Hobbies that heal
Art could have some positive physical benefits
- posted: 02 Oct. 2007
- scrollarts@byui.edu
All over campus, there are hundreds of students studying the fine arts.
Students are involved in singing, stage performance, painting, instrumentation, dancing–and the list doesn’t end there.
Recent medical research has discovered evidence that there is a special type of “healing power” that comes with pursuing an art.
Not only are such hobbies soothing, but they have been found to promote quicker recovery and lessen pain in hospital patients, according to “The Fine Art of Healing the Sick: Embracing the Benefits of Writing, Music and Art,” an article in US News and World Report.
Some medical facilities, such as the Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine, are now using music to lull small children to sleep before a medical procedure, according to the article. One study involved 111 women with cancer who meditated and performed art tasks.
Their stress levels were reduced, they experienced less pain, they slept better, and their general physical complaints were significantly fewer.
Even senior citizens are finding that “experiencing a sense of mastery” in art-related hobbies bolsters their immune system as that feeling of control influences their mind, and consequently, their body, according Generations Magazine.
This was found to be true among people between 65 and 100 years of age who lived independently. Other studies focused on this age group have proved that artistic activities have aided in delaying Alzheimer’s disease, with dancing being the most beneficial.
What if BYU-I students don’t have a hobby dealing with the fine arts? Nancy Monson, a writer and specialist in health, nutrition, relationship, and craft topics, addressed this concern in an article in Today’s Health and Wellness. She wrote that researchers have found that any “repetitive and rhythmic” hobby will relieve stress and benefit a person’s blood pressure and psychological well-being. 
