In Search of Mindfulness? Learn a New Skill Take a Creative Class

“I need to slow down…find some balance…I can't keep up…I need a break from the speed of life...I want to be mindful and creative.” Everyday people from near and far come into our bright, sunny studio and say very much these same things.

We live in a world fueled by technology and while so much of it is good, it can leave us anxious, stressed, and depleted. Humans are easily distracted and studies have shown that multitasking (or switching your attention from thing to thing constantly) actually lowers cognitive performance, contrary to conventional thought. 

In other words, a digital detox may be what you need and we can help!

Sitting still and being mindful through making has proven benefits for health and well-being to balance our notification-filled, caffeinated, digital, and multitasked modern lives.

Data (Huffington Post, Verily) also shows that regularly engaging in creative, free-flow, nonjudgmental making can improve mood, reduce stress, and increases overall brain function.

Flexing your “analog” making creativity may come through any number of activities, like:

• letter-writing
• creative writing, poetry
• journaling
• calligraphy
• typing on a completely mechanical (no need for power!) typewriter
• crafting or making with your hands with paper, fabric, etc.
• making vision boards
• creating ‘zines
• knitting

These are all activities which require undivided attention and will take you to your flow, a state of reduced awareness of time and internal or external chaos—a calm focus where you are tapped into positive thoughts, ideas, and inspirations. In other words, mindfulness.

Writing and making helps us state to oneself or to others: “this is who and where I am at this moment.” It may also improve our social bonds through sharing an experience or skill. By providing the platform to engage in the simple joys of analog creation, we see stressed people become calm and centered right before our eyes.

Creative making is uniquely cathartic, and not a placebo. It can lower your levels of stress hormone cortisol. And, by requiring communication between different parts of our brain, creating can also help prevent Alzheimer’s disease. 

At The Paper Seahorse, our mission is to improve the quality of life of people overwhelmed by our fast-paced, technology-driven world.  Rather than being in front of one screen or another throughout the day, we make a point to unplug, unwind and enjoy the benefits of peace, relaxation and positive energy that mindful creation can bring into our lives.

Our collective health and wellness depends on it!