The Healthy Artist: How to Care for Your Creative Body

Popular wisdom about the relationship between our minds and our bodies is well-entrenched in contemporary culture. Certainly, artists don’t have to be told again that without a proper diet and adequate rest and exercise, our bodies simply can’t do what we want them to do in any efficient or effective manner.

Still, it’s a truism that physical energy comes from adequately caring for our bodies. Without physical energy to invest in creativity, our art and our productivity suffer.

Artists and Physical Health

Artists aren’t known for being paragons of physical health. In fact, stereotypes of artists paint us as chain-smoking, drug- and alcohol-addicted insomniacs.

However, stereotypes aside, many artists really do fail to care for our bodies in proper and adequate ways.

For instance, like lots of people, we may overeat or eat poorly. We may fail to get proper exercise. And we may not sleep and relax enough.

The Connection between Health and Creativity

A major problem is that many artists can manage to do their creative work while still maintaining unhealthy habits.

For instance, I really can go most of the day without eating or by eating unhealthy foods and still manage to write poetry. I really can fail to get regular exercise and still write. And I really can produce creative work on only a few hours of sleep.

But what’s lost in this equation between poor health habits and creativity?

• Efficiency. First, we lose our ability to be efficient in our creative work. Without healthy bodies, our minds simply won’t work in efficient ways. Instead, we may find ourselves working haphazardly—jumping from one project to another unable to focus on the creative project at hand. Or we may even find ourselves stumped with writer’s block.
• Effectiveness. If we fail to care for our bodies, then we also lose our ability to be effective in our artistic craft. In this instance, we may find ourselves working well below our own talents and skills.
• Happiness. Finally, if we fail to care for our physical health, then we are unlikely to fully feel the happiness and even ecstatic feelings that can come from our creative impulses and from creating brilliant work. Instead, even when we achieve creatively, we may feel the exact opposite—exhausted, emotionally spent, and glum.

Healthy Body, Healthy Creativity

The human body needs 7-8 hours of sleep at night, a balanced and nutritious diet, and regular exercise and relaxation. However, I can only imagine that like the general population, few artists are able to meet these ideals. I certainly haven’t been able to…yet.

If you’re like me, you fall short of properly caring for your basic physical needs. So, how can we develop healthy habits in order to care not only for our bodies but for our creativity and art?

One suggestion is to choose one area of physical health—diet, exercise, or rest and relaxation—and try to make small, intentional changes. And how can we do that?

Try taking short breaks from your creative work and use these times to do something healthy:

• Eat a healthy snack. For instance, instead of munching on junk food, try eating fruit or a ready-made salad with low-calorie dressing. Or instead of getting another cup of coffee or some soda, try making some herbal tea or drink some other decaffeinated, low-sugar drink.
• Get some exercise. Try taking a short walk around your neighborhood or dance to your favorite song or do aerobics.
• Relax. Try meditating for 5-10 minutes. Or take a short nap. Or listen to some relaxing music. Or take time out for artistic play and engage in other creative activities.

Health as a Way to Enhance Your Creativity

The key to making changes in our lives is by exploring and discovering proper motivation. So, how do we find the motivation to take better care of our bodies and thus our creativity? Here are two suggestions:

• Focus on how your physical health really does enhance your creativity. By making small, intentional changes to your health habits, you may just find that your creativity blooms and grows under healthier conditions.
• Infuse your creativity into each healthy habit. For instance, consider how many descriptions, images, and stories that you can collect from simply being mindful, or hyper-aware, while you’re exercising, eating, and relaxing.

As artists, we have at our disposal a highly-effective tool for caring for our bodies: our creativity.

So, be creative. Explore and discover your own ways of getting enough sleep, eating a proper diet, and getting adequate exercise and relaxation.

By doing so, you may find that you have more energy for your creative work and thus you’re more productive, effective, and efficient in producing your art. Also, you may discover a treasure trove of creative material. Most significantly, you may come to realize greater happiness in your creativity.

What suggestions can you offer for caring for our bodies and our creativity?

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