The New Year can be a good time to start new things. Personally, I find that introducing new aspects into our lives to enhance overall wellbeing is often less stressful than creating a long list of New Year’s resolutions, which tend to focus on giving things up. That’s just my opinion though – I know that New Year’s resolutions can be really beneficial for some people. Nevertheless, implementing more wellbeing activities can coexist alongside those lists of things we resolve to give up.
I aim to introduce a new art activity each month at my Calmly Create art group. These sessions are for patients in the Porter Valley Primary Care Network. The sessions are focused on relaxation and a wellbeing topic is introduced via the art activity completed during the session. Patients that come along regularly tell me how relaxing and enjoyable they find the sessions. Putting aside an hour or so each month to do something creative can be a fun way to inject some relaxation into your own life. There are so many ideas for activities online and in hobby or arts shops.
Every month, I will be posting some information on the activity I do with the Calmly Create group. These posts will provide information on a wellbeing topic and some inspiration for an art activity you might enjoy.
This Month’s Focus: Your Environment and Mental Wellbeing
Our living/work environment can impact on our mental wellbeing. In the world of psychology, the term environmental factors of mental health is used to describe these impacts. Our mental health can be affected by anything in our environment, but the following lists some of the main factors:
- Aesthetics: Essentially this means the way your environment looks. For some, clutter and mess can be overwhelming and lead to a sense of anxiety; whereas tidiness and order can, in contrast, foster a sense of calm.
- Sensory: Temperature, lighting, sounds and smells can all be very important to how comfortable and safe you feel in your environment. For example, unwelcome loud noise can lead to agitation, and a dark or cold environment can reduce motivation.
- Familiarity: Family keepsakes and photos can lead to positive associations in our environment, which can lead to a sense of connection and boost our mood.*
To link nicely with this topic, we will be painting little wooden houses in the session this month. As you can see from the photo, I was inspired by gingerbread houses, which I saw (and ate!!) many of during the festive season. I feel calm in my environment when I know there is somewhere that I can sit quietly and enjoy a cup of tea and a biscuit. I am still enjoying gingerbread leftovers in these moments of calm.
Happy creating!
Ruth x x x
