Category: Creativity

Minimise screen time and maximise wellbeing

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“What have you been watching?” “I’ve just finished Peaky Blinders / Schitt’s Creek / The Queen’s Gambit (delete as appropriate) and need a new series to watch.”

Sound familiar? When thinking about this month’s post, the increasing use of our phones and rise in screen time during lockdown – almost 45 hours a week – were at the forefront of my mind. There are many ways we can interpret these figures but based on how many of us are feeling during this winter lockdown, it seems like a form of escapism. If we are limited in where we can go, it makes sense that we escape through the media available to us.

There are other ways of escapism that don’t involve sitting in front of the screen, we just need to be reminded of them. This month’s post is a reminder of how we can get our creative juices flowing in just 15 minutes, escape the mundaneness of lockdown and benefit our wellbeing.

Increased screen time, decreased mental health

Although our growing use of television, streaming and online media is understandable, it’s not always good for our wellbeing. Multiple studies have found links between screen time and/or sedentary behaviour with anxiety and depression.

Since the first lockdown started, researchers have been exploring the effects of screen time and our restricted lifestyles. Those who decreased the amount of time they spent in front of the TV were more likely to report very good or excellent mental health compared to those who increased their screen time. Another study found that even when controlling for a range of demographic factors (i.e. age, income) the more time sat watching television and films, the worse our mental health is likely to be.

Why get creative?

There are multiple benefits to being creative, such as improved:

  • Communication skills
  • Stress management
  • Connections with others
  • Emotional literacy
  • Health management
  • Self-confidence

Participating in creative activities can also lead us to approach situations in our lives in new, positive ways. Have you ever got into the creative ‘flow’? ‘Flow’ experiences are those that engage our whole bodies and result in us concentrating, ruminating less and not focusing on time passing us by. When we experience flow through being creative we tend to have higher self-esteem, value ourselves more and feel more useful – all of which contribute to our wellbeing.

It’s not often we can say we feel the same after bingeing the latest TV series. Here’s three ways you can get creative in just 15 minutes:

Stories in 5 words. As the days often feel like they roll into one at the moment, this creative activity also has the benefit of helping us keep track. Spend 15 minutes each day describing different things that happened with just 5 words. Five words are enough to convey a message, but tricky enough to make us really think about it. Here’s a few examples to help you get in the swing of it:

  • I baked chocolate chip cookies
  • The shed roof came off
  • The cat ate my dinner

Mindfulness colouring. The benefits of this are covered in depth in this previous post. Colouring can help us really get in the ‘flow’ and focusing on just one thing such as colouring can help us take a step back from emotional and stressful situations. Take 15 minutes away from the screen and get your colouring pencils out. Here’s a pattern you can print off and colour in. There are also multiple free designs available online.

mindful-colouringDownload

Create something to show someone you’re thinking of them on Valentine’s Day. Although we shouldn’t wait for one day each year to tell someone what they mean to us, Valentine’s Day is a useful excuse to do so. It doesn’t have to be a romantic declaration – we all experience different types of love. Whether you’re in a relationship or not, why not use this opportunity to tell someone you appreciate them? Some creative ways to do this include:

  • Turn a photo or doodle into a greetings card
  • Create a simple origami and gift it

I’d love to hear how you get on with these creative activities and the effect they have on your wellbeing. Please do get in touch 15minutewellbeing@gmail.com or comment in the box below.

I deliver online wellbeing workshops, so if that’s something that would benefit you or your organisation, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

I also share wellbeing-related research, news and stories on twitter and Instagram in between monthly blog posts so do follow @15minwellbeing on both platforms to keep up to date.

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Real life stories: Life drawing

Creativity comes in many shapes and forms, much like the human body. Often we think of being creative as an individual pursuit, but it can be a social activity too. A couple of months ago, my friend Lizzie held a life drawing class in her home and invited a group of us along.

Life drawing involves drawing or painting a nude model posing in front of you, the artist. They typically strike a few different poses so the artist can capture different angles of the body. At Lizzie’s, the model did a few 10 minute poses, two 20 minute poses and one pose for half an hour, so we could draw her in differing amounts of detail.

Amongst my group of friends were a mixture of creative types and those who felt they ‘couldn’t draw’ or were ‘no good at drawing’ but everyone turned up. It was the first time we had all been together since Lizzie’s wedding so I was intrigued to find out everyone’s motivations for going and how they felt during and after the class. I also got the low down from Lizzie on why she held a life drawing class.

As we’ve covered in a previous blog post, some people find engaging in creative activities stressful, particularly the pressure to complete an artistic task to a set standard. If you feel this way, hopefully Sophie and Hannah’s answers below will give you some reassurance and confidence to give creative activities a go.

What motivated you to hold a life drawing class?

…you concentrate so much on doing one thing that your mind isn’t cluttered with anything else, so it’s very mindful.

Lizzie

Lizzie: I’ve found it really calming when I’ve done it previously and good for managing stress and wellbeing, basically because you concentrate so much on doing one thing that your mind isn’t cluttered with anything else, so it’s very mindful. And I was really keen to share those benefits in the hope others get the same experience, as well as take an opportunity to see my friends of course in the comfort of home.

What motivated you to go to the life drawing class?

Sophie: I wanted to try something new, experience something I’d never done before and test myself by doing something that wouldn’t typically be ‘my thing’.

Hannah: To be honest, my main motivation for attending the class was that it was a chance to catch up with friends I hadn’t seen in a while. I was intrigued by life drawing but given my lack of artistic ability I expected that this would almost be the side event of my evening.  

Lizzie: Perhaps less a question for me since it was at my house (!) but normally I go in order to combine switching off in a peaceful environment as well as catching up with good friends. I used to study art but once I stopped it academically I hardly did it anymore, when actually it’s so enjoyable when you do!

How did you feel beforehand?

I noticed feeling some anxiety about my own ability, or lack thereof.

Hannah

Sophie: I actually felt a little anxious before we got started. I think the prospect of doing something so different combined with the feeling of not being good enough really played on my mind.

Hannah: I had quite a busy day prior to the class and so hadn’t thought much about it. When I arrived the host began telling me about some of the other people attending who were ‘serious artists’ and I did begin to wonder what I had let myself in for. I noticed feeling some anxiety about my own ability, or lack thereof. However, Lizzie was a great host, as always, and having time to mingle, eat and drink beforehand helped to set a relaxed vibe.

Lizzie: A tad frantic getting everything ready and leaving work with a mass still there to do!

How did you feel during the life drawing?

Being able to sit, and simply be in the moment, with no other thoughts cluttering up my mind gave me a feeling of real freedom.

Sophie

Sophie: I felt incredibly relaxed during the life drawing which was not what I expected! Being able to sit, and simply be in the moment, with no other thoughts cluttering up my mind gave me a feeling of real freedom. I felt detached from my usual worries.

Hannah: Initially I noticed myself being quite self-critical which got in the way of me being able to enjoy the experience. Having a life model means that if you get it ‘wrong’ you could end up offending someone to their face. I found it really helpful having the artist there to give some hints and tips to improve my drawing. After this I really began to enjoy the experience and found that I was able to really focus on the activity, forgetting the things that had been on my mind that day. I was surprised at how quickly the time went and how much I ended up enjoying it.

Lizzie: In flow! Calm and concentrating.

How did you feel after the life drawing?

After having a busy day, this was a great activity to help me feel relaxed.

Hannah

Sophie: Afterwards I felt a sense of achievement. Not only had I tackled something I’d never done before but I realised I found it both easier and much more fulfilling than I had expected!

Hannah: After having a busy day, this was a great activity to help me feel relaxed. So much so that I nearly fell asleep on my train home. It has made me interested in doing more drawing as a way of relaxing.

Lizzie: I felt like I’d had some rest and recuperation for my brain, and fed my soul a bit of creativity. I was also super happy that everyone seemed to enjoy it.

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I share wellbeing-related research, news and stories on twitter and Instagram in between weekly blog posts so do follow @15minwellbeing on both platforms to keep up to date.

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Making Mehndi for your mental wellbeing

This week is Creativity and Wellbeing Week, celebrating creativity in all its forms and how getting those creative juices flowing can really benefit our health and wellbeing. There are events going on all over the UK this week, so if you’d like to get involved, click here for what’s on near you. If you can’t make it to any of the events, then not to worry, as this week’s blog features a new activity for you to try to help enhance your wellbeing.

Doing something creative each day can help us feel more positive. The positive effects of engaging in a creative activity can last for over 24 hours. That is, if we do something creative on a Thursday, we are likely to still experience the positive effects on our mood on the Friday. Research has shown that those of us who do something creative each day rate our social relationships as more rewarding and supportive.

Even if we don’t manage to get creative every day, regularly engaging in a creative activity can help us feel better within ourselves and positively impact other areas of our lives such as:

There are so many ways to be creative – we covered rhyming poetry in a previous post – and this week’s activity involves the three D’s – drawing, doodling and designing. Inspired by last week’s Eid celebrations and friends’ wedding celebrations, we are going to create our own Mehndi (henna) designs.

What is Mehndi?

Mehndi is an ancient form of body art. Specifically, it’s the application of henna as a temporary tattoo. The art of Mehndi has reportedly been around for over 5,000 years, dating back to Ancient Egypt. The Egyptians would paint henna on mummies before they were buried and Cleopatra used henna to decorate her body.

Today, Mehndi is commonly featured in wedding celebrations in South Asia, North Africa and the Middle East (and in expatriate communities from these regions). A ceremony, called ‘The Night of the Henna’ involves applying henna to the hands and feet of the bride-to-be as well as other members of the wedding party. Ornate, complex patterns are said to symbolise joy in getting married and a desire for luck.

Mehndi is also used to celebrate special occasions such as engagements, pregnancy, giving birth, Diwali, Eid and many other celebrations. Designs may range from floral, lacy and paisley patterns to dots, stripes and geometric designs.

How can Mehndi benefit my wellbeing?

Although the research on Mendhi and wellbeing appears to be extremely limited, drawing and doodling – which feature in the Mehndi design process – have been shown to improve wellbeing. For example:

Additionally, concentrating on a creative design task can help us achieve ‘flow’. Flow experiences are those that engage our whole bodies and result in us concentrating, ruminating less and not focusing on time passing us by. When we experience flow (through being creative) we tend to have higher self-esteem, value ourselves more and feel more useful – all of which contribute to our wellbeing.

Make your own Mehndi

Today’s activity is to make your own Mehndi. You can include whatever doodles, drawings or patterns you like in your design, the main thing is that you enjoy it. If you’re stuck for inspiration, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest have thousands of ideas.

The worksheet has the outline of a hand for you to draw your design onto. However, if you want to design your Mehndi on a different body part i.e. a foot, feel free to use a blank piece of paper. Click the link below to download the worksheet. For this week’s activity, you will need to print it off and fill it in by hand.

mehndiDownload

If you enjoy creating a Mehndi design, or feel that the process of designing a Mehndi has helped improve your wellbeing, please do get in contact and share your design and/or your story!

I share wellbeing-related research, news and stories on twitter and Instagram in between weekly blog posts so do follow @15minwellbeing on both platforms to keep up to date. As this week’s post is about Mehndi, I will also be sharing examples of designs over the next week.

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What do your initials look like in a different language?

Happy Mental Health Awareness Week! Semana feliz de conciencia de salud mental! Woche des gesunden psychischen Bewusstseins für psychische gesundheit! Semaine heureuse desensibilisation à la santé mentale!*

What do foreign languages have to do with mental health? Well, research has shown that learning another language can benefit our wellbeing.

Learning a foreign language is associated with a whole host of benefits for our wellbeing, including:

  • Enhancing our problem solving skills
  • Developing our ability to negotiate
  • Improving our assertiveness
  • Planning and achieving goals

As we learnt from the previous blog on learning, there are many benefits to learning as adults such as increased self-esteem, self-confidence and giving us a sense of purpose. This in turn can help us feel more optimistic and satisfied with life – key factors of positive wellbeing.

But this is 15 minute wellbeing, how can we learn a language in 15minutes?

We can’t be expected to be fluent in a new language in 15 minutes, but we can learn something small in a different language, or alphabet. There are currently 8 main different alphabets used across the world (with at least 62 other alphabets known to have been used throughout history), each using different symbols and shapes to represent letters and words, and each beautiful in their own way.

The top alphabet is Tifinagh and the bottom is Korean (hanguel and hanja). Both translate to
‘All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.’ (Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Today’s activity is designed for you to have a bit of fun with your initials. What do your initials look like in an alphabet different to your native language? Use the worksheet to draw your initials in another language or alphabet. As well as learning what they look like, try pronouncing them in the different language too.

Click the link below to download the worksheet. You can fill it in using the ‘fill and sign’ tool or alternatively print it off and fill it in by hand.

initials-in-different-alphabetsDownload

Check back here (and@15minwellbeing on Instagram and twitter) tomorrow for the next wellbeing activity as part of Mental Health Awareness Week!

*(Please note these sentences were written using a translation app so apologies if they don’t read 100% correctly)

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8 ways mindfulness colouring can help you beat stress

You may have got one in your work secret Santa. A (not so close) relative may have bought you one for your birthday because “you were always into art at school”. You may have the Doctor Who one to tide you over until the next series starts. Whatever the reason,adult colouring books are very popular and it’s likely that most of us own one.

Whether you’re a fan of colouring in or are dubious about it, these books can help us cope with stress and improve our wellbeing. In the final post of National Stress Awareness Month, here’s 8 reasons to keep colouring or pick up those colouring pencils for the first time.

  • 1. Colouring in reduces stress and anxiety

Creative activities can be used to help us cope better with mental health problems and alleviate psychological distress. More specifically, colouring tasks have been shown to reduce anxiety and stress and improve mood, all good for our wellbeing.

  • 2. It’s a mindful activity, which is beneficial for our wellbeing.

Colouring in can put us in a meditative state and help us become more mindful. As we learnt in a previous blog post, mindfulness can reduce stress and anxiety and even pain. Just focusing on one thing that is happening in the here and now – i.e. colouring in part of a picture – can help us take a step back from stressful and emotional situations.

  • 3. Mindfulness colouring books can reduce symptoms of depression

If you’re suffering with a low mood, colouring may be able to help. Research has shown that after a week of daily colouring in, participants showed significant reductions in symptoms of depression and anxiety. Those who completed logic puzzles over the same time period did not show these reductions, suggesting that colouring in for a short period on a daily basis can improve our mental health.

  • 4. Colouring can improve our problem solving skills

Deciding which colours we want to use in each part of an image relies on our creative, right side of the brain and logical, left side of the brain working together. Creative activities such as colouring provide good opportunities to practice our problem solving skills as they often involve thinking differently. Continued practice can also help us become more resilient in the face of stress.

  • 5. It gives us a sense of control

When we feel stressed, we often feel like certain aspects of our lives are out of our control. Engaging with colouring in books can help us regain that sense of control, because we are the ones choosing the colours. When given the choice of how to colour in an image versus being instructed to copy the colours of a pre-coloured image, participants were more likely to persevere with the task and show reduced levels of anxiety.

  • 6. Colours can affect our wellbeing

Different colours can affect our thoughts, feelings and behaviour in multiple ways. Choosing the colours we want to use in a colouring task can address our subconscious psychological needs and improve our wellbeing.

  • 7. Different themed books can help us engage with our interests

It’s important to do something we enjoy every day. As well as making us happier, doing something fun can improve our skills, enhance our creativity and increase our ability to learn. Due to the popularity of adult colouring books, we can combine the benefits of colouring with our own interests. There are colouring books for every interest – Ryan Gosling (my personal favourite), cats and Game of Thrones, among many, many others.

  • 8. With all this in mind, why don’t you give this week’s activity a go?

I’ve designed a pattern for you to colour in, reduce stress and improve your wellbeing. Spend 15 minutes colouring it in and see how you feel. If you’re able to, spend 15 minutes each day on it until you’ve completed colouring it in to enhance the benefits to your wellbeing.

Click the link below to download the worksheet. It’s recommended for this exercise that you print it off so you can colour it in! If you don’t have a printer, you could draw your own design and colour it in.

mindful-colouringDownload

If colouring in has helped improve your wellbeing, please do get in contact and share your story!

I share wellbeing-related research, news and stories on twitter and Instagram in between weekly blog posts so do follow @15minwellbeing on both platforms to keep up to date. I’d love to post your colouring online, so get in contact and share your work 🙂

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Write a rhyme to help you feel fine

Poem by Ms Moem http://msmoem.com/tag/rhyming-poem/

Today is World Poetry Day, celebrating poetry in all its forms. From a couplet to a haiku, limerick or sonnet, poetry helps us express our thoughts, feelings and life experiences. As proclaimed by the United Nations, poetry has the unique ability to capture the creative spirit of the human mind.

This week’s post uses World Poetry Day to introduce the seventh and final theme that can improve your wellbeing – creativity. Creativity – or being creative – is the use of our imagination or original ideas to create something. Here at 15 minute wellbeing, the focus is not on being artistic or creating a masterpiece, but absorbing ourselves in an activity that can stimulate our senses and temporarily help us forget about our problems.

Theme 7: Creativity

Creativity is a key part of being human and can help us grow as individuals, groups and societies. Being creative stimulates the whole brain: when we do something creative, the left logical side and right emotional side of our brains work together and develop our thinking skills. This in turn, improves our problem solving skills. Continued creativity can help us practice these new problem solving skills and help us become more resilient.

Participating in creative activities can improve wellbeing and reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress in those of us affected by mental health issues. Creative activities can also improve our:

  • Communication skills
  • Stress management
  • Connections with others
  • Emotional intelligence
  • Health management
  • Self-confidence

Despite all these benefits, some people find engaging in creative activities stressful, particularly the pressure to complete an artistic task to a set standard. If we don’t have confidence in our artistic abilities or creative writing skills, the thought of doing something creative may not be so appealing. However, we could think of creativity as a muscle that needs strengthening – the more we practice it, the more confidence we will have. Over time, 15 minute wellbeing will provide different activities that can exercise and nourish our creativity.

There are many ways to be creative – drawing, painting, singing and dancing (among others) – all of which will be featured in the blog in the future. As today is world poetry day, we are going to write a poem. Not just any poem, a rhyming one!

Why is poetry good for our wellbeing?

Practising poetry can contribute to improved wellbeing. It has been shown to be a useful therapeutic tool for people with a variety of mental health issues.  Poetry can positively influence our:

  • Social relationships
  • Emotions
  • Sense of purpose in life
  • Personal accomplishments

Having a sense of achievement or personal accomplishment can result in a positive spiral. Achievement builds motivation and confidence, which then encourages us to take more positive risks and new challenges to achieve some more.

Poetry can help us make sense of the world and reflect on our experiences – which we already know from the last blog is good for our wellbeing. Writing poetry about stressful and/or negative life experiences can help us process emotions such as loss, anger and frustration.

When we become absorbed in writing (or reading) a poem, it blends in with our thoughts and imagination to rearrange our priorities: immersion in poetry can temporarily suspend feelings of anxiety, boredom or stress. The focus of this task (and all future creative tasks) is to absorb ourselves in the process of creating something new. There will be no marking or rating in any of the 15 minute wellbeing creative activities. The aim is to gain a sense of achievement and improve our wellbeing by creating something.

Today’s activity is writing a rhyming poem. You can write your poem about any topic and it can be of any length, it just needs to rhyme! If you’re stuck for what to write about, use one of the following topics for inspiration:

  • Something that has happened in your day
  • The plot of a film or TV show you watched recently
  • A friend, family member or pet

Click the link below to download the worksheet. You can fill it in using the ‘fill and sign’ tool or alternatively print it off and fill it in by hand.

rhyming-poemDownload

If you enjoy writing a rhyming poem, or feel that the process of writing poetry has helped improve your wellbeing, please do get in contact and share your poem and/or your story!

I share wellbeing-related research, news and stories on twitter and Instagram in between weekly blog posts so do follow @15minwellbeing on both platforms to keep up to date. As this week’s post is about poetry, I will also be sharing poems and rhymes over the next week.