Tune into your inner creative

When it comes to nurturing our wellbeing, we might prioritise areas like diet, exercise, and time outdoors. These are all part of the story, but did you know that being creative also offers a holistic health boost?

Creative hobbies are proven to reduce stress and improve your mood, while also allowing your mind to become absorbed in a task. In effect, this provides a blissful “escape” from your thoughts – cleansing those day-to-day worries and improving cognitive function.

Your choice of creative outlet might be focused on form, or pleasingly functional. Whether you’re working towards beauty or productivity, designing or making, every activity shares the same sense of achievement. This is, in itself, an antidote to our always-on digital days; to create something tangible, with our minds and our hands, is a timeless joy.

So, how (and where) can you get started?

If you’re trying something new, joining a tutor-led group or workshop is a good place to begin. Best of all, these are often hosted in interesting and unusual spaces, from country houses to cosy creative studios.

Chisel Pottery is based in Chichester, offering expert-led pottery experiences and classes. One-off experiences (ideal while you’re on holiday) include a ‘Perfect Date Night’ couples’ pottery throwing class. Or, if you prefer pens to pots, you could join a brush pen calligraphy workshop with Laura Prudence Calligraphy; in-person classes are hosted in Hampshire, but you can also opt for an online course.

How many of us dream of creating effortlessly elegant floral displays? Perhaps you’ll combine beauty with practicality by trying your hand at floristry. Flourish Sussex runs sessions in Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex, working with fresh seasonal flowers and foliage, while The Sussex Flower School has a calendar of upcoming courses, including flower therapy and springtime arrangements.

And if you’re staying as a large group, many local creatives are happy to host bespoke workshops just for you. On the Isle of Wight, Wight Apothecary arranges private events focused on soy candle making, macramé and essential oils (perfect if you’re staying with us at The Manor House).

As children, we embrace our creativity with both hands. Unshackled by ideas of whether our work is “good”, we give free rein to our imagination. As adults, we could learn a lot from this approach. There can be a quiet pleasure in deciding that something is just for you (and therefore just for fun). Forget all notions of it needing to be Instagram-worthy, or having to occupy a set period of time. Instead, find childlike enjoyment in the process.

When you set aside creative time, just for you, the only limit is your imagination. With the freedom to go anywhere and do anything, you could try clifftop sketching, capturing a sunset in watercolours, or heading out to a coffee shop with a notebook.

If you’re not used to being intentionally “creative”, journaling is a lovely route to explore. Some take the practice very seriously, but in its purest form, it’s simply reflecting on what you’re feeling and experiencing. Usually, this means writing whatever comes naturally in the moment (for instance, asking yourself: How do I feel today? What can I hear right now?), but you could also choose to draw pictures or write a series of one-word answers. The key is to make it instinctive and immediate – nobody will see it but you. If you’re on holiday, you could even choose a nice notebook from a local shop and record your thoughts as a travel journal, with a short entry for each new location.

Being creative is about thinking differently and translating this into action, whatever that might look like for you. The creative world is wide and far-reaching; often we might pigeonhole “creative” activities as being art, crafts and writing, but there's so much more in our shared language of self-expression.

Activities like cookery, baking, photography and gardening can be every bit as intuitive and inventive as more traditional options. If you’re open to ideas, West Dean in West Sussex offers an impressive selection of short courses, from creative papermaking to jewellery and enamelling. Who knows, your innate creative skill might be something you’ve never even considered.

And of course, there are other ways to find your voice – at its core, being creative is about using your imagination and pursuing self-expression. Dance, exercise and yoga all make space for articulating through movement. If this feels like a natural place for you to start, you’ll find details for some of the best tried-and-tested local providers (many offering special rates for our guests) on our Partners page.