Day 1 - Releasing negative emotions -
Preparation
In this course, we will work with any painful emotion you might be experiencing.
This exercise uses imagery to connect with and express sensations inside your body and express them in a symbolic visual way. It’s also a way of accessing your intuition and subconscious mind and feeding new symbolic pictures to create positive change.
You don't have to be an artist to do this activity. We use simple shapes, lines, and planes of color to intentionally capture and express our internal experience.
There are no rules for this activity, all I ask of you is to follow the process as it unfolds and trust your instincts. If, for some reason, you start feeling uncomfortable or becoming too emotionally activated, please stop the activity. Taking care of yourself trumps everything else.
What you can expect:
You will learn what role this particular emotion plays and what message it has for you. Once you have this information, the next step is transforming the emotion to serve you instead of inhibiting you.
In the end, you will experience relief after having processed at least one emotional layer. It will stop weighing you down as much, impacting your mood, behavior, and physical well-being.
In addition, you will learn more about yourself based on the journaling insights and the symbolic content of the image.
Are you ready for the quest inward? Before we start, we need to do some prep work as far as materials and supplies go.
To sum up, you will:
Connect to your inner experience emotional experience at a deeper, often unconscious, level.
Externalize it on paper and release its energy.
Transform it so it can serve you instead of inhibiting you.
Art Materials
You can use pencils or crayons and a piece of paper for journaling. Please make sure to use color. Charcoal, graphite pencils, black markers, etc., will not communicate enough and will limit the experience.
Space
Please find a quiet space where no one will disturb you. You can play instrumental music or nature sounds. You may want to light a candle or incense. It’s really up to you how you want to use your space.
Time
You need to set aside 15-20 minutes for each task daily. You can also do it in one sitting; the entire process should take no more than 60-90 minutes.
If you are ready, you can move on to the first step of this process.
Helpful Tip: Before each session, I invite you to reconnect with the artwork you have already created or review the answers to your journaling questions to enter the creative mental space again. You may also find it helpful to re-listen guided meditation.