Art therapy can help you gain a deeper understanding of yourself. The creative process uses metaphor, symbolism and dynamic thoughts to release emotions and represent the experiences you are going through. Therefore, allowing you to heal through abstract emotional expression.
Painting is a way of creating the space you need away from the anxious thoughts, feelings and physical symptoms that occur alongside. Changing your focus away from the uncontrollable cascade of emotions helps you to quieten your mind and release all of that energy onto paper. This reduces stress and anxiety as your mind relaxes, enabling emotional growth and deeper understanding of yourself.
When I am anxious I find it so hard to stop ruminating, overthinking and over-analysing everything. When I am painting, however, I am so focused on the task, the paper, the brush and paints, the bigger picture, that I do not have the space in my mind to entertain these anxious thoughts. I allow myself to go with the flow, immerse myself into the painting, allow it to take over. Like I am meditating.
I find this helps me to get to the root of the anxiety, allowing myself to be mindful of these thoughts and recognise them enables me to begin to heal them. Once you are able to recognise the emotions and physical symptoms of anxiety it will get easier to deal with it as it appears.
Find your own style of painting, I paint flowers because I am learning Botanical illustration. However, I recently stepped well out of my comfort zone and created something completely different. Challenging myself was so healing, allowing me to play with paints and different colours, creating something from my mind that I am truly proud of. I feel a sense of achievement when I look at it. Feeling proud of yourself during anxious times is so healing as it helps you to see the good in you, and have gratitude for them.
Try painting still life, a landscape, abstract, copy a YouTube tutorial, or just paint freestyle. Remember you cannot make a mistake, don’t get caught in “perfection” it is an illusion!! We are not here to judge our paintings, if they are good or bad, we are here to use painting as a tool for healing. So be kind to yourself.