Creative expression and stress

It is important to consider the ramifications of excessive stress throughout the year. After the holidays the stress factor may become even more significant for a variety of reasons. The effects of holiday foods and drink, cold and dreary days and the let down from holiday gifts and festivities can all add up. Add the loss of control by having to return to work or school and you get the picture.

For some folks their resilience factor is so good that these post holiday stressors have little impact on them or they bounce back quickly. For others, the need to eat especially well, meditate more, do more yoga, more fitness activities or sit under their full-spectrum light boxes becomes significant. Some find the pursuit of more creative experiences to be the best way to best way to handle the stress related winter blues.

Creative expression was designed by the creator of these human bodies as a way to survive and thrive without the benefit of strong jaws, sharp teeth and fast running ability. Humans have a highly developed brain and nervous system to give them an intelligence edge which may be used to figure out logical solutions and to make educated decisions using a variety of complex neurobiological mechanisms - our brains are doing lots of things unconsciously behind the scenes to help with this "survival logic."

Like many other species, we also have an innate appreciation for beauty for obvious reasons. Beauty can be an indicator of health.

So, it would seem that the creation of aesthetically pleasing music, art, writing and related  expressions would help us beat stress by enhancing at least two important factors - by building confidence related to the ability to do things (self-efficacy) as well as to help in the creation of beauty. In some cases, the enhancement of manual dexterity can also add to human stress relieving survival potential.

Watch how happy the squirrels appear to be as they use their agile little bodies to leap from twig to twig 60 feet in the air. Makes the best asthanga yogis, gymnasts or martial artists pale in comparison. hmmmmm

Perhaps add some beautiful cheerful themes and colors to your Journals, use some "happy" earth tones in your post holiday painting and listen to uplifting music - like the "No Schedule" album at  www.markbasso.com. No - he did not pay me to say that. I really find some of the songs so uplifting that I find myself singing or humming along. Perhaps you will too. The mix of jazz, rock, McCarthy and Sting influences are fun for me to listen to. He wrote and arranged all the songs, did all vocals, played all instruments and mixed the tracks himself. I am very proud of him!