6 Art Therapy Exercises For Adults
We live constantly connected and hardly ever rest. We have become addicted to our phone, social networks and we spend hours in front of the computer or tablet. Performing tasks that don’t include a screen, even though we have almost no time to do so, can be genuinely relaxing and a great opportunity to disconnect. Art therapy exercises for adults can be one of our greatest allies.
These constitute a means or a tool to express our creativity. Moreover, they represent a very good way to take care of our mental health. Among their multiple advantages is the fact that they can be used with children, adolescents and elderly characters.
We are now going to explain six very simple art therapy exercises for adults.
Coloring
Finding ourselves in front of a blank sheet of paper can be quite complicated. At first it can even be stressful if our creative side is asleep. We may not have any ideas and it ends up frustrating us. A coloring book can therefore be ideal for organizing our ideas and no longer being blocked. It can help us free ourselves from anxiety and spark our creativity. While making us travel beyond our daily thoughts.
Coloring gives adults the opportunity to immerse themselves in their childhood. This activity allows you to play with the lines and stimulate the senses by recalling previous stages in life. This is a way of taking a leap in time and putting our problems into perspective.
Drawing does not make problems go away, but helps us relieve the stress they cause. What is more, this activity comforts us and frees the mind from the demands of everyday life.
Draw in the open air and in nature
We all have a creative side. However, it is sometimes difficult for us to find the time and the space necessary to express it. To overcome this inertia, we need to exercise our willpower and be helped by stimuli.
Drawing in the open air can give us that little opportunity for calm. It allows us to be in contact with nature, to breathe deeply, to fill our lungs with pure air and to free ourselves through drawing. We can choose between drawing a memory, a picture or something that is in front of us and that we want to write on a sheet of paper. Everything is possible.
It is one of the exercises that brings us the most benefits. With the arrival of sunny days, we can do it in a park, in the countryside, in the mountains or at the beach. The main thing is to let ourselves be carried away by this moment and by the sensations of freedom and creativity.
Write a poem
If you prefer writing to drawing or coloring, you can let your imagination fly by writing a poem. Take a sheet of paper, a pen and write your feelings, thoughts, emotions, desires or dreams on it. Let them get out of your head. If these are positive feelings, they will make you smile. If they are more negative, this exercise will set you free.
A variation is to create verses from words taken from newspapers and magazines. Write them down on small pieces of paper, place them in a box and draw one at random. The words will therefore be imposed on you but your creativity will end up giving life to a poem. It can be fun, right?
Creation with our name
In the office, at school, or while talking on the phone, you’ve probably already done the following: writing your name on a piece of paper to pass the time. Sometimes it helped you get away from it all or focus on explaining the professor (or whoever was on the phone). Thanks to its harmony with our dynamics, this exercise is one of the most interesting within art therapy.
Write your name on a piece of paper and start creating something new. Let your imagination be free. Use different colors or shapes, add details, create shadows… Try to express what you have inside. Sometimes what we have a hard time getting out can end up making us proud of ourselves.
Draw on our skin
There are special paints designed to be applied to the skin. So if you’ve never thought about it and suddenly feel like it, don’t be shy! If you could tattoo something on your own for a few hours, what would you do? This type of realistic ink allows you to connect with your inner being which is reflected on the outside.
In addition to promoting concentration and creativity, it helps you put things into perspective. Remember that the storms we go through always end up healing, just like this painting which will soon disappear. It is a time of connection, self-acceptance and harmony with your inner “self” that will help you in your personal growth.
Draw in the sand
When we were kids we loved having fun in the sand. We would take a bucket, fill it and build a castle or a house… Now that we are adults, the sand can also turn into a toy. He invites us to develop our imagination, to feel what surrounds us and to remember these little moments of our childhood.
Just like in a Zen garden, you can choose to draw a lot of things. Drawing will allow us to bring out what is inside of us. And will create a kind of magnifying glass to analyze these actions that we do automatically every day. It will also be a very good tool to avoid the internal censorship to which we are often subjected.
These art therapy exercises are a form of free expression to channel our emotions, strengthen our skills and develop our creativity. Thanks to them, we learn to express our desires, our joys and our fears through the various techniques presented. By doing this, we connect to our inner world.
Our thoughts social and context is as important a part of us as the skin can be. Following this line, today there are different types of …
