How creating art on holiday could help with anxiety, stress and burnout

In The Independent’s travel trends column, Trendwatch, we dig into the types of trip, modes of transport and top buzzwords to watch out for.

This spring, an explosion of articles riffing on the theme “Are we experiencing burnout or is this just life now?” splattered across the UK’s media. Theories surfaced around pandemic PTSD, work/life ennui and a culture increasingly impacted by the rising cost of living. As such, a holiday became not just a break from the nine-to-five, but an opportunity for some serious soul-soothing.

Wellbeing-focused retreats are a fantastic little corner of the travel scene: from high-profile yoga and meditation breaks to cooking, language or novel-writing camps, they’re not merely a holiday, but a chance to try for reflection and self-improvement. Many crop up in the shoulder travel seasons of spring and autumn, and the often quiet period around October or November is a great time to take one. On the rise this year is a new generation of art-themed breaks – not aimed at taking in galleries or learning about art, but making it. And research shows they could help boost your mental health.

Germany’s Buchinger Wilhelmi spa resort, a haven of wellness on the country’s Lake Constance, has launched four annual Art Week retreats, with autumn’s falling 9-16 October and a winter break scheduled for December. Art teacher and lecturer Joanna Klakla leads sessions designed “to ignite the individual artistic expression of each attendee – in turn, allowing them to benefit from its therapeutic effect – with benefits ranging from improved cognitive and sensorial function to increased emotional resilience”.

Meanwhile, lavish Marrakech hotel Royal Mansour has opened a dedicated “Atelier d’Artiste” studio in a lush greenhouse, where guests can book in for art therapy sessions, including pottery, photography, calligraphy, land art and embroidery, led by art therapists. And Swiss wellness hotel Burgenstock Waldhotel, on Lake Lucerne, has its own painting studio where guests are encouraged to paint mandalas, a meditation technique derived from Buddhist practices.

Art has been used in conjunction with mental health therapies since the 1940s, following a movement started by British artist Adrian Hill, and studies have found it can ease the symptoms of depression, anxiety and stimulate mental function. Creating art has even been found to decrease pain and…