Hello friends, today I'll show you how to make art when you feel angry or mad. This
exercise will help you feel more grounded and calm by releasing tension,
processing the source of anger, and getting in touch with your body. To make
ourselves most comfortable and cozy we can set up the space and atmosphere to
allow us to relax and focus. You can make some tea or get some candles.
Before the art let's invite mindfulness and become aware of our physical body.
Gently place your attention on your breathing breathing in and breathing out.
Notice what sensations you are having as you are breathing in and out. Notice what
it feels like to feel angry or mad. And before the art make sure to invite some
intention. When we do this exercise we want to practice non-judgement and
acceptance; there's no right or wrong way to make art - simply focus on expressing
yourself.
The materials you need are air dry clay
and optionally you can also include clay modeling tools.
Use the clay to make an angry object or an angry animal. Be creative with this
and use your intuition to see what object can represent anger or what animal can
represent anger.
When we work with clay it is a kinesthetic experience - we use our hands
and fingers and our arms and this experience releases tension in our body.
It stimulates some energy inside of us and through moving around and through
pushing the clay, through rolling the clay, and molding it we are discharging
any kind of tension and energy that we have inside of our body.
Since clay is a resistive material and not fluid like paint or watercolor paint
it takes our energy and we become more invested in it because it's more 3-D and
in a way, more alive to us. Working with clay can be a very intensive experience
and some people do not like clay and in this case it's mostly because how it
feels in our hands and it can feel very messy. So it might not be fit for
everyone but clay can be such a powerful medium to work with because it allows us
to express ourselves in three-dimensional form and we become
more invested in and it allows us to be more intuitive in the process.
When you are finished with your project, the second part is to express what this
angry object or angry animal is trying to protect. Use your imagination to see
if you can guess what this animal or object is afraid of and is trying to
protect. (And create that)
When we become angry or mad there's a lot of energy within our body and to me,
I think anger is a signal that we have to take some kind of action and this
kind of innate storage of energy needs to somehow come out of us and clay is a
wonderful medium to do that.
When you are finished with your clay work it is time for some reflective
writing. Bring a journal and a pen or pencil. Write down the answers for these
questions. First question is: what is it like to work with this clay? what did you
like or not like about it? Just write down your experience. Second question is:
what comes to mind when you look at the two pieces you created? Are there any
similarities you see, are there differences? Just write down whatever
comes to your mind as you look at the pieces.
Thanks for following along with this self art therapy practice - we all benefit
when you feel more calm and at peace within yourself. If you enjoyed this
please like this video, subscribe to the channel, and I'll see you next time. Bye :)