Learning to Cope with Stress and Heal with
Mindfulness Based Art Therapy
Growing up emotions were not something freely talked about at the dinner table. I learned from a young age to suppress my emotions which later in life turned into anxiety and depression. However, also at a young age I learned that I could express my emotions through the creation of Art, and no one could tell me I couldn’t. There was something incredible about having a thought or feeling and then being able to create something from it.
Little did I know that this was the beginning of my journey with Mindfulness Based Art Therapy (MBAT). As life went along, I continued to suffer from anxiety, depression, and eventually trauma, addiction, compounded grief, and more. I started a generalized meditation/yoga practice which I found to be extremely beneficial towards calming my inner thoughts, becoming more connected with myself, slowing down to reduce stress and enjoy life.
However, after some drastic health issues in 2018 that limited my mobility and artistic ability I was devastated. I didn’t have the strength for the Yoga I enjoyed. I couldn’t even write my name, much less create anything beautiful, I thought. I started researching, once able, non-stop on ways to help myself, I couldn’t imagine not having Art as an outlet anymore. I came across Zen Mindfulness, and its enormous amount of health benefits. I thought “wow” “I could combine this with abstract art”. Thinking I was clever and had come up with a completely unique idea of incorporating Art with Mindfulness. However, I researched this too, realizing that Mindfulness Based Art Therapy (MABT) has been studied for years, if not centuries, and I began cultivating a practice.
Cultivating A Practice
Sharing a bit of my own journey with MBAT, it is my hope that you will see how you too could benefit from this in your life. Starting my practice of MBAT consisted of a lovingkindness meditation 5 min a day, attempting a doodle or abstract Art 5 minutes a day, and intentional mindful movement while listening to music. During these activities I would completely tune everything else out, center myself with breath, become grounded in the moment, and focus on what feelings were coming up.
Using these new ways of expression was invaluable for me, I was able to escape the 4 walls of that hospital room, and just be. I was going through one of the hardest most defeating times in my life and MBAT helped me develop ways to deal with stress, depression, trauma, and even helped me regain and re-develop my Artistic abilities. I went from feeling completely defeated to feeling empowered. It was easy to start with just a few minutes a day, anyone of any ability can do it (when I started, I couldn’t walk, talk, or barely hold a pencil), and it was/is completely free. Years later after having another major medical event in 2023, I have been able to draw from this experience giving myself hope to continue forging forward towards healing.
Studies show that “Applications of mindfulness and meditation are demonstrating their effectiveness with stress reduction, self-regulation, trauma recovery, and overall quality of life. Likewise, the expressive arts therapies are increasingly embraced as methods of transformation that enhance health and well-being” (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, et al., 2013). With stress-relief comes many things, a calmer mind, biological changes, improved mood, improved outlook on life, and an overall sense of well-being. It is being studied and proven that utilizing mindfulness with the arts can heal on a very deep level.
Mindfulness and the Arts
The excitement around mindfulness-based art therapy is because it is much more than just sitting still breathing in and out, and while breath and meditation is an important factor, mindfulness practice goes deeper than just meditation. When you combine Mindfulness and the Arts there is a flow state that happens with this type of expression. It's not only Art as you may think. You may be envisioning a person meditating with a sketch pad and a pencil, or someone doing Yoga at an isle with a paint brush. But it is so much more, mindfulness and the Arts is anything that is creative and expressive. It can be music, writing, speaking, movement, dancing, creating art, and so much more.
The purpose is expression, connection, being in the present moments, and healing. You start with the present moment, you incorporate being mindful (to be in the present moment without judgement), and combine expression to help connect your mind, body, and feelings. This offers variety in developing a deeper connection with self, building self-awareness. Self-awareness is where it starts “Attention to the body, will be aligned with mindfulness— a gentle awareness to one’s own physical, emotional and/or cognitive experience and a first step toward self-awareness in the present moment” (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, et al., 2013). The more you practice the deeper your connection to self will become and in turn the more connected you will feel within the present moment. This allows for reduced stress, a way to find healing, and a way to learn how to process extremely difficult situations and emotions.
Health Benefits of Mindfulness Based Art Therapy
MBAT has been scientifically studied for many years and offers an enormous amount of health benefits. Some of these benefits include positive changes in the brain and changes within the brain and body connection promoting resiliency and improved health and well-being. Resiliency, the definition of resilience is “the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties.” (Oxford University Press, n.d.)
Imagine being able to take a few minutes a day practicing MBAT and building your capacity to withstand and recover quickly from difficulties! Through my own MBAT practice in 2018 my brain and body connection became stronger over time, I was able to be patient with myself, and by doing so and practicing mindfully, branching out into other forms of arts, practicing non-judgement the transformation was astounding. I truly believe that this practice allowed my brain and body to heal more fully connected than it would have if I had not started my MBAT practice. I had both doctors and nurses say they could not believe how quickly I was recovering, they thought it would take years for me to do things I was doing in months. I believe my recovery reflected my mindset due to cultivating a practice.
Research on Mindfulness and the Brain
In the book Mindfulness and the Arts Therapies: Theory and Practice they outline an in-depth 28-year study about this, and one conclusion was “Siegel has researched the relationship between mindfulness and integration of the brain, and the role of secure relational attunement for providing the groundwork for health and resiliency in life. If attunement produces integration in the brain, the interpersonal attunement and intrapersonal attunement will reinforce each other and produce greater neural integration. These can be the neural dimensions linking the ways in which mindful awareness promotes both relational and internal well-being in the promotion of integration.” (Siegel, 2007)
This research suggests that when a person practices mindfulness, both within themselves and in relationships with others, it can lead to greater neural integration in the brain. This could involve forming new connections, strengthening existing connections, or building new neural pathways that contribute to overall well-being and resilience. The idea is that by being mindful and attuned to oneself and others, you can promote both relational and internal well-being, leading to greater neural integration.
One personal example of what this means is that through a dedicated MBAT practice, neural integration “opening up communication pathways in the brain that may have been blocked by stress” (Siegel, 2007) over time built new pathways improving my stress response. Strengthening these pathways by utilizing intentional MBAT also allowed for improvement in my relationship and awareness with self, as well as my relationships with others. I am able to start moving myself out of survival instincts of flight, fight, or freeze, take a step back, and observe, and respond. This capability has proven helpful in many stressful and overwhelming situations, my ability to overcome those situations, and even begin to heal from them.
Cultivating a practice of Mindfulness and Art in 2018 helped build my self-awareness and allowed me to begin healing from things I never thought I would. I was in a place of complete defeat, despair, and depression. MBAT turned that dark place into a place of solace, expressive flow, and lovingkindness.
Starting a Practice
Starting a practice of mindfulness in combination with the Arts is a way to help reduce stress and there are many ways to utilize Mindfulness with Art. Having such a variety allows for any individual of any ability to find something they are comfortable with, when beginning a practice. The health benefits of a Mindfulness and Art based practice can improve a person's overall well-being and even cause positive changes in the brain. If you are suffering from stress, anxiety, frustration, overwhelm, reactivity, or any array of negative thoughts and feelings, MBAT is scientifically proven to be helpful.
If you have thought to yourself, you’d like to be more present or less stressed MBAT may be right for you. If you have ever thought I can’t calm my mind for meditation, I don’t like meditation, or it’s too difficult to sit still and be in the present moment but the way you are coping isn’t working, and you’d like to be less stressed MBAT may be right for you. If you have ever thought I can’t draw but I love music or love to dance MBAT may be beneficial for you.
Finding a mindful way of expressive flow, that is based on activities you enjoy, can and will help anyone of any ability, and of any mindset. It starts with the breath and can end up with inner peace, improved self-awareness, improved self-image, and even improved relationships. MBAT includes such a variety of activities that even the busiest mind can become self-aware, non-judgmental, and expressive of their feelings, allowing room for coping mechanisms in the Arts that will bring feelings of inner-peace and reduced stress.
We wish you well on your journey towards healing and inner peace with Mindfulness Based Art Therapy. Please find below free PDF Downloads to help you begin your journey today, re-start your journey if you've been out of practice, or introduce new things to your journey if you've already started cultivating a practice. No matter where you are on your journey towards healing, no matter of what ability, you can find inner peace. You are deserving and you are allowed to choose peace.
References
Mindfulness and the Arts Therapies: Theory and Practice, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/coloradotecho/detail.action?docID=1511101
Oxford University Press. (n.d.). Resilience. In Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. Retrieved August 30, 2024, from https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/resilience
Free PDF Download: This is a Step by Step Activity that goes through an Intentional Movement Meditation Exercise for drawing a Mandala. It also goes into detail on why/how this exercise is helpful towards reducing stress and promoting an overall sense of well-being.
Free PDF Download: This is a Free Coloring Page of a depiction of a person painting a Mandala on a Canvas. It can be used along with the Intentional Movement Meditation if you would like some guidance on what to draw/color.
Please note that the artist AKay has done extensive research to be able to provide these items to you, and created these items in lovingkindness with the intention of helping you on your journey, and to be brought to you for free. They may not be re-sold however you may print and use them as many times as you'd like.
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