Art Therapy / Relieve Stress By Creating Art | Alexandra Novik-Khamis

What can one do to help alleviate stress and anxiety? If you’re an artist, keep creating art, for one.  Even if you’ve never considered yourself an artist, now is the time to take up an artistic pursuit of drawing or painting. It is never too late, and everyone can do it. If you can hold a brush or crayon or marker, you can draw and paint. And it doesn’t have to be a big investment - a few acrylic paints or a set of watercolor paints, brush, markers or crayons, and paper are all you need, along with some old magazines, a glue stick, and scissors for collage, if you'd like.

You will be greatly rewarded emotionally, physically, and spiritually for your creative efforts. As Pablo Picasso once said, "Art washes from the soul the dust of everyday life."

Art has been in existence since the dawn of humankind. Using the elements of art and design - line, shape, color, value, texture, form, and space  - to make meaning out of life and express a personal vision is an innate impulse. Children do it as soon as they have the fine motor skills necessary to hold a crayon. Through this impulse, artists express the joys, sadnesses, traumas, fears, triumphs, beauty, and ugliness of life. Artists are truth tellers. That is why artists are often perceived as a threat and the first to be censored during times of war and strife.  

But being authentic and telling the truth is transformative, both for individuals and groups, and that is the medicinal power of art.

Creating art is healing not only for the mind and spirit but also the body since all are interconnected. It works on multiple levels to not only relax but also to restore and rejuvenate, bringing joy and increasing your energy and enthusiasm for life. 

As Shawn McNiff writes in Art Heals: How Creativity Cures the Soul, " ...healing through art is one of the oldest cultural practices in every region of the world," and "Art adapts to every conceivable problem and lends its transformative, insightful, and experience-heightening powers to people in need."

Many studies have shown the therapeutic benefits of making art. It is a meditative practice, putting you in “the zone”, with many of the same benefits of meditation, helping you to take your mind off of daily struggles and issues, lowering your blood pressure, pulse rate, and breathing rate, and making you mindful of the present moment.

Making art allows you to play, giving you the freedom to explore and experiment with new techniques, materials, and methods, while also helping to stimulate new brain synapses. "When you seek novelty, several things are going on. First of all, you are creating new synaptic connections with every new activity you engage in. These connections build on each other, increasing your neural activity, creating more connections to build on other connections—learning is taking place."

Making art enables you to feel and express gratitude by helping you to observe and see beauty where others may not. It also gives you an outlet for expressing some of your anger and frustration, as well as your personal worldviews. 

Art can help you discern feelings and express thoughts that are difficult to articulate.

Engaging with the arts and creating something is a way of engaging with and being in a relationship with yourself, helping you to know yourself better. The process of creating art opens channels of communication beyond those of the purely verbal, dissolving barriers caused by words or our own internal censors, helping us to see ourselves, and others, more fully and clearly. In so doing it connects us more deeply to ourselves and to each other. If you are working in class with other people the atmosphere becomes one in which there are a mutual give and take of ideas and a spirit of generosity.  The creative process helps to create new relationships and foster existing ones in a positive productive environment. 

While art therapy is a distinct field and art therapists are trained and educated in both art and psychology, you don't have to consult a licensed art therapist to reap the benefits of making art, for it is not about the product, it's about the process, and you are the best judge of how the process is affecting you.

Although the process is of primary importance, the finished product is a visual reminder of the process and the lessons learned and can stimulate your mind and soul anew each time you view it.

While art therapy is its own field, you can use the benefits of art to express your creative side and drawing skills to reduce stress and get in touch with your feelings. 

You may not think you're any "good" at creating art, or you may not think it's worth your time, but art is actually a valuable pastime, even for those who don't consider themselves artistically inclined. There are many reasons that art is a great stress relief tool, even for those who don't consider themselves to be artists.  

Benefits of Art:

One of the reasons that clinical art therapy is effective is that the act of drawing and creating art can help you relieve stress in several ways. Read on to see why creating art doesn't have to fit a certain mold to be a great idea for you. Here are some ways that creating art can alleviate stress:

Distraction

Drawing and art can take your mind off of what’s stressing you, at least for a few minutes. It's difficult to keep ruminating on your problems when you're focused on creating, and if your problems stay with you, you can incorporate them into your creations.

And when you’re finished being engrossed in your sketches, you should have a clearer head with which to tackle your problems again.

Flow

There’s a certain quality of being called “flow” that experts say is very beneficial for us. This refers to a state of being completely engaged in something to the point of being in a near-meditative state.

It carries many of the benefits of meditation, leaving you much less stressed when you’re done. You can experience ‘flow’ when you’re doing creative activities like writing and even gardening. You can also get it by drawing.

Self-Care

Just the act of having a hobby can make you feel more balanced in your lifestyle. Sometimes, with all of life’s responsibilities, we forget that we need and deserve ‘down time’ and self-care. Taking even a few minutes on a regular basis to devote to a hobby can give you more of what you need in this area. And, with drawing, you have the additional benefit of being left with something beautiful (or at least interesting) to show for it!

Do-It-Yourself Art Therapy for Stress Relief

One of my favorite ways to use the act of drawing for stress relief is to maintain a sketch diary. Keeping a sketchbook can be a form of journaling, and it can be cathartic, creative, and stress relieving. You can use a journal for personal art therapy and stress management in the following ways:

Draw Out Your Emotions  

Sketch pictures that describe your feelings related to things in your life that are causing you stress currently.

If it’s in the back of your mind anyway, this could be a way of processing your related emotions, reducing some of the stress they carry.

Process Old Stress  

Sketch abstract pictures that express feelings related to past stressful experiences, as a way of processing your emotions and healing. This can be a form of journaling but can be especially helpful for those who are more comfortable with ideas and emotions that don't need to be put into words.

Keep a Sketch Diary  

Keep a "Dream Sketch Diary", and sketch scenes from dreams you’d like to remember or better understand. You can also keep a "Gratitude Sketch Diary" to catalog what you're grateful for in your life.

There are several different types of sketch diaries you can create and enjoy.

Record the Beauty of Life  

Keep a sketch diary of what you think is beautiful in life. Draw the faces of those you love, places that bring you peace, or other pieces of beauty. The process of sketching can be a great stress reliever, and revisiting your creations can also bring you some peace in the future.

Enjoy Coloring Books  

Start enjoying some of the adult coloring books that have become popular—they can be especially relaxing for those who don't feel artistic but want to create easy, beautiful, and stress-free pictures.

Find more ideas for using art in your daily life for stress relief at Palitra Studio Bahrain. 

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