08/13/2026
"When you experience stress, your body’s sympathetic nervous system (a.k.a. the fight-or-flight response) becomes activated, said Soma Sengupta, neurologist in chief and chair of neurology at Tufts Medical Center. This system prepares your body to respond to perceived threats by increasing your heart rate, muscle tension, blood pressure and the release of stress hormones such as cortisol, she explained.
“Drawing can help shift attention away from stressful thoughts and encourage activation of the parasympathetic nervous system, sometimes called the ‘rest and digest’ system,” Sengupta said. “This system promotes recovery by slowing heart rate, reducing muscle tension and helping the body return to a calmer physiological state.”
"....Just a few minutes of doodling can do the trick
You don’t have to be an artist crafting a masterpiece to reap the calming benefits of drawing.
“The calming effects [of drawing] appear to result primarily from sustained attention, repetitive movement and engagement with the creative process, rather than from producing a work of art,” Sengupta said. Even just drawing lines, squiggles or geometric shapes can provide many of the same benefits, she explained."
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Experts break down the science behind why putting pencil to paper can have such a calming effect.
