As an artist, you've pretty much resigned yourself to the fact that you're always going to be stressed about something.

It could be money, your relationship, an artistic block, or even how your apartment looks. Stress is definitely a constant in your life.

But should it be?
After all, though you've always dreamed of leaving a wonderful posthumous legacy of your work, you're not exactly looking to die early. But recent studies show that stress can take years off your life.

Read on to learn about some of the most effective destressing tips for artists.
By the end of this post, you'll be as much of a master at stress relief as you are at shading and combining paint colors.

1. Get Outside — Now
It's a trap that so many of us fall into when we're anxious: just sitting in the house and staring at the screen or canvas, hoping inspiration will come.

Before you know it, it's been three hours — and you've gotten absolutely nothing accomplished.

One of the best ways to understand how to destress as an artist is to give yourself permission to go outside and step away from the canvas for a few hours. There are other, equally productive ways to use your time right now.

While you're in a rut, run some errands, go for a run or walk in the park, or even enjoy reading about your favorite artists for a while. Why not visit a museum?

If you give yourself a break, you'll return invigorated, and your work will be better as a result.

2. Schedule Time with Friends
Being social is a huge part of the artistic lifestyle.

You want to go to all the best parties, see and be seen, connect with your future muse, and talk about your work with others. But as an artist, you also know all too well that it's easy to fall into a trap of social isolation.

You might try to convince yourself that you're "holing yourself up" until all your work is done, but the truth is you're just punishing yourself for no reason.

Why not go see a movie, hit up a festival in the park, or even head to a concert or have a picnic with friends? You'll be glad you did.

You don't have to make a huge social time commitment, either. Even just grabbing lunch or dinner with a friend works. After all, even starving artists have to eat sometime.

3. Try Meditation
Are you looking for a natural and effective form of stress relief, but know that hard physical exercise or affirmations in the mirror don't work for you?

You should give meditation a try.

It's not nearly as intimidating as it might seem. In fact, if you've ever "zoned out" while staring at something, then congratulations — you've meditated.

You can opt to take a meditation class if you prefer to learn from others. If you'd rather go at it alone, there are tons of guided meditation apps and even YouTube videos that you can follow along with.

Even just finding ten minutes to meditate during the day will make a surprisingly big difference in your stress levels.

4. Disconnect from Social Media
Social media may be an awesome place to share your own work and learn about what other artists are up to, but it can also make you seriously stressed out.

It's impossible not to feel a hint of envy when your feed shows an artist you don't think is as good as you opening their own gallery show or bragging about selling a painting.

You can even get obsessed about how many "likes" your uploaded photo of your own work got, and what that number might mean.

It's just not healthy, and studies show that it's actually making you depressed in addition to anxious.

Sometimes, the best thing you can do for yourself as an artist is to unplug. Don't worry, all that juicy social media gossip will be right there waiting for you when you're ready to come back.

5. Try Holistic Stressbusters
It's no secret that part of learning how to be an artist is understanding how to find inspiration and success from habits, foods, and even holistic practices and medicines that other people might find strange.

Most artists prefer to go the natural route when they're looking for destressing solutions.

One of the best and most of-the-moment ways to relax is by dosing CBD oil.

Unlike cannabis, CBD doesn't contain any THC (psychoactive elements.) This means you'll feel invigorated and focused, but calm, instead of feeling totally out of it.

You can vape CBD, take it in a supplement/capsule form, or even drip a few CBD oil tincture drops into your morning coffee or tea (and even that beloved afternoon cocktail.)

Try These Destressing Tips for the Artistic Soul Today
When you're less stressed, the quality of your work will improve, you'll have the confidence to submit your pieces to gallery shows, and you'll even find that you feel physically better.

Stress and worry rob artists of so much valuable time. And though most would argue that some anxiety is a part of the artistic temperament, these destressing tips make it much more manageable.

Looking for more artistic inspiration? Want to find out about upcoming shows, artists grants, and connect with other local artists?

Our blog can help you with that and more.

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