Mindfulness Drawing
Drawing or doodling can be a great way to deal with unwanted stress or anxiety. Doodling can be relaxing as your focus shifts from what’s in your head to what’s happening on your paper. An even more effective style of drawing is called contour drawing. This type of drawing asks the brain to concentrate on shapes that we see, moving your brain away from focusing on emotions. If you’re feeling a little stressed or anxious, give this style of drawing a try.
Step 1: Keep an Open Mind
This type of drawing is not meant to create a masterpiece or even something you plan to hang on your wall, but it is simply an exercise to engage the hand, eye, and brain in shifting your awareness to something around you. Concentrate on the activity of drawing, not necessarily the outcome.
Step 2: Focus on the Outline
Find something you’d like to draw. This will be your subject. Using one continuous line, draw the outline of your subject without looking at your paper. Concentrate on moving the pen across your paper as your eyes move along the outline of what you are drawing. If you look down at the paper, stop drawing. Continue drawing when you are focused on your subject again.
Step 3: Create Details
You can pick up your pen and place it in another space on the paper to add details. Just make sure that you only draw when your eyes are looking at the subject. Try drawing several objects around you and maybe even people.
Things to Think About:
How did drawing in this way make you feel? Did it feel awkward?
What do you think about your drawing? Can you make out the outline that you saw even if the spacing or size is not quite right?
Did drawing in this way allow you to be less focused on other things while you were drawing?