17/08/2026
Not vibes.
Not wishful thinking.
Actual research in what happens when ordinary people - not "talented" people - make art.
Swipe to read each caption 👉🏼
It lowers stress - measurably!
In one widely cited study, 45 minutes of art-making significantly reduced cortisol (the stress hormone) in three quarters of participants!
PLUS skill level made no difference! None 🤯
It produces "flow".
What's flow? It's a state of full absorption where time just disappears...
Psychologists have studied it for decades and found out drawing is one of the most dependable ways to fall into flow.
Regular flow is strongly linked to wellbeing 🤍
It trains your attention.
Drawing is concentrated looking and over time it changes what you notice...
Researchers call this perceptual learning - your world literally gets more detailed.
It gives your mind somewhere to be.
A major review or arts/health research found creative activity linked to reduced anxiety and improved mood across dozens of studies.
It's not a cure, but it is genuine repeatable support.
And the best bit? None of this depends on you being "good" ☺️
Across research one thing keeps repeating - the benefits come from the making process, not the outcome.
So the wobbliest drawing delivers a full dose! 🙌🏼
This week's blog goes deep on all of this - the studies, what they actually say and what it means for you.
It might be my favourite post I've written yet!
Here's the link: https://www.cygninicreative.com/post/the-surprising-science-of-creativity-and-wellbeing
16/08/2026
Love this TED talk about FLOW - see how it could relate to drawing and painting 🎨
Flow, the secret to happiness
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi asks, "What makes a life worth living?" Noting that money cannot make us happy, he looks to those who find pleasure and lasting satisfaction in activities that bring about a state of "flow."
16/08/2026
New post on the blog! Find out more about tuning into your "flow"
The Surprising Science of Creativity and Wellbeing
If you've ever finished a drawing session and felt, in some hard-to-describe way, better than when you started, you're not imagining it.Something real happened.And it wasn't just the satisfaction of having made something. The research tells us it goes deeper than that.What the science actually says....
