The practice of mindfulness has been gaining popularity in the West over the last decade. So what's it all about?
Mindfulness means keeping your awareness in the present moment, and simply noticing what's going on in your mind and in your body without trying to change it or act on it. While it sounds easier than it is, practicing mindfulness has huge benefits for our mental health.
Science is catching up to prove what Buddhists have known for millennia - mindfulness practices have been shown to reduce symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression in some studies.
There are many ways to practice mindfulness, e.g. through meditation, by focusing on your breath, taking a walk in nature, etc.
Of course, our version will be a bit more colourful.
The Activity : Practice mindfulness while drawing bubbles
All you need is a pen and paper, but feel free to add as much colour to this exercise as you want.
Step 1 - Start drawing bubbles
Before you start, close your eyes and take a deep breath. Then start filling your page with circles of different sizes (and colours). You can start in one corner and work your way across, or start with the big bubbles and then fill in the gaps with smaller and smaller circles. Or just go with how you feel. What's important is to fill the entire page with bubbles.
Step 2 - Be mindful
That's it.
No, I'm just kidding. While you're drawing, try and notice what your mind is doing. What are you thinking about? Which emotions are coming up? Notice the thoughts like you're an outsider listening to a podcast.
Also check in on your body. How is it feeling? Is your stomach rumbling? Are your shoulders tight? Are you feeling any discomfort anywhere?
If you find your mind wandering, simply notice where it has gone and bring your attention back to the bubbles.
Keep going until you've filled the entire piece paper.
The more often you practice mindfulness, the easier it will become to keep your awareness in the moment. So feel free to repeat this exercise as often as you want, maybe switching you triangles or squares.
My Example
What I started drawing, I immediately noticed what Steven Pressfield calls “The Resistance” in his brilliant book the War of Art. It showed up first as impatience, my mind going “Ugh, this is going to take forever. Let's get this done with quickly, so we can write the newsletter, and then do this and then do that and then…”, that voice is my inner productivity addict. Let's call her Susan. Susan wants to get as much done in a day as possible, and she keeps pushing me to hustle things along. Don't get me wrong, I like Susan, her energy is what's making this newsletter happen every week. But it wasn't the right time for her, so I kindly asked her to let me draw my bubbles in peace.
Then came another avatar of the Resistance, my inner critic - Samantha. Samantha starting judging what I was producing. “Not so many purple bubbles. Oh, there's too much yellow. Look there's a gap there.” I reminded her that we're not trying to get this piece into an art gallery, and she kindly shut up.
Eventually, I got into the Flow, focusing on the rhythm of the sound that my pens made on the paper. My mind drifted every now and then, but I managed to bring it back to the bubbles relatively quickly.
I also noticed many times that I was keeping my shoulders high and tight, and focused on relaxing them. There, I just did it again while typing this sentence.
I hope you enjoyed this mindfulness practice. I'll also be diving a bit deeper into the subject on the next podcast episode, so stay tuned…
Love, Lorena
Next Online Workshop
Our first online “Painting for Stress Relief” workshop in January was amazing. We had a small but fantastic group of people, and we talked about stress, art, Jackson Pollock, Bob Ross, and much more while painting with oil pastels, paint brushes and finger paints.
Spaces are limited to keep that comfortable small and save group size. Reserve your spot here:
You can join completely for free or you can choose to buy me a tea and some sweets via a donation. I hope to see you there!