Creative Stress Reducers

Throughout history, visual self-expression has been used for healing.  Even subconsciously, most children find themselves using a form of art to sooth themselves or satisfy an unmet need – who didn’t decorate the pages of a textbook, draw a picture of their favorite (or least favorite) teacher, or create and then destroy a clay sculpture or lego tower?  Even now, many adults I know make little doodles in the margins of their notebooks, file folders, and Post-It notes.  Why do we do this?  Simply put, because we need to! 

“Art has the potential to change lives and in profound ways. When words are not enough, we turn to images and symbols to tell our stories. And in telling our stories through art, we can find a path to health and wellness, emotional reparation, recovery, and ultimately, transformation,” says the International Art Therapy Organization [IATO] (www.internationalarttherapy.org).

Even something as simple as doodling is considered art and a form of “artistic self-expression.”  According to the American Art Therapy Association (www.americanarttherapyassociation.org), “the creative process involved in artistic self-expression helps people resolve conflicts and problems, develop interpersonal skills, reduce stress, and increase self-esteem and self-awareness.”

What are some easy, inexpensive, and time-sensitive ways that you can use art in your daily life to help find the path to health and wellness?

     1)    Doodle:  Sketch pictures that describe your mood, your feelings, or anything else that your hand and brain want you to create.

     2)    Scribble:  Create abstract pictures that are representative of your moods, feelings, or state-of-mind.

     3)    Paint (watercolor, finger paints, and acrylics tend to be the easiest to use and clean up):  Use colors as your means of artistic communication – abstract patterns and still-life works are equally helpful.

     4)    Stamp:  Colorful inkpads and fun shaped stamps can help those with less confidence in their doodling and painting abilities, and can be just as satisfying.

     5)    Cut or Punch:  Take a pair of scissors or a hole punch (there are even scissors and hole punches that make neat shapes) and create a new “canvas” out of a sheet of paper.

For those of you who don’t want to waste the paper or buy supplies, there are numerous “apps” for smartphones and tablets, as well as for the computer, that allow you to doodle, color, paint, stamp, and more.

One last note:  these works of art are for YOU.  No one else has to see them.  Some people keep them as a visual diary, others throw them out or recycle them, some paint over them, and some re-use them.  It’s your art, your self-expression, a piece of you.  Lose your stress and find yourself.

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Need some inspiration or a place to start?  You are welcome to join our Yoga & Art Class in August 2012.  Visit www.regonline.com/yoga-art-with-lolly for more details and to register.