The Mindful Art of Achieving More by Doing Less
(Annotation: 5/27/15: I have changed my site proper noun to world wide web.mindfulartstudio.com in society to separate my art therapy practice from my online fine art business and to avoid any confusion well-nigh what services I am providing. Mindful Art Studio and its blog will now focus solely on inventiveness, art tutorials, art journaling, mindfulness, and related topics. Information technology is not art therapy.)
Hello Artistic, Authentic You:
I've been holding onto a secret for the last few months, and I'm so excited to finally be able to share it: I've found a new home for our lovely community. Welcome to the Mindful Fine art Therapy Studio! To apply a term from one of my favorite artistic authors, SARK, I hope you'll stay a while and have an "inspiration sandwich" while you're here!
I sought out a new name because I want information technology to be very clear what this customs stands for – learning to alive centered, inspired, and creative lives. I think Mindful Fine art Therapy Studio does that. Do you?
Mindfulness and Art
Through writing this blog, I've realized just how hungry people are for creativity and mindfulness in their lives. We desire to dull down, pay attention, make meaning, and feel inspired. Whether you lot consider yourself "creative" or not, and I would argue that everyone is, if you don't have that spark of inspiration and creativity somewhere in your life, my bet is that you are feeling flat, downwards, broken-hearted, or alone. I believe very strongly that for many people, art therapy and fine art are 2 very powerful medicines.
I was rereading 1 of the books that drove me to explore the mindful, spiritual, and healing aspects of art, The Artist'due south Way. Author Julia Cameron says, "The quality of life is in proportion, always, to the chapters for please. The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attending." It'southward so true.
So much of what delights me requires my full attention – listening to my kids as they recount each new adventure, taking in the way water droplets perch gently on a tulip petal, choosing the right moment to make a proposition to a client who is on the brink of change, or running unencumbered on the starting time warm spring solar day, hearing the birds, and feeling the movement of my breath.
That's the level of connection we require. And yet nosotros make ourselves then busy all the time. Mindfulness requires conscious effort.
A Mindfulness Exercise:
Art and mindfulness are so intimately connected. Seeing with attention is practicing mindfulness. Whether you are truly seeing and drawing something for the first time, or "seeing" your feelings appear on the page, it'southward an human action of mindfulness. I think oft of my first drawing instructor, who told me that I didn't need to learn to draw, I needed to learn to see.
Try this practise:
Pick an object that you see everyday – a chair, a stick, a basin. Set a timer for two minutes. Now look at the object as though you have no thought what it is – similar yous've never seen i of those thingies in your life. I invite you to engage your curiosity. Expect at colors, shapes, textures, and calorie-free. What practise you observe? What were you missing every other time you looked at it?
What we normally see when we look at something is just a brief sketch. We recall nosotros know what things look similar, but do we really?
A Mindful Drawing Exercise:
Could you try drawing your object now? Let become of expectations that it will look a certain way or be "accurate," this is a mindfulness exercise. Your pencil is a miniature ant walking across the edges and contours of your object, ever so slowly. What does your ant go? Whenever I do this, I detect and so much more detail and beauty both in the object, and in my wobbly cartoon, than I ever expected.
"Attention is an act of connexion" – Julia Cameron
Nosotros and then deeply want to feel connected, and it'south is a powerful anecdote against hopelessness, desperation, and suffering.
What You Can Expect from Mindful Art Studio
Having the opportunity to share creative self-care techniques and data with people beyond the globe is a approval for me. It's office of my artistic and creative practice, and it makes my life meaningful. Thanks for existence hither!
My goal is to reach y'all, motion you, and inspire y'all to live a more artistic life, to feel happier and less broken-hearted, and to make choices demonstrate how much yous truly value yourself. You have so much to offer.
I desire you to show up in this community, take in what you can, and give back by sharing your insights (but similar Sara did last calendar week.) Let's have on this artistic journey chosen life together.
I am humbled by your presence, your wisdom, and your creativity, and I'm excited near what'south ahead in the rest of 2015.
Art Tutorials and Classes
Art journaling has been, and will continue to exist one of the key ways that I help people feed their artistic soul. Y'all can as well expect more online art classes and e-books on a range of artistic techniques.
Creative Self-Care and Coping Strategies for Anxiety and Depression
Fear gets in the fashion of creativity and joy. We will continue to dive deeper into ways of getting fear and anxiety to step aside, get away, or transform. We will as well proceed to explore a range of coping tools to manage feet, stress, and depression.
This quote speaks and so loudly to me almost the habit of worry. And like any other habit, we tin replace information technology with a different one with a bigger reward.
Insights Virtually Healing Art
I consider it a privilege to be an art therapist and to assist more people understand and experience its power.
If you lot oasis't looked effectually recently, here's a sampling of some of the best things Mindful Art Therapy Studio has to offer right now:
– Check out the Costless Fine art Tutorials page for tons of mindful, creative, and nature based fine art techniques
-Listen to some guided visualizations to assistance relieve stress and anxiety
– Learn nigh managing stress and anxiety with fine art,
– Connect with the community on the Artistic Self-Care Facebook group for actress guidance and resources
– Listen to the podcast where I talk about How Art Therapy Works.
Mindful Art Studio's Housewarming Gifts to You
To assistance celebrate our new "habitation," I'd similar to offering you some housewarming gifts.
1. GIVEAWAY:
Each person who comments below has a chance to win this art journal. Once I know who the lucky, randomly chosen winner is, I'll become a bit more than information and personalize it for you lot before I send it off. You have until Friday at 9 am to comment.
2. Art Journaling Form Sale!
For a limited fourth dimension, I am making Art Journaling 101 Online available for only $19!
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