Painting can be a very enjoyable activity, and painting by numbers is a fun and relaxing thing to do. As a creative output, painting by numbers is fairly easy to do and doesn't require any expensive tools.

Paint by numbers kits for adults are available online or in stores. However, more than just being a favorite pastime, there are many health benefits of all types of painting.

Here are the top 10 reasons to get away from the daily grind, pick up a paintbrush, and relax the hours away.

1. IMPROVED CREATIVITY

Painting plays a beneficial role in the development of your brain.

For right-brained or artistic people, painting is a healthy way of enhancing the creative skills that they already have. On the other hand, left-brained or analytical people can also stimulate their creativity and improve it.

Knowing this, painting is highly recommended for children. In fact, many children who are at the developing ages are encouraged to engage in painting. By promoting the development of their brains, they would be more prepared for academic work. Furthermore, they would have an easier time conveying their ideas to those around them.

2. IMPROVED MEMORY

The health benefits of painting are also enjoyed by those who experience illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease. Although people with Alzheimer’s disease may have problems with their memory, enabling them to engage in painting can help boost their recalling skills. As they sharpen their minds through imagination and thinking, they may experience less complicated conditions of their illnesses. Thus, they may still enjoy a lot of activities in their lives in spite of their condition.

For those who just want to keep their memory sharp, painting can be a great way to do this.

3. IMPROVED COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Another point in the long list of health benefits of painting involves the opportunity to improve communication with other people.

Art involves expressing your inner thoughts and feelings, and some may project all these indescribable emotions through painting. Whether using free style painting, or following along with a paint by numbers canvas, the benefits remain the same. In using art to break free from the daily grind of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices, individuals can relax. Some actually report feeling a decrease in their heart rate while painting!

4. IMPROVED PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS

Aside from these benefits, people may actually be surprised that painting can also help with the development of critical thinking and problem solving. In fact, painting enables an individual to realize that there can be more than one solution to a single problem. Painting widens their perspective on various situations. In effect, they would be able to address various tasks in a creative and very effective way. This is especially true for pre-teens and teens who are learning how to navigate the world around them.

5. STRESS RELIEF

The pressures of life can be very tiring, lots of people have started painting to relax from the daily demands of life. When painting we are able to free ourselves from the stress that has accumulated by releasing it in the form of creating art. As you temporarily exit the world of fears and worries, you enter the world of fun and excitement. Seeing your art come to life gives a sense of accomplishment, satisfaction, as well as pride.

6. MORE POSITIVE EMOTIONS

Creating these paintings helps to lessen the negative emotions that some may have. This would be replaced by the positive thoughts and feelings. Completing the painting can actually help to boost the self-esteem. Through these health benefits of painting, you may also develop optimism and feel happier. With the body and mind becoming more relaxed, your whole disposition can change!

7. RELEASE OF HIDDEN EMOTIONS

Incredibly, physical pain may even disappear as you get more deeply involved in your paintings. Research has called this state the “Alpha”; this signifies that part of your brain is consciously performing activities while the unconscious part is also expressed. This can also be obtained from other activities such as prayer, music, and meditation. You release energy and become more revitalized. Some report gaining strength in this special form of recovery. In effect, the healing process can be faster and more effective.

Knowing these benefits, it isn’t surprising to know that painting is highly recommended for an individual’s recuperation from painful events such as war, trauma, painful surgeries, or even chemotherapy treatments. In fact, many doctors and therapists include painting in the schedules of their patients. They would encourage their patients to release their feelings through art.

Stress levels and emotional anxiety are soothed, which enables you to function better and return back to regular work or daily life.

Through painting, many therapies have become successful. With the added support of family and loved ones, patients are able to achieve inner peace and find closure from their previous experiences.

8. INCREASE OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Given these various health benefits of painting, it is clear that these activities can cause an increase in an individual’s emotional intelligence. In allowing emotions to flow through art, you create a better grasp of varying feelings. Through the improvements in your personality and emotional stability, painting does not benefit a single individual but all of the people around them.

People who engage in doing art such as painting can brighten other people’s days and help them cope with whatever difficulties they may experience. You become an excellent companion for the people you interact with.

Painting can also promote the improvement of the senses. Knowing the role of the brain in delivering messages to instruct the actions to be performed by your body, stimulating this integral organ is vital to improve the organs it controls. Thus, an individual who has engaged in painting would experience many positive changes in how they would respond to and perceive the world.

9. BETTER MOBILITY

Painting can also enable a person to have better mobility. As the individual would need to use a brush create their art, they would develop more efficient hand movements. Through the improvement of brain activities, signals can be effectively sent from the brain to the motor neurons that would deliver the specific action. People with fibromyalgia and arthritis have benefitted greatly from using their small motor skills while painting.

10. YOU BECOME MORE OBSERVANT OF THE DETAILS

To add to the list of health benefits of painting, it can enable you to become more observant of the details of your surroundings. As you are more exposed to light, darkness, color, shading, and many other properties of painting, you will be able to pay closer attention to finer details. Your eyes become trained to look for intricate designs and forms that may have been ignored in the past. As your concentration improves, you may see and appreciate even the most minuscule details.

Conclusion

Given the various health benefits of painting, it is clear these activities can be very useful in promoting general good health and happy feelings. Aside from improving mental and emotional capabilities, some may enjoy improved sensory and motor skills through constant painting. Anyone can engage in painting, so it is definitely worth a try!

Knowing the difficulties in life, it would be nice to occasionally take some time off, lift a paintbrush, and start painting. It should be no surprise that such activities have been loved by millions around the world throughout the years.