January, otherwise known as Self-Care Awareness month, is coming to a close, and according to all those New Year’s resolutions and wellness posts at the beginning of the year, we should all be experts on what it means to care for ourselves. However, during this current and tumultuous cultural climate, it is all too easy to disregard self-care, whether due to your ever-growing to-do list, the other people in your life whose needs have taken precedence, or you simply cannot bring yourself to commit to do anything that requires further energy or attention. And, although it is completely normal to feel this level of overwhelm and exhaustion, this is precisely why self-care is now more important than ever.
Why is it so difficult to make time for self-care? There are a handful of reasons why we find it so challenging to care for ourselves, but one of the biggest reasons seems to be: misperception. We think: to engage in self-care, it must entail some long or elaborate activity. For example, going to the gym for an hour-long HITT session or spending all day cooking and meal-prepping in the kitchen...this all seems time consuming and exhausting. These types of activities require planning, time, energy, and other resources that often make it difficult to organize and prepare. Rather than hoping to find time and energy to plan and engage in self-care, why not pluck out a quarter of that time to simply reset your mindset? If you give yourself ten minutes of rest with a mindful activity, you can uplift your mood, reduce stress, and replenish your energy.
One activity that requires a minimal amount of time and resources (plus, all you need is a pen or pencil and piece of paper) is art-making. Engaging in art-making can be used as a therapeutic self-care activity. It can reduce anxiety and stress because it promotes the flow of creativity and increases your imagination, which can reframe negative thoughts and emotions.
Here are some art-making options that might interest you:
Coloring books
Zen doodles (or doodling, in general)
Origami
Embroidery, Knitting or Crocheting
Drawing
Watercolor
Collage-making
If you give yourself permission to relax and enjoy the present moment, you might find it beneficial in keeping your day on track and feeling more accomplished. Overthinking, planning and organizing every task in your day is daunting and limits your capabilities. Take ten minutes out of your day, play your favorite song and simply exercise your hands, mind and imagination because those ten minutes might save you from your tipping point.
However, if you find yourself struggling with more than just a mental reset, please contact us at The Art Therapy Project for professional art therapy services. We work with licensed art therapists who specialize in mental health care and can offer you a great support system. Learn more here: www.thearttherapyproject.org.
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To start you off, here is one art making activity you can try at home. This activity is meant to provide you some self-care by facilitating the replenishment and resetting of your mind, body and spirit.
Self-Care Garden
Materials:
Drawing materials – markers, color pencils, crayons, even just a ballpoint pen
Any available paper
When you think about a garden, what do you imagine? Is it a flower garden or a vegetable garden? Is it a small garden in that back of your home or a vast garden growing wild and free? There are many different types of gardens with various purposes, but what they all have in common is the need for time and care. What else do you think gardens need to survive and thrive?
Working in metaphor, imagine that the paper in front of you represents you (mind, body, and soul) as a garden. Think about what things (activities, people, places, words, sounds, food, textures, images, smells) that nurture you -- replenish your energy, support your growth, invoke your senses, and provide comfort.
Using your drawing materials and imagination, create an image of your garden, including all of the things that cultivate you as your garden. By taking this time to draw your garden, you are not only nurturing yourself with art-making, but you are also creating a visual reminder of what you as a whole being need to survive and thrive.
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This article was written by School of Visual Arts Art Therapy graduate student and a student worker at The Art Therapy Project, Simi Shukla.