Venkat Raman
Auckland, July 13, 2024
A new women’s group is encouraging communities to take artistic and creative forms of expression as a measure of relieving stress and fostering talent.
Women’s Era (WE) New Zealand, an Auckland-based entity, conducted ‘Paint N Taste N Bond,’ an event that brought together more than 70 women and children to give life to their imagination and exchange ideas and pleasantries.
Women’s Era is led by its Founder Kashika Singh with Rashmi Jani, Shital Sanghi Suhas Patel, Praneeta Sharma and Stutie Junoo Sharma as the core team members.
Ms Singh is a well-known woman in media circles and the growing South Asian Communities including people of Indian, Fiji Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan and Nepali origin. While her career takes Ms Singh to the corporate world, her engagement in social, cultural and welfare activities brings people to the radio station where she is employed. This happy mix also enables good community engagement which in turn promotes cohesion and inclusion.
About Women’s Era (WE)
“Women’s Era is an organisation that builds on the premise that women are driven, ambitious and eager to build a society that cares for people and their families. WE collectively aims to bring out the best in our women and make them great society leaders. The Organisation was established just three months ago (April 7, 2024) but the response has been encouraging. Women’s Era seeks a useful place in New Zealand,” she said.
Ms Singh said that as a Group formed to promote the welfare of women, its first event was to commemorate, appropriately, Mother’s Day.
“We called the event (held in May 2024) ‘Jodi No 1,’ and invited Mothers and Children to pair and present items of entertainment, each not exceeding 90 seconds. It was not only humorous but also emotional, since the extolled motherhood and highlighted the bond that mothers have with their children. We hope to organise programmes that will benefit the mother at home, at work, in business and in the community. Women’s Era looks for the patronage of all,” she said.
Ms Singh said that the Paint N Taste N Bond gave birth to several new ideas and programmes.
“We have created WE Expert Korner on our Facebook Page will be an interesting and informative platform with many sharing their experiences and offering advice on Beauty, Childcare, Fashion, Cooking, Astrology and many other fields,” she said.
And in typical, modern style, she added, “The WE Group encourages entrepreneurs to promote themselves through our WE Konnect Posts and the Women’s Era Group where women post their specials to improve their business prospects.”
Art, Women and Wellbeing
Ms Singh said that painting can be therapeutic and accrue long-term benefits to people.
“As well as creating visuals and colours that please, a painting can be an effective stress remover and spread happiness and joy. That was the experience at our event,” she said.
The therapeutic effects of art have been widely acknowledged.
According to Dr Elizabeth Scott, an Educator, Author and Psychologist, art is a wonderful stress reliever providing opportunities to get into a state of flow that is restorative in many ways.
“Even those who are not artistically inclined can still benefit from artistic creation. Studies that examine the effects of art on stress and mood do not analyse the talent of the subjects or the quality of their creations, just the effects on how they feel afterwards, and these effects are highly positive. So, if you are looking for a great way to relieve stress, you may want to try delving into an art activity anyway,” she said.
According to Dr Scott, studies show that art therapy, colouring mandalas, and drawing, in general, can minimise anxiety and combat negative moods.
“Most of the studies have people drawing or colouring for about 20 minutes. Therefore, it is not necessary to be a gifted or serious artist for this stress reliever to be helpful. In reality, no artistic ability is required,” she said.
Art reduces stress
Dr Scott has also written in favour of art classes as an important source of relief.
Attending an art class cements the activity into your schedule; you do not have to work as hard to find time for drawing because you already have time for it planned into your schedule. Also, if you are someone who worries about your artistic skill, this can help you to improve your abilities and make that less of a distraction. However, if an ongoing class is more of a commitment than you have time for, many communities have one-time workshops or evenings where participants enjoy a glass of wine with a standalone art class. Look into your options and see what might work best for you,” she said.
