How Making art improves mental health

May is mental health awareness month, making it a great time to invest in new ways to tend to your emotions. Creating various pieces of art is a great way to start! Visit our Artistic Expression page for inspiration. - The IQRR Team

Why art? When we have a hard time putting feelings into words, drawing, painting, sculpting, making collages, creating personalized papier-maché masks and engaging in other practices can help unlock emotions and translate them into something real. In the process, we're able to share a bit of what we’re going through with the folks around us. "Engaging in the artistic practice helps concretize and externalize these difficult inner experiences," says Kaimal. "When we limit ourselves to just words, we’re losing a significant part of our lived experiences. Some people can put their feelings into words beautifully, but most of us cannot. To have additional expressive forms is really just allowing the whole person to present themselves."