Mindfulness.

Everyone has heard the word ‘mindfulness’ thrown around. Especially in the early 2000’s.

‘Mindful’ means literally ‘full of the mind’. Mindfulness in an art therapy context means

focusing so hard on something that your thoughts are completely taken up by it. Some of your thoughts are completely blocked out! Without effort! Simply because you are so

focused on the thing in front of you.

This can be a wonderful tool for an art therapist to use in a session, especially when someone is coiled like a spring and ready to blow. Their mind is racing with thoughts, and therefore emotions (remember, thoughts create emotions) and therefore their body is getting ready to enact something - whatever the emotion is asking for. Their body might be getting ready to enact, but their ‘Socially Appropriate Override Button’ has another plan (one can't simply go around punching people in the head now, can one?), and all that energy, all that readiness... it just sits there.

And it feels HIDEOUS! Physically gross.

Which causes more thoughts … which creates more emotions … which gets the body ready for more action … which doesn’t come about because said action was not socially acceptable in this context … you get it.

A mindfulness activity can disengage someone's thoughts with just enough time to relax the body and feel better enough to engage in whatever task the therapist has in mind.

But you can use mindfulness activities at home, purely for your own basic wellbeing – no

crisis required!

In fact, you probably accidentally do this from time to time. Well! Now you

can step into that space deliberately and without guilt (hooRAY! Sound the trumpets!)

We’ll call it basic health. No one should feel guilty about basic health (a word from our

sponsor: if you are still feeling guilty about basic health, there is a course for that. Kidding guys! I don’t have a sponsor – that was just me! But I do have a course for that ...).

If you LOVE cooking and can do it standing on your head, underwater – this is not the

activity you will use for mindfulness. If you can crochet the pants of other people

(metaphorically speaking, please), this is not the activity you will use for mindfulness. If you can play Beethoven’s 5th with no sheet music because Gran made you do that every time Aunty Dulcie came for a cuppa, and now you are 46 years old and Aunty Dulcie has been in the grave for some time, but you’re still pulling out Beethoven’s 5th for every party? This is not the mindfulness activity for you.

A mindfulness activity is something you must concentrate on. Something that makes you

say, “Shhh for a second”, to your best mate.

So, for me, cooking would not be a mindfulness activity because I do not care about food or flavour (I know! All the foodies start throwing tomatoes at me – but hey! I’m just being honest here). For focus to be easy, you have to care.

Crotchet would be a mindfulness activity because I can’t do it very well (focus), but I really want to (care).

Playing the piano might be a mindfulness activity for me if I were learning a piece I’ve always wanted to play. Sketching something, for me, is a mindfulness activity. I do this one all the time, but I’m sketching different things; therefore, it requires new concentration every time.

So! Your turn.

Go back to the ‘creative reflections newsletter’, and you will find the instructions for the activity. Give it a go and notice yourself afterwards.

Notice, notice, notice.