{"id":2608,"date":"2015-01-20T15:37:22","date_gmt":"2015-01-20T15:37:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/foxboroarttherapy.com\/?p=2608"},"modified":"2016-07-02T09:29:13","modified_gmt":"2016-07-02T09:29:13","slug":"what-is-creative-self-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mindfulartstudio.com\/what-is-creative-self-care\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Creative Self-Care?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Creative self-care is not just about regular exercise, eating right, and making time to relax.<\/div>\n
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Creative self-care is\u00a0about feeding your soul.<\/div>\n
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It’s making sure that you have something to be excited about when you get up in the morning. For me, that’s family, art, and running. For you it might be something else. Or, perhaps you aren’t even sure what gets you going anymore.<\/div>\n
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If you are feeling, low, anxious, or generally “blah,” passion is an excellent way to combat\u00a0these feelings.\u00a0Taking risks and facing your fears shows anxiety and depression\u00a0what you are made of.<\/div>\n
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This is\u00a0what we are going to be all about in this year\u00a0at Mindful Art Studio:<\/div>\n
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Take chances. Fail. Get creative. Get rejected. Meet someone new. Try a new sport or class. Pick up your paintbrushes. Take a dance class. Most of all, GET OUT OF YOUR OWN WAY. (Can someone remind me of that\u00a0later?) If you like this idea, check out how to Use Art to Relax<\/a>, Simple Drawing Techniques for Anxiety<\/a>, and my podcast on How Even Non-Artists Can Use Art Journaling to Relieve Stress<\/a>.<\/div>\n
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Getting Fear Out of the Way<\/h3>\n
This weekend I heard a\u00a0great story about a man\u00a0who was so afraid of being rejected that he rarely\u00a0left his\u00a0house and the company of his four cats. To conquer\u00a0his fear, he decided to actively seek out rejection every day. He did this successfully, because he’d made it a game, every time he got rejected, he actually felt good.<\/div>\n
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The most amazing part of his “rejection therapy” was that he discovered that there were\u00a0far more people willing to accept him and his random requests than he thought. The world is full of far more yeses, than no’s. Click here<\/a> to hear the whole story on NPR.<\/div>\n
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This year I will be talking a lot more about the intersections between fear, creativity,\u00a0and mental health. We’ll also be engaging in some fun, silly, creative challenges. I’m hoping you’ll see that you, and we, are stronger than you thought.<\/div>\n
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Let go of your expectations, your attachment to the outcomes, and join me in making space for a spark in your day.\u00a0\u00a0I am beyond excited to hear what you report back.<\/div>\n
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Will you join me?<\/div>\n
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Creativity Challenge #1: Paint with Your Non-Dominant Hand<\/h4>\n
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This one’s pretty self-explanatory. Just pick up the brush with the “wrong” hand and see what comes out. This exercise is about getting out of your own way.\u00a0You don’t need to be an “artist” or “creative” to do the creativity challenges.<\/p>\n

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Think you have “no artistic talent?” Good. Paint something really ugly. That’s stretching your comfort zone, taking a chance, and facing a small fear to say, “In your face!”<\/p>\n

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To help get you started, you might try some of the following tricks:<\/p>\n

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1. Hold the brush like you are pointing at something, not like a pencil.<\/div>\n
2. Embrace the wobbliness, and “mistakes,” they are exactly what you\u00a0want.<\/div>\n
3. Turn on some music to help you relax.<\/div>\n
4. Do more than one painting to give yourself a chance to get into it. If you tend to do quick pieces with just a few strokes, do some more complex\u00a0ones, or vice versa.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

For More Inspiration:<\/p>\n