How do I use art to heal?

Meet "Lizzie"

This week my spiritual advisor and I were talking about feelings. He asked me to tell him what image I would put to the feeling that I happened to be talking about right then. I told him about "Lizzie" who is a lizzard who climbs trees and is very fast and free! There is that part of my personality that is a climber! And when I am joyful this is how I feel! We each have many parts to our personalities. Some we like and others we'd just as soon not have!

The dragon is also a part of my personality. When she comes out I am so angry I breath fire! She was one of those parts of my personality that I had to make friends with! I tend to come up with animals to describe what I am feeling. When I need to protect myself my snail side comes out. I carry everything on my back and am quite slow at times to move on. It was a great way to discuss what has been happening to me. It is an important step in healing to be able to accept yourself and who you are. But sometimes we need something beyond words to help us grasp that which goes deeper than words.

Try this when you notice yourself being overwhelmed by a feeling, (it works especially well when you get stuck) place an image to it. First try moving. Swing your arms around, move your legs. (I like to walk a labyrinth when it's available) Sit down with crayons or color pastels with a piece of paper (8 x 10). Crayons or pastels work best because they are like those sticky emotions! Put your feet on the floor and close your eyes. Begin to breath deeply, taking 3 deep cleansing breaths in and out. On the third breath, make a noise as you exhale. Ask your spirit to give you an image or color that will represent this feeling. Try to find where in your body this feeling resides. And when you are ready open your eyes and begin to draw with your non-dominant hand (if right handed use your left). Even if you don't get an image see which color you are drawn to and just begin putting something on the page.

Let yourself draw until you are satisfied with it. Remember it doesn't have to be a Rembrandt. One of the things you won't be able to do is bring the part of you that is your critic to this process because you are using a different side of the brain than you are used to using. Did you get an image? Sometimes I get no more than scribbles on the page. How do you feel? Is there a difference? Look at your picture. What was the first color you put on the page? The colors correspond to different energy places on our bodies called chakras.

If you don't know why you are feeling a certain way this is a great way to help yourself map out your emotions. Red has to do with family of origin issues, safety and security. Orange has to do with our ability to accept our feelings and emotions. Yellow has to do with our peers, friends and enemies and our personal power. Green is where we hold our ability to open our heart, to give and receive love, and to release judgement. It is where we hold our life lessons and our abilty to teach others what we have learned (my favorite color!) Blue is where we hold our ability to speak up and to communicate our truth. To defend ourselves and others and to express what we are feeling and what we know. Purple is the place where we hold our ability to tune into messages from the body and it's energy. It provides us with knowing about ourselves, others, and what may happen. This is where we hold our creative energy. White is our spiritual center. The place we hold our ability to release and surrender to a higher power. Black is a place where something is still hidden from us (a place of no light). It will come into the light as we are more able to work through our emotions. And so Brown then is something coming into the light almost ready to take on a color.

Once you've had time to work with your cleansing image to see what you are working on, next pull together a form of art supply that you love to work with. I like acrylic paints for this part of the healing process. You could use water color, pencils, pastel chalks, clay, oils, material, collage, sculpture. (Make it bigger than an 8 x 10) This time you will create a healing image to replace what has been stuck in you. And this time as you create use whichever hand you want. Give yourself time to work on this creation as long as you need. You use the same proceedure (sit with your feet on the floor to begin, close your eyes, breath in 3 times and make a noise on the third time, ask your body and spirit for an image to heal this emotion. And then begin.

Put this creation in a place where you will see it every day for three weeks. And then display it where you will see it all the time. Looking at a healing image will help the cells of your body take in that healing! You will know when it is time. I am always amazed at the results and how beautiful each creation is. Honor what is given you because it is a gift from God (or your Higher Power!) When I have done this during a day retreat the diversity of images is breathtaking. I leave you with another of my own healing creations! Write to me with questions! They help!

               

As I was working with this artwork I followed my instincts. It needed to be 3 dimensional. You are free to use whatever you are drawn to. It could be quite surprising!