05/06/2026
It turns out that spending time contemplating art can help you age healthily... 🖼️
New research suggests that taking part in regular artistic activities, like going to galleries or theatres, can actually slow down your body's biological clock.
Prof Daisy Fancourt and team found that people who engage more in the arts have a younger biological age - an effect similar to moderate physical activity.
And it doesn't matter what sort of art you engage in.
"We looked at performing arts, so making things, craft, music, dance, as well as people going to cultural events, whether that's museums or libraries or carnivals, gigs, festivals," she says.
Karen Eslea, Head of Learning at the UK's National Gallery, says she feels the personal benefits of being surrounded by art.
"I find it incredibly helpful in my life to have a connection and a long view." she says.
She says there are paintings in the gallery's 2,400 strong collection which deal with almost every aspect of human life.
"If difficult things are going on in the world, there's a painting there that you can go and visit, and other people have been through that same thing," says Karen.
Standing in front of Vincent Van Gogh's painting, Long Grass with
Butterflies, she explains how the picture moves her.
"As well as looking, I can almost hear it, and I can smell it, and I can feel what the weather's like," she says. "You can kind of transport yourself,
not just with your vision, but with all your senses."
Even looking at art online can be helpful, according to Daisy's team - and with many institutions, like the National Gallery, now offering free digital tours, it is now possible to enjoy time with art from anywhere in the world from the comfort of your own home.
🎧 The Happy Pod: https://bbc.in/4uAKDA2
