art, walking meditation and more art
10 Minutes a Day Project
We are here to do some mindfulness.
I integrate mindfulness with art. Obviously, I am not the only one doing this, and I hope to keep learning and growing from the many who have come before me using art as mindfulness alongside healing!
Reach out if you want to be in conversation about these intersections of healing and art. I can be reached at:
Bridget Bertrand (any pronouns with love)
LMFT83020
https://authentic-alliance.clientsecure.me/sign-in
bridget@authentic-alliance.com
https://authentic-alliance.com/bridget-bertrand-lmft/
Psychotherapy, Gender Therapy, Expressive Arts, and Consultation
California Telehealth - 650-539-4325
Authentic Alliance, A LCSW Prof. Corp
10 Minutes a Day Project
Today, we will do a walking meditation. I’m going to pour some coffee while we get started. You can also click here to listen to a guided walking meditation. This challenge has unlimited days left; you can begin a ten-minute-a-day project whenever you read this. Pick a mindful activity and do it (or a variation of it every day for X number of days.
I look forward to your questions about meditation, movement as medicine, expressive arts, or journaling.
Walking meditation can be practiced anywhere, whether in your home office or outside. Start by standing still and noticing your breath. Pay attention to how your weight shifts from one foot to the other. Feel your feet connecting with the ground—your toes, heels, and arches. For those who may not be able to walk or who may find walking uncomfortable today, imagine different parts of your body as you meditate. Send each part of your body love and compassion. Meditation is a personal experience; it’s about connecting with yourself.
When you take your first step, notice your breathing as you walk, breathing in and out with each movement. If you feel comfortable, briefly hold your breath at the top or bottom of each inhale and exhale.
As you walk or if you’re seated, pay attention to the sensations in your body. This practice can help regulate your nervous system and promote calmness. Research shows that even 10 - 12 minutes of meditation each day can boost your mood and overall well-being. Keep your thoughts at bay by sending them away on an imaginary creek, stream, river, or ocean. Use that image for whatever body of water is needed to soak up your thoughts today. That rapid GIF from Instagram, yup, that works.
As we wrap up, remember that every small step toward mindfulness can help you feel more grounded throughout your day. I hope this motivates you to start your day with intention. Feel free to ask questions, and check my website for my one-on-one coaching program for LBGTQIA+ adults: Profound steps through Big change.
Part two!
I often have a lot of art supplies around, which has evolved over the last seven years. I grew up dancing. I grew up in my body (as we all did, but I was SUPER active). I also grew up not in my body. So, it has been a deep, long, tearful, joyful path toward more and more integration. I wonder what you know about your sense of your body over time? I love dancing, though the visual arts have taken a new focus for me over the years. I don’t dance in public unless it’s a dancing event (like a class, a queer tea party, etc.), so the art journal became a way to integrate art every single day in a fun way! With a busy schedule, you too can “drop-in” for 10 minutes, and I trust you will gain benefit over time.
More about art practice is an unlisted video, so it's just for you! Click through and subscribe if you like.
These processes first became a way for me to drop into my own sense of calm in between client sessions.
The training I did in 2017 (feels like Déjà vu to that time?!) was like a fantastic adult preschool. There were art supplies everywhere and a massive space for us to move, stretch, and play music (and explore the beautiful land just outside the door of our art room/art studio!). Then, we would present our work to one another and, in a profound way, look at “what” it was. We can create and see meaning in it. Most of my “art” is abstract and has many colors. My key catchphrase for myself when I am creating anything is just to say “yes”!
What about supplies? I use gouache (water-based paint), markers, and a lot of other supplies. I'm staying away from acrylic because it has plastic in it. I bought gouache paint in 2022, and I am just running out in 2024. You don't need a lot to create an art practice. You could use a lot, but you really don't need it.
So when I come to the page, and there's a blank page, I'm literally checking in with myself and saying, " What wants to come out of me?” And that might be a different way to invite art than what you have been used to.
Some other ideas:
Engage in an art process, and then after another period of time, perhaps while away from the art, you do some journaling about what's going on in your life. Then you can move to the art. Yes, I do mean dance with your art!
Often, Natalie Rogers, who created this form of person-centered expressive arts, would have some mindfulness as an invitation before the movement or the visual arts.
One last prompt: when I use an art journal, I really enjoy seeing the water move away from the oil-based products.
When we think of oil and water, we can think and feel how parts of ourselves feel in opposition, like oil and water.
Parts of our experience during the day feel as though we do not want that, right?!
We don't want the red light...
We don’t want tyranny!
We don’t want the family members who voted for Trump.
We don’t want the pain … etc….etc.
Living in our cities and throughout this country and world, we don't want to look at certain things in our world.
Brutal truths, like racism or sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and transmisogyny, we don't want to look at it. Still, with time, patience, meditation, and compassion practices, we can open our eyes and feel these truths. I found now I can't turn away. It hurts more to turn away from the harsh realities of our world.
The above and all of the practices work on you over some time.
Craypas (see this fantastic link with more info.: https://www.illustoria.com/blog/2017/7/11/cray-pas-oil-pastels ) and watercolor might have something to do with sticking with the difficult things in life.
Art has helped me integrate things. And it's a great way to spend time, in my opinion. It's not buying shit or scrolling on Instagram or watching TV… it's like doing something.
It's not creating for the purpose of selling or creation; it is art for healing.
It's a mindful moment. Allow your body to settle; allow your breath to settle in the lower part of your abdomen.
Allow your hipbones or your sit bones, wherever you're sitting, to land and ground you in space and the place where you find yourself right now.
The many parts of you or experiences, thoughts, feelings, pain, freedom from pain … let it all coalesce and breathe and then release
It is knowing that we are all interconnected.
All of our actions and inactions ripple out or don't ripple out.
So, breathe into the awareness that when you choose to take these mindful moments, you're inviting some healing inside yourself, which I believe ripples out to the world.
So just again, that deep, deep breath, not in a way of
not tightening your shoulders. The breathing in
and expelling all the air.
Thank you for being here, Bridget
Some process art from this week - as you know it was a LONG week/year.
