“Healthy habits craft ideas.”
This is what the old saying tells us, and it is even more true when it comes to creating art. Artists are the ones who come up with new creative ideas that shape our societies and lead to innovative art movements.
However, artists are also known for working endless hours in their studios, being so immersed in their work that they often forget to take breaks to eat healthy and get some exercise. Does that sound familiar to you?
Well, it definitely sounds familiar to me! It already happened more than once that I was sitting at my desk hours over hours working on a piece of art and just sipping on my coffee to get me through the day.
Being so self-forgotten in your art is first and foremost a good thing because you are in the flow, pursuing with passion what you love to do. But in the long run, such habits can take a toll on your overall health.
In fact, many artists suffer from joint pain or repetitive strain injury (RSI), and more than fifty percent struggle with chronic lower back pain. Not talking about those who turn to junk food for lack of time to prepare their own healthy meals or down one coffee after the other…
In order for artists to stay in shape, it is important to adopt healthy habits and prioritize their well-being. Leading a healthy lifestyle ultimately benefits your creativity because it enables you to create the most inspiring artworks for the longest time possible!
To help you stay healthy as an artist, I have 10 lifestyle tips for you that make it easy to take care of your physical, mental and spiritual well-being and continue creating amazing art.
Here is a rundown of my 10 healthy lifestyle tips for artists that I will elaborate on in more detail later on in this blog post:
How do artists have a healthy lifestyle?
The easiest way for artists to stay healthy long-term is to implement good habits. Humans are creatures of habit, and having a daily routine you can follow will positively impact your physical and mental well-being.
Missing out on a healthy lifestyle routine can lead to increased levels of stress, poor eating habits, bad sleep and eventually decreased creative productivity.
Aside from scheduling in some time to make art every day, it is equally important to cater to your body and mind. Art and exercise go hand in hand, so each day you should make some time to move your body – even if you only workout like a fine artist! (ᴖᴥᴖ)
Art-making itself has proven benefits on our mental health, and many artists find that being creative has a therapeutic and even cathartic effect. But there are many more things you can do to nurture your inner artist and overcome the typical fears every artist experiences at some point in their life.
As a full-time artist, you might be especially appreciative of the luxury to organize your day freely and spontaneously. And I’m totally with you. But sticking to some sort of schedule and carving out some time for your physical and mental health each day really goes a long way.
Here are my best 10 lifestyle tips for getting the most out of your days creatively while finding time for your mental and physical well-being!
10 Lifestyle tips for artists how to stay healthy
1. Explore new mediums of art.
My first tip for artists to stay healthy is to explore new mediums of art on a regular basis. Why? Because trying out new creative tools is a great way to recharge your mental batteries and reignite your imagination.
If your main focus is on digital art, then get involved in a different type of medium for a couple of weeks. For example, you can try traditional painting, poetry, or learn to play a new instrument. The most important thing is that you choose something you are really interested in.
Here are some creative ideas you can try:
- Painting
- Poetry
- Photography
- Pottery
- Sculpting
- Knitting and crocheting
- Music
- Gardening
If you are wanting to get into Photoshop, I have lots of free Photoshop tutorials on my website for you to check out.
Other helpful online resources are available on sites like Udemy where you can get a crash course in learning any new skill you are interested in!
2. Get out into nature.
Getting out into nature should be on everybody’s healthy lifestyle list. Reconnecting with Mother Earth is the best way to allow our brain to relax and our body to recharge its energy stores. Plus, it has also positive effects on our spiritual well-being because it enables us to reconnect with our inner self.
Spending too many hours cooped up inside a studio isn’t good for anybody. But it can be really unhealthy if you are a traditional artist working with paints that are potentially harmful to your health. In any case, you should always make sure that your workspace is well ventilated!
Spending time outdoors each day helps you feel mentally restored. Cognitive scientists found that outdoor activities can improve your mood, stress resilience, and productivity.
So next time you are feeling stressed or fuzzy, go for a walk, jog through the nearby park, go for a swim, or simply sit on a bench in the sunshine to recharge your Vitamin D stores!
3. Stay hydrated.
This might seem like a no-brainer, but for many of us it is hard to stay on top of hydration throughout the day. Health professionals recommend getting around sixty-four ounces of water a day – in addition to your regular food and drink consumption.
Drinking this amount of water can be difficult to accomplish, especially if you have to keep refilling your cup multiple times a day.
That’s why I suggest getting a large water bottle and putting it on your desk – right next to your drawing tablet or easel. That makes it easy to take a sip every so often and you can effortlessly keep an eye on your daily water intake!
4. Eat a healthy diet.
I think we are all guilty of eating too much junk food, chocolate, chips, you name it. Admittedly, it is very tempting to simply run over to the next kiosk and get a bag of peanut puffs or a burger and a soft drink.
But, on the downside, we all know how eating an unhealthy diet makes us feel. Am I right? Eventually, our poor eating habits suck up our energy and take a toll on our overall well-being.
Consider adopting a diet that is beneficial to your health. Get rid of unhealthy products like fast food, soda and energy drinks. Replace too much coffee with green tea and start preparing your own food. You might also want to include more whole foods in your diet or consider going vegan. The choice is yours!
5. Stretch regularly.
As digital artists, we usually sit at our desk, either looking down at our display tablet or up at our computer monitor while moving the stylus over our screenless drawing tablet. As a traditional artist, you might work standing at your easel from time to time.
Both standing and sitting have their benefits. But if you spend too much time sitting or standing, chances are that you always put a strain on your back either way. In the long run, this can negatively affect your physical health and might also impact your mental condition.
Whatever your preferred working position, it is a good idea to stretch regularly in order to not strain your body too much. I personally find it very helpful to set a timer so I never forget to take a stretch break during my creative working sessions.
Set your timer to 50 or 60 minutes and each time it rings do some exercises to stretch your arms, legs, back and move your body a bit. Setting a timer might feel weird at the beginning, but you will soon notice the benefits periodic stretching has on your body and mind!
Another thing I can recommend is sitting on an exercise ball instead of a regular chair. Since I have replaced my office chair with a ball inflated with air I am experiencing way less lower back problems and muscle tension.
6. Take time to meditate.
In a recent post, I already talked about how meditation can help artists find peace of mind and rekindle their creativity. In fact, meditation is a real creativity booster.
At the beginning, I used to be very sceptical of meditation myself. But since I’ve established a regular meditation practice, I have noticed that the best creative ideas often come during a meditation session! If you learn more about how the mind works, this is not astonishing at all.
Creativity is rooted in our subconscious minds. When we are feeling stressed, worried or fearful, we are unable to access that inner treasure trove. Because for ideas and inspiration to flow freely, we need to be in a state of stillness and relaxation. In our world of non-stop information overload, however, it is easy to lose the connection with our inner calmness and intuition.
Implementing a daily meditation routine can help artists reconnect with their inner source of limitless inspiration and creative ideas. If you don’t know where to start, here are some excellent resources for you to get familiar with meditation:
Easy-to-follow meditation course for beginners that gives you all the basics you need to get started with meditation and fuel your creativity!
In this Udemy course, Michaël Bijker makes you familiar with the practice of meditation in a simple and enjoyable way. Michaël is one of the world’s leading Pranayama and Breathwork instructors and has been exploring meditation since he was aged 14. He has been traveling around the world to deepen his knowledge about meditation.
The lessons in his course are designed in a way that makes meditation applicable for everyone, even for beginners without any previous experience. You will learn easy-to-follow methods to meditate deeply, learn to build focus and strength, and realize what your true calling is.
Beginner-friendly 21-day meditation course that focuses on unlocking your creative potential and tapping into creative flow states.
Jackson Mullane is an Australian-born artist who gained international recognition for his ability to express emotion through his creative work. In this Udemy course, he shows you how meditation helps discover your unique way of creative expression. The 21-day course consists of four parts. In the first part, you will learn how to unlock your creative potential and tap into creative flow states.
In the second part, Jackson introduces techniques to improve your productivity by mastering focus and rising above procrastination and avoidance. Part three is all about discovering your unique creative expression. The last part will support you in moving past low self-esteem, fear of judgement and other debilitating creative blocks.
7. Cultivate a positive mindset.
Staying positive has a huge influence on our physical and mental health. If we are constantly in a negative state of mind, expecting the worst, we are pinching ourselves off from the good that might want to come into our lives. As a result, we are more prone to depression and anxiety.
My personal favorite creative self-care strategy of cultivating a positive mindset is using daily affirmations for artists. Affirmations are short uplifting statements that you say out loud or write out. Used regularly, affirmations have the capacity to eradicate negative beliefs about your art or yourself as an artist and replace them with positive thoughts.
I’ve actually put together a set of 101 daily affirmations that I personally find very powerful and that help me a lot when I am feeling anxious and stuck in that downward spiral of overthinking my art.
I believe affirmations are a great way for artists to stay healthy mentally and have made them an integral part of my daily self-care routine. Every time before I get to create something, I pick three or four cards from my stack of Printable Cards with Positive Affirmations for Artists. The moment I read them, I can feel my spirits uplift and I am able to start my work on a positive note!
Stay positive with daily affirmations!
8. Get enough sleep.
We all know that sleep is important. It’s during our sleeping time that our body regenerates and our mind unwinds. But sleep is also important for our spiritual well-being. While we are sleeping, we reconnect with our subconscious.
That’s why we all need a good night’s sleep to function to the best of our ability. Nevertheless, we often come short in getting our optimal sleeping time. Not getting enough sleep can lead to whole set of problems, including physical sickness, a shorter attention span, poor social decisions, depression, anxiety, and the list goes on.
Sleep researchers found that a loss of sleep negatively impacts our reasoning and problem-solving capabilities. It also has an impact on our mood and how we interact with others. Tired people tend to pay less attention to detail and to be less productive at work – and tired artists tend to be less creative.
For artists to stay healthy it is vital to stick to a solid sleeping schedule. I understand that many of you might find it difficult to go along with fixed sleeping times. I’m a night owl myself and like to work late hours. However, I’m trying to get at least 8 hours of sleep per night.
The number of hours we need to sleep every night strongly varies from one person to the other. Some people can do with as little as six hours of sleep, others need up to 10 hours to feel refreshed in the morning. Figure out your personal best sleeping schedule and then try to stick to it!
9. Workout like a fine artist.
Art and exercise belong together like bread and butter. (¬‿¬) Jokes apart, studies have shown that exercise has a positive effect on creativity and that it can enhance your artistic self-expression.
Exercise releases endorphins that make us feel good. In turn, positive emotional states can decrease levels of stress, anxiety and fear. They help artists get in the ‘flow’, which is fundamental to the creative process.
You don’t need to become a crack athlete to improve your creativity. I always say it is enough to ‘workout like a fine artist’. That means you can go for a run two or three times a week, you can do some biking, swimming or go to the gym. Jumping rope is a great way to get your heart pumping and blood flowing. You can also try meditative breathing.
Or, have you ever tried a foam roller? A foam roller is a self-massage tool that you can keep in your studio. Use it during your creative breaks to relieve muscle strain and body tension.
But you can choose whatever physical activity you like. Any exercise that makes you feel better is okay!
10. Keep a weekly schedule.
These were quite a few tips for artists on how to stay healthy. How do you get everything organized in your day? Organization is important. That’s why my last tip for artists to stay in shape and have a healthy lifestyle is to keep a weekly schedule.
In my experience, it’s a good idea to roughly plan out the week ahead. I break down my weekly planning into the following three categories:
- Fitness and diet: First of all, I write down the fitness activities I’m planning to do throughout the week. For example, what day and time I want to go to the gym or for a run through the park. I also jot down quickly what I am going to eat throughout the week, so I know what to add to my shopping list.
- Creative work: As for my creative practice, I set myself goals regarding what artwork I want to complete within the coming week, what new stuff I want to start, and how much time I want to spend creating art each day. When I am planning to acquire new artistic skills, I am adding that to my weekly schedule as well.
- Relaxation and mental well-being: This is the most fun part! Everything that makes me happy and supports my mental and spiritual health goes here. This may include time for meditation and yoga, journaling, spending time with family and friends, shopping, movies, etc.
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I hope that you found these 10 lifestyle tips for artists to stay healthy helpful! They are my personal favorites to keep a positive mindset and take care of my physical well-being.
What do you do to feel good? Please leave comments and questions below. I’d love to hear from you! Make sure to sign up for my email list so you don’t miss out on new blog posts and other cool stuff. ♥
Hi Angie! Thank you so much for this guide. As a digital artist who often loses track of time at the desk, I found your tip about the large water bottle and the exercise ball especially helpful. I’ve been trying to focus more on the “Eat a healthy diet” section lately to keep my energy levels up during long drawing sessions.
Hi Richard, glad to hear you found the tips helpful. I wish you all the best for your drawing practice. Stay healthy ✌️