Whether creativity is part of your job or a hobby, we can all get stuck sometimes. When the well of inspiration runs dry, it’s time to take a creative approach to creativity…

1. Seek out the colour blue

According to colour psychology, blue can stimulate creative thinking, encouraging us to try new things, while also having a calming effect. Surround yourself with the colour next time you need a creative boost – head outside and take in the blue sky, visit the seaside to marvel at the ocean, or simply add more blue decor to your environment. You could even try wearing more blue and see how you feel.

2. Read/watch/listen outside of your genre

Do you tend to stick to the same genres when reading books, watching TV, or listening to music and podcasts? Feed your curiosity by exploring genres you would never normally try. Love a romance novel? Why not see what fantasy has to offer? Huge rock music fan? Try dipping your toe into the world of RnB. Want to listen to a podcast unlike anything else? Try ‘Everything is Alive’.

3. Tap into your inner child

Kids are naturally creative, so who better to draw inspiration from? Dust off your bike and go for a ride, find an adult-sized ball pit, get your colouring books out, or build a Lego masterpiece. These all help to stem overthinking, encouraging you to experience the world in a more child-like and curious way.

4. Spend more time with creative people

Who we spend time with can make an impact on our worldview. So, if you want to be more creative, try spending more time with fellow creatives. This could be in-person at events or meet-ups, or online.

5. Take silent breaks

The world can be a noisy place at times, and this can colour our thinking. Try to incorporate some silent breaks in your day where there’s no music, podcasts, TV. Allow yourself to sit in silence and give your own thoughts space.

6. Keep a dream journal

Our dreams are about as weird and wacky as they come, and could be a source of inspiration. Keep a notepad and pen by your bed, and grab it when you wake up to write about your dream. The key here is to be quick; trying to remember a dream is like trying to catch water in a net… tricky! Later you can look back and revel in the absurd.

Apparently, being playful and childish is the key to a long and happy life. We’ll take it!

Do you find yourself fighting ‘silly’, childish urges? Doodling a smiley face on the car window, or racing your (36-year-old) best bud to the top of the hill, cos’ the loser is a rotten egg? Well, don’t fight it! According to experts, engaging in adult play is more than just a giggle – it can cause changes in the brain which help improve our mental, emotional, and even physical health.

So, before you feel guilty about rearranging the fridge magnets to spell ‘bum’, or blowing a raspberry at your little niece or nephew, let’s take a look at the science behind play, and how it can transform how we feel and live.

Why do we lose our playfulness?

It’s no surprise that kids are one-upping us in the happiness department – as they jump around the garden with one finger up their nose and the other hand clutching a stolen tablespoon. So where does it all go wrong?

According to world-renowned therapist and author Marisa Peer, we never truly forget how to play, but society teaches us that it’s inappropriate after a certain age. Though the urges are there, we are accustomed to suppressing it, and acting in a safer, more ‘appropriate’ manner.

“Humans have a compelling need to find connections and avoid rejection, so they won’t do anything that could exclude them for being different,” she says.

“As a child heads towards their teens, they start to play with toys less, as they look to older children to see what is cool. Being accepted by their peers is so important to them that they will relinquish favourite toys simply to fit in.

“This is reinforced by adults telling youngsters to ‘grow up’, ‘stop being silly’, or ‘don’t be childish’ which contributes to our belief that playing and being playful, after a certain age, is inappropriate.”

Marisa strongly believes in overcoming the society’s discouragement from play, and tries to bring lightness and laughter into every day. She adds: “As a therapist, and a trainer of therapists, I find laughter very helpful. Encouraging people to play has its place in contributing to making steps towards positive mental wellbeing.”

The seriousness of play

But it’s not just a laughing matter. Experts say that playing can help people deal with mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety, and can even support those with trauma.

Creative arts therapist Dr Alison McClymont uses play to help treat trauma in adults. She says that feeding the urges to be playful can actually cause the brain to return to a child-like state, which helps us to access and resolve buried issues.

She says: “While, to some, this may sound ‘kooky’ or new age, play therapies for adults are empirically studied, and I have worked with extremely traumatised people whose only route to therapy was through artistic expression or play.

“The importance of play should not be overlooked; I have used it to treat psychosis and extreme forms of trauma. Creative a

Address the stress of the week with these activities that will help you soothe anxiety this weekend

Phew, what a week. To-do lists piling up, hoops to jump through, household chores falling by the wayside, caring responsibilities, appointments, deadlines, and let’s not even go into all the anxiety caused by the general state of the world.

Sometimes, making it to Friday can feel like a real challenge, with anxiety and stress occupying our minds – bringing down our moods and draining our resilience. When we do eventually get to the weekend, it can then be easy to use it as a time to catch up on all the things we were too overwhelmed to do during the week and then, before we know it, it’s Monday and the cycle starts all over again before we’ve had time to catch our breath.

So, if you’ve had a full-on week, your stress levels are peaking, and you’re struggling with anxiety, we've got some suggestions for ways you can make this weekend one dedicated to rest and rejuvenation.

Escape to a different world

When this world gets too much, escape the day-to-day toil with the power of stories. If you’re a reader, this may be the time to curl up with the book that’s been sitting in your to-read pile for a while. Or if films are more your thing, settle down with a warm drink and spend the next couple of hours in a whole new world.

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We’ve got plenty of recommendations for films and books, but if you’re using this as a stress and anxiety-busting exercise, it might be worth considering exactly what you need from this activity. Are you looking for a good laugh? An inspirational message? A drop of nostalgia? Or total escapism into a fantasy world?

Whatever you go for, it’s also worth bringing some mindfulness into this activity. If you notice that your mind is starting to wander, prompting that anxiety to creep back in, try to recognise those thoughts, let them go, and bring your attention back to what you’re focusing on.

Go somewhere new

You won’t need your passport for this one, because even a trip half an hour down the road will do. Stuck in our routines, we can end up going between the same places again and again. The Victorians often persuaded a ‘change of air’, something physicians would recommend when their patients had ‘nervous ailments’ or melancholy. Going off and discovering somewhere new breaks those daily patterns that can, sometimes, bring us so much anxiety.

What’s more, we also get that sense of adventure and discovery, something that we adults tend to do less of

Taking a multi-pronged approach to anxiety can be powerful. Here we explore how one of those prongs, exercise, can help us manage anxiety

If you’ve ever experienced anxiety, you’ll probably know that it can trigger some intense physical reactions. There’s a certain energy about anxiety, to me it feels like I’m a shaken up can of soda, fizzing with fear.

Now, there are lots of techniques that can help anxiety. I’ve had cognitive behavioural therapy in the past, and I find both meditation and journaling helpful. When I am particularly fizzy however, there’s only one thing that really helps. Moving my body.

I’ll either put on some music and dance in my bedroom (not following any steps, just moving in a way that feels fun), go to a Pilates class or grab my towel and head to my local pool. There’s something oddly soothing about swimming; the gentle hum of fellow swimmers in the background, the comforting scent of chlorine and the way I can sync my breathing with my strokes. It makes the entire process a joy.

Intuitive movement advocate and personal trainer Tally Rye discusses the power of joyful movement on Happiful’s podcast I am. I have.

When I’m done with these activities, it’s like the anxiety, or fizz, has been released and my body can settle again. The idea that exercise is good for our mental health isn’t a new one, but its true power continues to be explored.

A new study being carried out by academics from University College London will see NHS mental health trusts using ‘social prescribing’ to encourage 600 young people on waiting lists to take part in dance, music, sport and exercise. The study will look at how this supports mental wellbeing and, if successful, could see more activities being made available for those on waiting lists.

While it’s been acknowledged that these activities are no substitute for other forms of support like talking therapies, it can help people cope with challenges, especially if waiting for treatment. So what is it about exercise, and joyful movement especially, that’s so helpful for anxiety?

It puts you in the here and now

This is what I most love about the activities I do. Whether spinning with arms outstretched at home, engaging my core in a Pilates move or gliding through the water at the pool, I am present. I am in my body, not my head. Sure, the odd anxious thought might pop into my head from time to time, but because I’m physically moving I find it easier to move my attention back to that.

Anxiety often pushes our attention to the past (ruminating about something we’ve done or said) or the future (worrying about what might happen), so anything that can bring us back to the present moment can help.  

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Are you alone or lonely? There’s a big difference, and the latter can really affect your mental wellbeing. But finding the cause of your loneliness could be the start of your journey to overcoming it

While many people love grabbing some ‘alone time’, others may have had more than enough – research from the Mental Health Foundation reveals that nearly 30% of us feel lonely some or all of the time. That figure jumps to 70% for people who’ve felt lonely at any point in the last month.

Feeling lonely now and again is a normal part of life, but if those feelings continue, loneliness can negatively impact our mental health. So, what’s causing us to feel lonely, and how can we tackle the issue to help everyone feel more connected?

Alone or lonely?

Although they sound similar, there’s a big difference between being alone and feeling lonely. “Being alone means you can be in your own space with no one around you and feel perfectly happy. But when you’re lonely, you feel the absence of other people,” says counsellor Jenny Warwick. “As a result, loneliness makes you feel isolated and unhappy.”

You can also feel lonely in a big group of people. Jenny says: “You might feel as though no one ‘gets’ you, or feel isolated because of an experience you’re going through, such as bereavement, that no one else there has experienced.” And while we often choose to be alone, none of us choose to be lonely.

That’s because loneliness makes us feel sad, and as if there’s a gap between us and other people. This could be a physical gap – if you live somewhere remote, for example – or an emotional gap; a lack of connection with others.

Feeling lonely can also trigger emotions we might not traditionally associate with loneliness. “You can be quite hard on yourself, asking “Have I done something wrong?”, or “What’s wrong with me?”’ says Jenny.

Loneliness often leads to comparing yourself to others, especially on social media. This is more than FOMO when looking at photos of parties or someone’s holiday, but feeling like you don’t deserve those things. This can turn into a vicious cycle of feeling lonely, rejected, withdrawing, and feeling lonelier as a result.

What causes loneliness?

The most obvious cause in recent times has been the Covid-19 pandemic – lockdowns, social distancing, travel restrictions, plus the on-going stress and feelings of isolation, to name a few. The pandemic also brought some people’s emotions sharply into focus.

Jenny says: “You might’ve thought you were OK being on your own, but the past few years made you realise you were covering up feelings of loneliness by keeping busy. Being forced to spend so much time alone has made many people recognise the fact they were lonely all along.”

Social media can be a big contributor to loneliness, and not just because it feels like everyone is having fun without us. Dr Dean Burnett, neuroscientist and author of The Happy Brain (£12.99, Guardian Faber Publishing), says that although the