pain. It can also affect your blood pressure and heart rate.

Drawing, Painting or Sculpting

Creating art helps a person cope with difficult emotions. It provides a means of expression that goes beyond words. Connecting with nonverbal expression can be excellent for your mental health.

Crafts

Crafts such as knitting, model building, cake decorating, sewing and cosplay can boost your mood. They can also ease the symptoms of anxiety, depression, stress, and chronic pain. Crafts offer an effect similar to meditation and act as a natural antidepressant by releasing dopamine in the brain. Crafts can also protect against aging by improving brain neuroplasticity.

Creative Writing

Writing and journaling are great activities for boosting mood. When you write, it helps you process your emotions and experiences. Creative writing can help you understand your thoughts and feelings and give you greater focus and clarity. Creativity is a healthy response to trauma. It can reduce blood pressure, strengthen the immune system, reduce stress, anxiety and depression and improve sleep.

All creative activities are an excellent way to express yourself, take a break from the everyday routine and boost your mood.

If a new job might help boost your mood, the team at Exact Staff is ready to help!