art as a healing pathway
Life is creative. Almost everything we do is part of the creative
flow of life: whether we are getting dressed, decorating our homes,
writing a paper, or planting a garden. Understanding how we use our creative
energy is important for developing healthy living skills.
Creating art is an important activity for all people to maintain mental and physical health. It is an outlet for self-expression, relaxation, and healing. Art in all forms -- visual, musical, written -- can take us deeper into what we think & feel, empower us, help us solve problems and communicate with others.
Adversity can be a great teacher.
Our world is so fast paced & full of external stimuli that it is
easy to lose sight of our internal awareness. Many times, it takes a
problem or crisis to motivate us to look inside and make changes. Hopefully
we discover tools such as meditation, yoga, healing art, and exercise to
help manage our problems and provide much-needed recovery time. We can also
use these skills as a way to avoid future crisis and deal productively with
life's obstacles as they come.
Creative Wisdoms is about developing skills – through relaxation, personal awareness, art and nature -- to carry with you throughout a lifetime, such as:
the ability to process emotion & grief
managing stress & learning relaxation skills
developing communication skills
developing self-awareness &
self-esteem
Creative Wisdoms programs benefit anyone open to exploring their creative interests, learning about themselves, suffering from stress, or seeking personal growth. This includes a wide range of people and organizations, from schoolchildren in need of coping skills to employers looking for staff development programs.
Some other areas in which healing art may be useful include:
Healing Art is any art created by a person or group with the intention to heal self or others on some level: physical, psychological, emotional, mental or spiritual.
When used for the purpose of healing, art is a powerful tool for learning about ourselves, expressing our emotions, and communicating our ideas. Healing art communicates in symbols and metaphors, invokes intuition and nonverbal awareness.
In healing art, the process is often more important than the product.
The artmaking process can be as informative & healing as the finished
artwork itself. Healing art is about more than making a painting or building
a sculpture. In fact, we can draw a stick figure or make no distinguishing
images at all, and still find guidance and healing. It is our intention and
willingness to explore our deeper emotions that are most important.
Healing art is not a new idea.
Many people and cultures have used art to heal. There are African
adinkra (grief) cloths, Buddhist mandalas, Navajo sand paintings, Native
American medicine wheels, Eskimo masks, Tibetan prayer flags, and the list goes on. Today,
more individuals and groups are using unique and personal forms of art to
heal and grow.