The Creative Diary in Quarantine 15

To breathe…

Sometimes we just need to breathe mindfully to be connected to ourselves.

Collage and drawing:

  1. Take a pencil or a marker. Draw a dot in the center of your sheet.
  2. From that dot you start to breathe. Every time you inhale and exhale, make a loop or a petal on your dot. One petal is one breath in and out.
  3. Breathe in and out very consciously. Even try to calm the breath a little deeper. Do what you feel good about. Follow your pencil or marker with your eyes to stay mindfull.
  4. When the flower is complete, give it a color that suits your feeling.
  5. When the flower is finished, choose a picture (not too large) somewhere in a magazine that suits your feeling of the breathing exercise and stick it in the center of your flower.
  6. Write a conclusion or find a word in a magazine that fits or give yourself 10 minutes to write about the exercise or the theme of breathing.

 

“Focus on the miracle that is your breath.”  J. Whitney

 

What if … you feel short of breath. Then abandon the idea of ​​your breathing. Make sure you sit quietly and deliberately, mindfully make one petal after another.

 

TIP: Breathing is something very important that we can use to calm ourselves down. Heart coherence is a very interesting technique for this. Look it up on the internet.

Would you like to get in touch with others? In Facebook you find a page where participants connect.

 

Important to know:

Working in a Creative Diary is NOT about results, it’s about expressing you inner self. It is NOT about techniques, techniques only help you to express yourself in more different ways. The exercises I give are an INVITATION, not an obligation. You can do the exercise, or not, you can do it differently, it’s at your choosing. The most important thing to remember is that you’re putting yourself and your (inner) world on paper, you are NOT making art. So feel inspired by images, but don’t compare yourself ! Fun and self-expression come first.

What do you need?

  • markers
  • coloured pencils
  • writing materials
  • scissors
  • glue
  • watercolour
  • soft pastels
  • oil pastels
  • some magazines

And of course: a journal/diary. I recommend an 8,3 inches x 11,7 inches notebook (A4 format) with blank paper, but take whatever you find in your house. Blank papier is good too.

More information:

The exercises used in this Creative Diary are based on a method described by Lucia Capacchione, American art-therapist and author of the book The Creative Journal, by Anne-Marie Jobin, Canadian art-therapist and author of the soon to be coming book The New Creative Journal, and myself, Sarah Timmermans, Belgian art-therapist and psychologist (Dutch book: Het Creatieve Dagboek). The method blends knowledge from writing therapy, art-therapy, psychology and basic creativity. It’s a simple method that doesn’t requires any artistic skills and has been used with many ages, many individuals and many groups of people. More questions? Please write me.

Who am I?

I’m Sarah Timmermans, Belgian art-therapist, naturopath and psychologist. I’m trained by Jungian art-therapist/psychologist Csilla Kemenzcei. I work with individuals and with groups. I’m specialised in using diaries, tarot (archetypes) and dreams.