Creative arts for healing can help us to integrate our body, heart, and mind to support our physical and mental health. We spend a great deal of time avoiding our experience because we judge it as too difficult or overwhelming to manage. When we engage with creative arts, we engage our body, heart, and mind to express what is arising interiorly.
When we practice creative arts, we are remaining present to that which wants to be heard and known from the depths of our inner landscape. In allowing this expression, we honor ourselves and our needs, and we begin to heal the disconnection between our body, heart, and mind.
Art is an act of standing by ourselves, of allowing our authentic voice and stories to emerge, and giving voice to our stories. Engaging in art and creativity activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which activates physical, mental, and emotional healing.
Creative arts therapy has been shown to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. It can help us to process loss and difficult times and make meaning from our lives in ways that support our healing. Creativity can help us to develop new insights that may not be accessible through words alone.
Make a date to honor your needs this week by engaging in some form of creative expression—writing, drawing, painting, sculpting, making music, or whatever form of creative expression feels right to you.
Jen Johnson is a meditation teacher and therapist, photographer, and writer teaching meditation for healing and creativity. Learn more about working with Jen.