Top 10 Ways to Heal Through Creativity
When working through issues or recovering from trauma, it's helpful to engage your heart and unconscious mind. Here are some creative pursuits for assisting the healing process.
1. Visual art. Painting, sculpting, drawing... all can give shape to the images in your unconscious.
2. Drama. Dialogue with inner characters to discover their motives. Role-play to gain insight into the stories of your life. Create new outcomes to empower your new, emerging self.
3. Collage. This is especially helpful for creating the vision of who and how you want to be.
4. Poetry. Poet Mary Oliver says that a poem is "like a coiled spring, waiting to release its energy in a few clear phrases." Poetry can crystallize feelings that lie under the surface.
5. Dance. The body has a wisdom all its own; moving it according to inner impulses helps access new information.
6. Music. Playing an instrument, no matter how well, can be meditative, relaxing and emotionally soothing.
7. Play. Try imaginative play with figurines, improv games, or laughter for no reason at all. Playing can release stuck energy and open up channels for healing.
8. Creative writing. Write stories about your life-or journal-to uncover how you really feel and imagine new possibilities.
9. Mask-making. What do your inner characters look like? Mask-making can bring them to life, allowing you to interact with them.
10. Singing. Singing can be a balm to soothe hurts or a loudspeaker for the soul. Open up your voice and see what comes out.
Author's content used under license © Claire Communications
