Why Creativity Is The Most Powerful Health Tool You’re Not Using with Professor Daisy Fancourt #654
Professor Daisy Fancourt, a world-leading health researcher, discusses how engaging with the arts, from music and dance to crafts and reading, should be considered the fifth pillar of health. Her book, "Art Cure," presents decades of scientific evidence linking arts engagement to improved mental and physical well-being, including longevity and reduced inflammation.
Deep Dive Analysis
20 Actionable Insights
1. Prioritize Arts for Health
Consider engaging with the arts as the fifth pillar of health, alongside nutrition, movement, sleep, and relaxation, because scientific research shows it has tangible, meaningful effects comparable to these other essential behaviors.
2. Slow Biological Aging with Arts
Regularly engage in diverse art forms to decelerate biological aging, including brain aging, as studies show effects similar in size to those seen from physical activity.
3. Enhance Brain Health & Cognition
Consistently engage in arts, such as playing musical instruments, to build cognitive reserve, improve brain resilience against decline, and reduce the risk of dementia.
4. Lower Blood Pressure with Music
Add daily music listening to your lifestyle or medication regimen for hypertension, as it can lead to extra reductions of 9-10 points in systolic blood pressure due to its potent calming effects.
5. Reduce Inflammation with Arts
Regularly engage in arts activities to lower your inflammatory profiles, as this affects fundamental health building blocks and reduces inflammatory markers in the immune system.
6. Embrace Dance for Whole-Brain Workout
Incorporate dance-based aerobic exercise into your routine, as it offers benefits beyond physical activity by combining mental health boosts from music, creativity, imagination, and cognitive challenge, while also improving balance, bone density, and reducing falls.
7. Cultivate Self-Control with Arts
Engage in arts activities to build your sense of self-control and self-esteem, which can make you more likely to adopt other health-promoting behaviors like exercise and healthy eating.
8. Prioritize Active Arts Participation
While receptive engagement (e.g., watching TV dramas) offers benefits, actively participating in arts (e.g., making art, performing) is particularly key for cognitive and physiological outcomes.
9. Choose Real-Life Over Screen-Based Arts
Opt for real-life arts engagement, such as attending live music, theatre, or galleries, instead of passively consuming screen-based ‘junk art’ for more profound health benefits.
10. Use Music for Dementia Agitation
For individuals with dementia, play familiar music from their youth during potentially stressful times like bathing or meals to significantly reduce emotional agitation and activate relaxation.
11. Regulate Emotions with Arts
Engage with arts to feed your brain diverse emotions and scenarios, helping it to hone its abilities to regulate emotions and plan responses, leading to greater resilience in real-life challenges.
12. Supercharge Social Activities with Arts
Combine social interactions with arts engagement by attending live music, exhibitions, or shows with friends, gaining additive creative and social benefits beyond just chatting.
13. Enhance Immune Function & Healing
Engage in activities like making music for a short-term boost in immune activity, and consider expressive writing, which has been shown to significantly speed up wound healing and alter inflammatory levels.
14. Find Purpose Through Arts
Utilize arts engagement as a powerful driver of purpose, which contributes significantly to a longer health span by keeping individuals active and engaged, especially as they age.
15. Consider Arts for Depression
Explore weekly arts classes for mild to moderate depression, as they can reduce symptoms with similar effectiveness to psychological therapies or medication, often without side effects or waiting lists, and can augment other treatments.
16. Reduce Pre-Surgery Anxiety with Arts
Use ambient music and digital artworks in surgical settings to induce significant relaxation, which can reduce the need for sedatives and opioids before and after operations.
17. Implement a Creative Commute
Transform your commute by replacing passive screen time with active arts engagement, such as reading a book or listening to calming music, to positively bookend your day and reduce stress.
18. Prepare Arts for Illness
Proactively identify ‘comfort reads,’ relaxing music, or simple crafts to engage with when ill, as these activities can support mood, relaxation, and aid recovery by reducing inflammation.
19. Prioritize Arts in Childhood
Ensure children have ample opportunities for arts engagement in school and outside, as it is crucial for cognitive development, mental health, identity formation, self-esteem, and nurturing core skills like creativity and compassion.
20. Embrace Innate Creativity
Recognize that everyone is born with innate creative potential; if you feel unartistic, try engaging in arts activities, as many people discover a love for it when given the opportunity.