Healing Arts Blog - Transforming Wellness Beyond Imagination

Expressive Arts for Wellness

1/18/2019

By: Lolly Forsythe-Chisolm, Mind-Body Specialist
Email: lforsythe@som.umaryland.edu

Writing, journaling, doodling, and painting can all be restorative, healing practices. Expressive arts practices are great to work with after you have completed “Evaluating your life for what is really important” and “Organizing your life for Success.” Working with art projects is a great way to get what is swirling around in your head integrated into your heart. “The arts ground us in the senses in which images are seen, heard and touched simultaneously by the artist and witness.” 1 An expressive arts practice can help you process emotion, create meaning and purpose and connect with intuition and creativity.

Art Activity: Revelation word cards or circle

Art Doodle Kindness

2/12/2018

By Lolly Forsythe-Chisolm

There are many ways to be kind. Below are a variety of expressive arts activities using a love of doodling/art to create fun random acts of kindness.

Using expressive arts to offer random acts of kindness offers two major benefits. First, you are using a relaxing modality of self-care which you already enjoy and find calming. Second, studies have shown that when we express gratitude and kindness we benefit from the positive intention to connect socially. “The experience of gratitude and the actions stimulated by it build and strengthen social bonds and friendships.”(1) Art is a “win-win” as a random act of kindness!

Here are some suggestions:

Heartfelt Gratitude

11/21/2017

By Lolly Forsythe-Chisolm

In an article posted on DailyGood.org, Brother David Steindle-Rast speaks about Five Small Gestures of Gratitude to Counteract Violence:

Say one word today that will give a fearful person courage.
Make a firm resolution never to repeat stories and rumors that spread far.
Make contact with people whom you normally ignore.
Give someone an unexpected smile today.
Listen to the news today and put at least one item to the test of Common Sense.

Read the full article here.

October Leaves of Grace

10/23/2017

By Lolly Forsythe-Chisolm

The falling leaves of our beautiful autumn have inspired this expressive arts activity. In an article titled, Fall Meditation to Embody Openness and Self-Reflection, author Tris Thorp from the Chopra Center, encourages embracing change and letting go.

This expressive arts project is designed to encourage you to notice certain habits of thought which no longer serve your best interest, and to begin the valuable process of replacing the thought with a new word that suits your best interest. It is important to start this process with the realization that these thoughts were put into place in your mind at another time in your life – just like the tree lets go of the leaves as a process of growth and rebirth.

Hope Tree

9/6/2017

By Lolly Forsythe-Chisolm

In his article called “A Vision for the World,” Brother David Stiendl-Rast speaks about gratitude.

September is a time of great abundance in nature. Trees are full, offering shade in all shades of green turning into glorious colors of orange, yellow and red. In this expressive art project, we will use the symbol of a swirly tree full of leaves to express gratitude even in moments of great challenge and stress.

Gratitude is a word that gets tossed here and there. Brother Steindl-Rast explains that while we cannot have gratitude for everything, we can be grateful in every moment. I call these moments “Gratitude In” moments.

In this arts project we will create a tree on an old bulletin board and record our “gratitude in” moments on the leaves of the tree. Leaves on a tree absorb carbon dioxide from the exhalations of animals and humans. In this project, we will write out our gratitude moments, worries or prayers on leaves as a metaphor to be “absorbed” by the swirly tree.

Imperfectly Perfect - An Expressive Arts Project

7/7/2017

By Lolly Forsythe-Chisolm

“We experiment with visual means to express what we most want to communicate. We try things out and see what quickens our pulse, what fully engages us. Our exploration and self-awareness grow over time - through drawing, through our life journey, and through seeing what matters to us. What moves us.” The Confident Creative by Cat Bennett. (An amazing little book, a quick summer read for inspiration and big Questions.) By the way, Big Q questions are the ones that give you pause.

The idea for this expressive art project came from a failure. I was using spray inks to spray a flower stencil that I had made. The ink spread and blurred out from under the stencil and the colors blended in a drippy mess. Or so I thought. “Humph” I thought and I walked away… it dried and I thought “wait, what if…”

And I doodled and played with the mess:

And then I realized that “hope” can spread and seep into all parts of our lives and now I love this imperfectly perfect flower with its message of light.

Spirit ID Card

6/2/2017

By Lolly Forsythe-Chisolm

“Emotional agility is a process that allows you to be in the moment, changing or maintaining your behaviors to live in ways that align with your intentions and your values.” Susan David, "Emotional Agility," Harvard Business Review (2013)

We all have many forms of ID, badges and cards that let us in and out of life’s red tape. This activity will focus on creating an ID card for your spirit. In her article "Emotional Agility," Susan David wrote, “The mind’s thought stream flows endlessly and emotions change like the weather, but values can be called on at any time and in any situation.”

Intention Circle

4/10/2017

By Lolly Forsythe-Chisolm

This artistic project is designed to remind you of an intention that you hold dear. The activity works to connect you back to the big picture goals of your life. With the busyness and hustle bustle of life come challenges, and these challenges can throw us off kilter OR we can use expressive arts and challenge as a reminder to focus on values that are important in our lives.

Heart Centering Garland

3/7/2017

By Lolly Forsythe-Chisolm

This activity combines the idea of a Tibetan “prayer flag” and the idea of Guatemalan “worry dolls” (both pictured below). In the process, you paint, create or decorate paper hearts, write out worries, prayers, thoughts or words of focus and fold them prayer style over a string to create a hanging garland.

Tibetan Prayer Flag

Guatemalan Worry Dolls

Gratitude Heart Pass Along

2/13/2017

By Lolly Forsythe-Chisolm

Commercial Valentine's day can be rough. Expectations about "romantic love" can feel overwhelming or disappointing. This expressive arts project encourages you to take the best care of your own heart by showing gratitude/love to another's heart.

Be in the know

Sign up to get our monthly
e-newsletters and other information about our Center.

Support our programs

Learn how you can help us transform wellness today!

Learn with us

We have great classes for health professionals throughout the year.
Learn more here.

Healing Pathways: Self-Care for Healthcare Providers
April 11-May 20, 2018
Learn more here.

Yoga Teacher Training

Learn more here.

Applied Integrative Medicine
A Hands-On Training for Healthcare Practitioners
Learn more here.

Self-Healing Retreat for Cancer Patients
May 13-19, 2018
Learn more here.

From the University of Maryland, Baltimore Graduate School:

Join us as we participate in the 2018 International Congress on Integrative Medicine and Health
May 8-11, 2018
Baltimore, MD
Learn more here.

Categories

Archives

February 2018
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
July 2017
June 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016