Max

Creating mosaics is a fun and engaging activity that has many benefits and appeals to people of all ages. In this blog post, I would like to share all the various reasons I love this creative hobby so much and why it’s worth your time too 🙂 Promotes Relaxation & Mindfulness It’s no surprise that mindful practices like meditation are on the rise. In a world where we have an ever-growing pressure put on us each day, and the morning news doesn’t always add positively to our outlook on life, inner peace is one of today’s most valuable assets. It’s more important now than ever that we cultivate this sense of inner peace ourselves throughout the day. Personally, mosaic-making, with it’s therapeutic nature, has been just what I needed. Placing the colourful dots and watching the beautiful images come to life is an immense source of peace for me in my free time. “When you’re focusing on creating something, you’re pointing your mind in the direction of what you’re creating. This doesn’t leave room for unwanted thoughts to penetrate your brain,” explained psychotherapist Melissa Lapides in an article by Well+Good. “Using hand eye coordination keeps your brain in a meditative state and relaxes the uncontrollable overthinking, thus decreasing anxiety.”  Stimulates the Brain & Improves Memory Mosaic-making is not a passive endeavour. You have to pick up and manipulate the small dots, pick out the right colour, and find the right spot in which to place them, making it a relaxing pastime where you are still most certainly mentally active. This is what is called active meditation. Although simple, you have to do a bit of mental math to follow where the instructions say to put the pieces. If you’re making a mosaic freehand, then you have to focus on visualising the image or pattern while putting it together. All of this is great for up-keeping your cognitive abilities in a pleasant way that isn’t too strenuous. I’d certainly choose this stimulating activity over passively watching whatever content pops up on my feed any day 🙂 For more about the cognitive benefits of Mosaic-Making see: Stimulating the Mind With Mosaics Sharpens Fine Motor Skills As mentioned above, when making a mosaic you have to manipulate small pieces and use your hand-eye coordination to place these pieces into specific positions on the baseplate. This is a great practice for your children to develop their dexterity, and an even more valuable exercise for your mother and father. The older we get, the more challenging certain tasks become, that’s just how things are. But it’s never too late to begin actively regaining tactile function, and a pastime like making a beautiful mosaic is unquestionably a great contender for that. Develops Creativity & Imagination In recent times, more and more people see the value in a creative mind. Be it to experience more of those creative sparks, so called aha-moments, where clever solutions to things simply burst into our consciousness, or to more easily see the various perspectives on different matters, creativity is of use in all of life’s domains. “Creativity is at the core of innovation. We rely on innovation for advancing humanity, as well as for pleasure and entertainment,” says a professor of psychological and brain sciences at University of California, Jonathan Schooler (what a great name!), PhD.  It is thought by many that you’re either born creative or you’re not, and that is certainly not the case. Although it is true that some people are just more creative than others, either by nature or nurture, anyone can develop their creativity, and I argue that you absolutely should. Creativity is similar to a muscle in that engaging in any artistic venture frequently will lead to that muscle growing. Anna Abraham, PhD, Director of the Torrance Center for Creativity and Talent Development at the University of Georgia, says that “creativity isn’t something that comes magically. It’s a skill, and as with any new skill, the more you practice, the better you get.” So get to practicing, and see your creative muscle grow!  Mosaic-making is a pastime that is not only artistic and pleasant for the soul, but also brings with it so much good for the mind and body. It acts as a mindful meditation that provides not only cognitive benefits such as improved memory and hand-eye coordination, but also stimulates the development of the creative and innovative side in you. All around a great activity for you in your free time. I’m so glad I got to share this wonderful hobby of mine with you and I’m sure you will feel the same way about it if I’ve convinced you to give it a go 🙂 Sources: