I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it’s very rare for the weather to give us streaming, rays of gorgeous bright sunshine over the long Easter weekend, but this Good Friday we have been blessed with the rare appearance from Mr Sun himself.
Isn’t it amazing how much difference the weather can make to your mood?
It only takes the sun coming out for people to be so much happier, smiles on faces, positivity literally oozing out from every pore and we’re just generally so much more upbeat.
The Art of Healthy Living took advantage of the sunshine to repay a visit to one of our absolute favourite places – the Cass Sculpture Foundation in Goodwood.
It’s become a bit of a tradition to visit every year since we discovered it 6 years ago and every time we go back we fall in love with the place all over again. Set in shady woodland glades, with views across picturesque fields and farmland, the Cass Sculpture Foundation is basically a sculpture park that offers artists the chance to showcase their work in a natural environment. Artworks are regularly changed, as and when they are sold, or if they have been commissioned to be exhibited there, which means whenever we visit there are ones we recognise as well as new ones to inspire and amaze us.
Before having kids, we lived in London and were regulars at the Tate, White Cube, the Hayward and the other numerous art galleries that London has to offer. When we moved to Petersfield to start a family it was one of the things we missed, so finding something as amazing as the Cass Sculpture Foundation virtually on our doorstep was a huge deal.
Some people don’t get contemporary art, but for me it gives a chance to view things in a different way, to ‘think outside the box’ and to get the old grey matter thinking creatively. I love seeing how our children interact with the sculptures, how they interpret what they’re seeing and how at ease and accepting they are that anything can be art.
But what has this got to do with healthy living I hear you ask?
Anything that stimulates the mind is obviously a good thing. The brain is a muscle after all and has as much need to be exercised as say the biceps or the glutes. And what better way to stimulate the mind than to also be out in the fresh air, getting a healthy dose of Vitamin D and blowing away all those cobwebs – the ultimate stress reliever if you ask me.
Plus, there’s something incredibly special about the Cass Sculpture Foundation, that both myself and my husband feel every time we go and that is that it’s so incredibly tranquil and inspiring. We always come away filled with a sense of calm, but also brimming with renewed energy and motivation for new ideas and new projects and if that’s not healthy living right there, then I’m not sure what is!
