Music and Art are Important to Your Health
By Linda M . Brandt
I
began creating art at the ripe old age of four , where every painting contained an angel . Funny thing , my angel is still with me and is placed on the back of the canvases of my original art . And why , you ask ?
In 2004 I died in an MRI Tunnel after a 10.5 hour brain surgery and then a terrible bout of spinal meningitis . It ’ s a long story , but it took me nearly three years to learn to walk , drive , paint , etc . again . During that time , I learned much about western medicine , because standard western medicine had never seen someone survive and really did not know what to do with me . I learned a lot about the wiring of the brain and went on to getting certified in therapeutic art in order to help folks with brain injuries or sometimes life ’ s traumatic issues .
I have learned that even drawing and coloring a rainbow will help a child out of sadness and creating vision boards with adults will help to unfold dramatic healing to body , soul and spirit . I am always amazed at the how and why of me going through the brain damage so that I can help others .
In 2010 , a review of existing literature on the benefits of the arts ( music , visual arts , dance and writing ) by Stuckey and Noble considered more than 100 studies , concluding that creative expression has a powerful impact on health and well-being on various patient populations . Most of these studies concur that participation and / or engagement in the arts have a variety of outcomes including a decrease in depressive symptoms , an increase in positive emotions , reduction in stress responses , and , in some cases , even improvements in immune system functioning ; visual art therapy , for example , is trending toward many of these health gains and more . Even viewing art can have an impact , but if you really want to benefit from the arts for wellness , studies continue to show that your active participation is the most productive .
Since 2015 , additional studies indicate that creative self-expression and exposure to the arts have wide-ranging effects on not only cognitive and psychosocial health , but also physical conditions such as Parkinson ’ s disease , various forms of dementia and cancer . One of the most compelling studies was recently conducted by the Mayo Clinic and proposed that people who engage in music and art activities ( playing , painting , drawing and sculpting ; crafts , like woodworking ,
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