Lynn Moore
- Feb 15, 2020

ART EXPANDS THE SOUL AND BRAIN

Art is not just a way to entice the soul, it's also a way to expand your brain. We also have up and coming artists to watch and instagram accounts to follow.

Art, Art, Good For the Brain

Art is a unique expression of the soul. It's a representation of the beautiful, the grotesque, and every aspect of existence in between. Visual art allows us to feel and to perceive, to connect and observe, to interpret and discuss. Whether we relish the piece or not, we are called to internalize it, often quickly self reflect and become aware of our opinions of the world in front of us. As an artist, no matter your medium, you are called to authentically express something within you.

Modern scientific research is providing an increasing amount of evidence that proves art also enhances brain our function. It impacts our nervous system and our brainwave patterns, increases serotonin levels and also improves psychological resilience. It can influence a person's current perspective and assist in re-wiring the brain's future responses.

Extend Your Life, Expand Your Consciousness

As an artist, the expression, vulnerability, creativity and flow state required to create is a breath of fresh air for the soul, yet both creating it and engaging in it as a viewer can also have equally important impacts on your health.

You can live longer. Researchers from University College Lon

don (UCL) found that simply engaging in the arts (exhibits, theatre, etc) lessened the risk of dying younger by up to 31%.

Arts engagement can create a buffer against stress and a potential greater sense of purpose. Mature artists also suffer less loneliness and depression than the general population in the latter years of their life.

Creative expression can make a powerful contribution to the healing process and promote wellness. It reduces stress and alleviates chronic disease by raising healthy cytokin levels and lowering interleukin-6, a marker of inflammation.

When you view art, you are firing some of the same neural networks as the original artist. Mirror neurons are neurons that fire both when a person acts and when the person observes the same action performed by another. Christopher Tyler, director of the Smith-Kettlewell Brain Imaging Center states "Art

accesses some of the most advanced processes of human intuitive analysis and expressivity and a key form of aesthetic appreciation is through embodied cognition, the ability to project oneself as an agent in the depicted scene". Through 'embodied cognition', you connect to the artist's point of view and gain a new perspective, a higher level of consciousness.