Amy Maricle - Draw Yourself Calm: Draw Slow, Stress Less

Lets start by talking about what slow drawing is, review the tools and materials you need to get started, and look at some easy ways to integrate slow drawing into your life.

Slow drawing is a mindful art practice. Mindfulness simply means paying attention to what you are doing and experiencing in the moment. I find the easiest way to do that is to notice through my senses. So slow drawing is drawing slowly enough that you notice what its like to drawthrough all your senses.

I do some meditation practice, but always find that it does not feel completely natural to me. Im by no means the most relaxed or mindful person; I have perfectionistic tendencies and I sometimes have a short fusein other words, Im imperfect and human, just like you. And just like you, I need ways to slow down. Meditation is good, but it never feels as energizing, adventurous and fun as meditating through art. When Im drawing, painting and working with my hands, I find that my thoughts slow down, my breathing settles into a slower, deeper rhythm, and I feel more grounded. I realized that slow art was a mindfulness meditation for mea way to have a singular focus on what I was doing in the momentjust as in meditation when you focus on the breath.

In my previous work as an art therapist, and now teaching, I find that movement-based work is incredibly effective because it puts people in charge of their body and asks them to focus on that action. Its much easier to focus on the movement of a paintbrush, and the feel of it in your hand, and the colors that appear on the page than to wrangle an overstressed mind into focusing on each inhale and exhale. Making art is an active way to ground anxious bodies and overactive minds.

People enjoy slow drawing for different reasons. Some want a creative way to ground themselves and feel calm, while others are artists who wish to overcome creative blocks or infuse more meaning into their art. I slow draw for all those reasons. Its fun and relaxing, and going slow helps me tune in to the creative ideas that bubble up from my imagination. Slow drawing has helped me to practice mindfulness while Im creating, but also in the rest of my day. I now find that I tune in to the pattern of the bubbles in boiling pasta water, the sound my feet make as Im running, and the texture of fingers when I fold my hands. Slow drawing helps draw us into the moment.