The information contained in this section is not to be construed as a medical recommendation, or as professional advice. Readers are encouraged to confirm the information contained herein with other reliable sources and to direct any questions concerning personal health care to a qualified health care professional. Claims and statements herein are for informational purposes only and have not been evaluated by the FDA. These statements and are not meant to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Introduction
How does art heal? Scientific studies tell us that art heals by changing a person's physiology and attitude. The body's physiology changes from one of stress to one of deep relaxation, from one of fear to one of creativity and inspiration. Art and music put a person in a different brain wave pattern, art and music affect a person's autonomic nervous system, their hormonal balance and their brain neurotransmitters.
Art and music affect every cell in the body instantly to create a healing physiology that changes the immune system and blood flow to all the organs. Art and Music also immediately change a person's perceptions of their world. They change attitude, emotional state, and pain perception. They create hope and positivity and they help people cope with difficulties. They transform a person's outlook and way of being in the world.
In fact it is now known by neurophysiologists that art, prayer, and healing all come from the same source in the body, they all are associated with similar brain wave patterns, mind body changes and they all are deeply connected in feeling and meaning. Art, prayer, and healing all take us into our inner world, the world of imagery and emotion, of visions and feelings. This journey inward into what used to be called the spirit or soul and is now called the mind, is deeply healing. For healing comes to us from within, our own healing resources are freed to allow our immune system to operate optimally and that is always how we heal. This is the contemporary version of freeing our healing energies and is now recognized to be crucial to healing. We go inward on The Creative Spiral together through art and music.
How the Arts Play an Integral Role in Our Health and Well Being
By Roxanne Cammilleri, B.A. Director of The Clifton Arts Center (973) 472-5499
The Arts are not just for dessert. . The arts can be an integral part of of a healthy lifestyle and can help in nourishing the body and soul as a healing process. The fields of art and health are not as far apart as they may seem. In fact, they are linked and they share many characteristics as ech is concerned with well being and change. Patnerships between health and cultural disciplines are a natural mix.
Morristown Memorial Hospital Integrates the arts through the "Cardiac Integrative Medicine Program" , where patients who have undergone bypass surgery are exposed to tranquil music by a harpist upon waking from anesthesia. The exposure of uplifting music for cardiac patients helps soothe their blood pressure and calms their senses rather than just waking up anxiously to hear the whoosh of oxygen, beeps and buzzer monitors.
Another area of the arts that can foster healing is in our visual surroundings. So often a traditional hospital setting is exemplified by white, sterile walls and ceilings. Examining rooms, waiting rooms, corridors-- areas where health professionals and other caregivers work, where families and patients wait -- are colorless and un-invitingly lifeless. The Foundation for Hospital Art founded in 1975 gives comforty and hope to those who suffer in hospitals by providing artwork at no cost to healthcare institutions in recognition of the value of Visual Arts in the general perception of wellbeing.
Over 175,000 volunteers and patients have united in an effort to create over 30,000 paintings for over 800 hospitals in 166 countries. During an "Operation Paintfest' initiative session the process brings compassion, caring, and community service together for an opportunity to do good while experiencing the benefits of artistic expression.
The paintings and art work supplies are set at patient stations where participants come together as a team to paint and get to know one another better.
After the event, paintings are touched up, signed to acknowledge sponsorship and then donated to hospitals on behalf of the sponsor to soften the experience for patients, families and hospital staff.
Dancing our way to health can be another step into the healing process. Square dancing is an activity that promotes healthy living in a variety of ways, especially for senior citizens or those affected by mood disorders. It is a great exercise, and it is mentally stimulating. Is is also a great social activity that promotes cardiovascular health. For senior citizens or the "comfortably" overweight, square dancing can help expend as much energy as a three mile hike !
One of the interesting things about using creative skills is that often, people who have skills in an area such as painting or sculpting seem unable or unwilling to explore those skills further when they have a chronic illnes such as dementia where exploring creative and imaginative activities are excellent tools for optimizing health and wellness. One way of approaching this paradox is through drama.
Drama therapy is used in long term care or day centers as a means to expand communications and therapy. Not only can drama therapy meet many aims of creative therapy, it can also help with diagnosis and evalutation of neurological and psychosocial illness. An example may be someone re-enacting how a medication they are taking makes them feel or a therapist observing how changes in medication changes interactions or provokes social withdrawal.
This information is an integral part of a patients evaluation. Remember that as a therapeutic tool drama therapy ususually involves people of mixed skills and abilities and often utilizes other arts mediums such as music or visual arts to assist in the overall creative process. It is possible to have an inner sense of wholeness, perfection, balance and peace even if the physical body is not perfect.
By Roxana Orellana
The Salt Lake Tribune
>>Article Last Updated:10/30/2008 10:12:42 AM MDT
A year ago, the world premiere of Plan B Theatre's "Exposed" dramatized for Salt Lake City audiences the human consequences of nuclear history. More specifically, the effects of 928 nuclear bombs detonated in the Nevada desert between 1951 and 1992. It's first anniversary the play is extending its reach, thanks to a five-city Utah tour that kicks off in Ogden on Nov. 6.;"The reason I wrote it was to educate the public, to increase awareness about the extent of the fallout from nuclear testing and its relevance to today," said playwright Mary Dickson. "So to have it tour, it's a perfect, perfect opportunity to do that very thing." A stark drama, "Exposed" tells the stories of "downwinders," people who lived downwind from the fallout of bombs detonated at the Nevada nuclear testing site. Dickson developed the work in conjunction with the Plan-B Theatre Company, which received a $20,000 grant to fund the tour from the Compton Foundation, a Northern California nonprofit dedicated to ending wars, as well as supporting social justice and the arts. The tour features six actors - who originated the roles in Salt Lake City - giving staged readings, performances without elaborate costumes, scenery or lighting.
The tour will bring the play to new audiences, Dickson says, and she hopes it will spark more discussions about the impacts of the nuclear testing in Utah and across the nation. The in-state tour, Plan-B's first, targets areas believed to have been hard hit by fallout, which some scientific experts claim can cause cancer, said the play's director, Jerry Rapier. One element of the powerful play comes near the end, when cast members recount the names of the people they know who have died of cancer, including the playwright's sister, Ann. The list began with 53 names, many of them people Dickson and her family grew up with, or people she met while fighting nuclear testing, while the cast and audience members have submitted an additional 100 names during the play's run.
That kind of response felt "unbelievable," Dickson said. "When you take something of that magnitude and personalize it, that's when it really strikes people. And that, to me, is the beauty of theater." Kirt Bateman, who plays nine male characters in the play, including an activist/rancher named Preston Truman, said it has been an honor to be part of "Exposed." "I never really thought about the issue as something that affected me," said Bateman, who grew up in West Jordan. "It hit home for me," Bateman said, after he learned of several family members who suffered from afflictions that may have been caused by exposure to radiation.
Expose yourself to a searing evening of theater
All performances for Plan-B's tour of "Exposed" are free. For each venue, doors open at 6:30 p.m., with seating on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, visit www.planbtheatre.org/exposedtour.
Ogden » Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. at Jefferson Hall, 2604 Jefferson Ave.
Logan » Nov. 7 at 7 p.m., Utah State University Fine Arts Building's Black Box Theatre.
St. George » Nov. 10 at 7 p.m., Dixie College Fine Arts Center Black Box Theatre.
Salt Lake City » Nov. 11 at 7 p.m., The Leonardo (third floor), 500 S. 200 East.
Moab » Nov. 14 at 7 p.m., ACME Theatre Company Inc., Star Hall, 159 E. Center St.
