Lisa Van Allen

In a study out of Drexel Univeristy, researchers gave a group of adults 45 minutes with art supplies. No instructions. No skill requirement. Some had art backgrounds, most did not. They measured cortisol, the body's main stress hormone, before and after. Cortisol dropped in about 75 percent of them. When they compared the experienced artists0 to the total beginners, there was no meaningful difference in the benefit. The researcher who ran it said afterward that she believed it worked because...

Living with dysautonomia can feel like a high-stakes game of Jenga. Every task— a shower, a difficult email, a loud room—pulls another block from your foundation. Without careful, intentional pacing, the tower collapses. What exactly is pacing? And how do I make it work for me? You have chronic pain, and possibly fatigue, and your doctor has recommended pacing. We all have heard of pacing, and it sounds like something we should know how to do… but the reality is a lot more complicated,...

I have identified as a perfectionist for years, believing that the self-critical voice in my head gave me some kind of an edge. Being a perfectionist is often rewarded in my work, and even in my hobbies. That kudos I get for a perfect seam in my sewing, or the way I exactingly capture an image in my drawing feeds something in me… and that something is not always healthy. Research published in Psychology & Health shows that people living with chronic pain score significantly higher on...