Can't wait for another art&healing session.  Last class was a three hour workshop focused on dealing with stress. We met at the charming Bird Rock Art Gallery and Studio in La Jolla.  It's a perfect location for these smaller, more intimate workshops. 

Each participant is introduced to the benefits of expressive art. During our class time participants have an opportunity to respond to a series of reflective questions.  

Each person has their individual style of communicating their personal stories.  I'm always impressed with the level of honesty and insights.  It's powerful to see them working through the process!  Each one is so unique. Such an amazing group of women. We had so much fun and they did a fantastic job! 

Although they are all guided through exactly the same expressive process- their work looks completely different! No painting are EVER the same. It's FASCINATING.  

Perfectly, perfect!

"Willing to Take Risks?"

In an art&healing session participants are encouraged to express their feelings through the use of colors and abstract strokes. It is a unique and fascinating "step-by-step" processes that can be very enlightening!  This pictures was the result of a student reflecting on how they felt when asked to step out of their comfort zone. The idea of trying something new (unfamiliar) causes some people to feel uncomfortable and vulnerable at first. The goal is to help them feel safe enough, valued enough, to begin processing some of those feelings.    

What would you try, if you knew you didn't have to do it PERFECTLY?  Would you sign up for a  painting class, learn to Tango, sing with a choir, ride a motorcycle? 

In order to do something well, we must FIRST be willing to do it poorly.  We have to be willing to jump in and give it a try.... knowing that we will most likely make many mistakes at first!  If we are not willing to TAKE RISKS then we must settle for staking our boundaries carefully around a much smaller and safer perimeter.  Although safe, and predictable, such an existence can also become stifling, stale, uninspiring....or worse,  boring! 

"Once we are willing to accept that anything worth doing..... might even be worth doing badly...our options widen" Julia Cameron's book,  The  Complete Artist's Way. 

Control and Manipulation

Control and manipulation are sub-conscious defense mechanisms.  Sometimes these protective characteristics show themselves in subtle, less obvious ways. The challenge for any of us is trying to understand why and what are the underlying causes behind the need to defend, or protect ourselves.  

In art&healing sessions participants are invited to explore how they respond to situations that they can not easily control.  It’s not easy to control a Q-tips or small sponge loaded with paint,  they’re not precise instruments! It can be a messy process. Our hand can go one direction while the paint goes the other, the end results is not what we planned. This can be a very uncomfortable experience for some and down right aggravating for others at first.  

Although uncomfortable, these feelings can be the keys  towards understanding what cause us to become stressed, anxious, or push us out of our protective comfort zones. This is why it’s so important to continually reminded those in my classes, that the “goal” of an expressive art sessions is not about having a perfect “end result”... but learning to see value the “process”.  

• How did they feel after completing each step of the process?  

• Were they willing to relinquish control? 

• Did they get stressed, angry, frustrated, or just quit when things didn’t go our way?  

• Did working through the process give them a new sense of freedom?

• Was it relaxing and enjoyable? 

• Did they gain any new insights? 

My job as facilitator is NOT to analyze anyone! This is their private process.  My job is to create a safe environment for them to explore some of these feelings. 

Permission to Pause!

"Remember to PAUSE 
or the good things in life will never catch up with you!"

That is a great quote, especially since people are busy, busy, busy! Friday evening a small group of us gave ourselves permission to PAUSE.....after a long and hectic week! I love  facilitating art&healing workshops at the Bird Rock Art Gallery/Studio...especially when working with such an amazing group of women!