ART AS THERAPY

I find putting pencil or paint to paper and watching the magic happen to be really calming. For me, creating art is basically a form of meditation or my way of journaling with colourful marks rather than words, that is therapeutic and puts me back on an even keel when I’m feeling out of sorts.

I’m not a medical professional or an art therapist, so this isn’t medical advice at all, but I’m just wanting to share my personal experience with art in case it helps others, especially during this Covid catastrophe we’re going through right now.

I’m not going to get into all the technicalities and science of art therapy or give you any specific exercises – but speaking from my own experience, art has helped my anxiety and health challenges over many, many years and I’m beyond grateful!  Here are 2 strategies I use to recollect and bring more zen to my life. Hopefully they may help you turn off any stress you might be experiencing in your day too:

DRAW YOUR EMOTIONS

For this one, DRAW could be substituted for paint, sing, dance, bake or whatever creative practice you are passionate about. Whether you’re feeling sad, anxious or angry, think of your pencil, wooden spoon or creative tool of choice as a pen and paper you might use to journal. The space I create with shapes and colours on art paper are my visual form of journaling. In other words, it’s writing down my feelings without using words! Maybe at the start, this is not a comfortable thing to do, but once you let go and let yourself be expressive, it may just bring you some peace – like hitting the refresh button. It doesn’t matter what the final result is – who cares if it’s not a masterpiece? Turn off your busy conscious mind and just let your subconscious play for a bit. You might just surprise yourself and how good you feel afterwards.

CREATE YOUR OWN PEACE

What does peace look like for you? For me, it’s a field of flowers in every colour of the rainbow. I’m most at peace when I’m in nature – morning walks in the countryside with my hubby, or afternoon walks along the beach. These are my happy places whenever life is a struggle or I’m feeling anxious or stressed. But if I can’t get there, I take myself to that happy place by creating it in my art – colourful, joyful flowers of all shapes and sizes.

Not every artwork has to be perfect, but it’s an exercise in visualising the peace and calm that I’m wanting to bring into my life at that very moment and for me it just works.

Drawing or painting is always calming for me, helping to still my mind and recalibrate. Whatever it is that you love to create with, a rolling pin, dancing shoes, or whatever, I encourage you to grab it and give it a go the next time you’re not feeling the best. It may just be the thing that your mind and body needs to get back to that zen space you’re craving!