🌻🌻🌻Wild at Art Studio News! July 9th 🌻🌻🌻

Hi Everyone Welcome to this weeks Wild at Art news. Earlier today I saw this headline on a facebook post and since I am a great advocate of the ways in which art making can positively impact our daily health and wellbeing, I felt prompted to expand further.   “Stress-related hormone Cortisol: lowers significantly after just 45 minutes of art creation”   In my work, I  meet all sorts of people who share stories of the stress levels and the anxiety that can be inherent in various workplace environments, it’s become increasingly apparent that both of these affect more people than ever before. Hong Kong is a place with an exceptionally demanding work ethic, it’s a fast paced / long hours work environment, and workplace stress is not uncommon.  This probably sounds familiar to you already ! Excessive stress can lead to a myriad of adverse effects, both physical and psychological; such as sleeplessness, increased heart rates, panic attacks, endless negative self-talk and self judgement as people strive to live up to expectations and may find themselves in extremely competitive settings. I am however greatly encouraged by the rise of mindfulness and yoga in Hong Kong and the many new ways that people seek out wellness solutions for themselves. This is a great testament to the groundswell of change, people are realising that they can play a part in personal self-care on a daily basis.

Wise Ancients have always known this, and now current research reveals the ways that art making can offer us so many healing pathways, Girija Kaimal, EdD, MA, assistant professor at Drexel University states that employee burnout is a significant problem across all industries. She goes on to state that the act of making art—including doodling—stimulates the senses and engages different areas of the brain and can in fact reduce stress. “Giving employees the opportunity to safely and creatively express themselves has tremendous physiological and psychological benefits ”. Her recent study included 39 adults, from 18 to 59 years old, who were invited to participate in 45 minutes of art making, cortisol levels were taken before and after.  The researchers found that 75 percent of the participants’ cortisol levels lowered during their 45 minutes of making art. With that in mind, Kaimal has gone on to suggest that employers could help their workers by keeping a small activity nearby that can be used throughout the day, such as knitting, woodworking, or having a small notebook on hand for doodling, this can improve concentration and relieve stress. Imagine that ! All of the workshops I have created over the years focus on ways that art making can offer pathways to emotional health, well-being and creative self-care. Many offer opportunities for the kind of mindful art practices that do lead towards stress reduction and self regulation which in turn can lead to reduced anxiety. For example :

Resuming in August at the Wild at Art Studio Lunchtime Destress Doodling  12.30-2.00pm Wednesdays $150 per session Do you sometimes feel it’s all just too much? WhatsApp me for the door code and come on in!

Our summer workshops and new courses can be found here :  http://wildatartstudio.blogspot.com/p/wild-at-art-studio-offerings.html Our next Monthly Mandala Meet Up  " Celebrating Summer " will be on Thursday 6.30-9.00pm  July 11th

Find your Voice Introduction to Visual Art Journaling 6.00-8.30pm Wednesdays NEW GROUP 4th September- 16th October ( 6 x weeks) Register with me on wildatartweekly@gmail.com

Loosen Up Painting  Mornings Wednesday 31st July-  Aug-21st 9.30-12.00am Be bold! Be Brave! $1,500 for 4 x classes incuding all materials Come and find your own inner artistic voice by exploring line, colour, texture and layering techniques to create intuitive paintings which will change and evolve over time ! You will be encouraged to be bold and fearless, to experiment with colours, to explore your mark making vocabulary, to find out how take creative risks and decisions, while allowing a process to unfold. Yes, come and trust the process, let whatever it is GO!! and follow your intuition.

I look forwards to greeting you very soon at the Wild at Art Door! Artfully Yours from Katie