Draw for meditation #30
When we have anxieties about a worry, we think about them. Our thoughts stay in the mind. Our brain is talking all the time with thoughts, also known as “monkey chatter”. How would you like to transfer those thoughts elsewhere and clear your mind? One method is to change the topic and think of something else. Don’t return to the older thoughts about anxieties and worries. Let’s express our thoughts, to transfer any negative vibes onto paper, and leave them there. I call this “Draw your journey towards positivity”. To make it fun, meditative and therapeutic, let’s draw. You don’t have to be an artist to draw to document your state. Doodle. As time flies by, you’ll come to enjoy doodling for yourself.
If you have doubts about why drawing is meditation, here’s a quote:
Photography is an immediate reaction, drawing is a meditation.
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Please use a new book for your meditative drawings. You can use any type of blank book. Your writings and doodles will bring it alive. Add color if you feel like it.
Leave negative thoughts on paper. Write keywords of what you’re feeling. To lessen the burden of the calling up the negativity, just write the gist in keywords, of the thoughts. Don’t dwell on them. Sometimes, when you’re hurting and can’t find the words to define your feelings, use small emojis to express yourself. If you still can’t draw, look at emojis as examples. Nobody is going to judge your drawing skills. Write down the date of this doodle.
If you’ve done these doodles, share your links. I’ll round up all participants’ links in a post to give backlinks.
My hash tags:
#stress, #positivity, #selfimprovement, #meditation, #doodles, #arttherapy, #artmeditation,
My anxious, negative thoughts:
Will I get to sleep well tonight?
Related posts:
— https://artmater.com/dreaming-of-anxieties-10-ways-to-cope-with-anxiety-dreams/
— I compiled many comics drawn in doodle style and they are filed in this category https://artmater.com/category/art/mindful-doodles/
Click on each link to view the doodle.
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Meditative Drawing #31
Are you overthinking about your worries? Are your thoughts tied up in knots? Would you like to unravel them?
This will neutralize the negative thoughts and you won’t be bothered by them. Write down your thoughts briefly. Now imagine you can cancel them away by striking them out, one at a time.
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Draw and meditate #32
If you’re stressed during the day, you might dream about your worries. Don’t draw this negative picture. I suggest you draw a positive picture. What do you desire most of all? Write this down and draw it. You will feel good because you’ve inked your desire and made it concrete on paper. You’ll start to believe it can happen and will happen.
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Draw and meditate #33
We have been paying attention to your thoughts and mental health. Now let’s turn our focus to your body. How do you feel about your health? Do you feel like you’re in the prime of health? Or do you need a doctor’s checkup for assurance?
At any rate, do whatever is necessary to get yourself healthy, for when you’re physically good, you’re in your best capacity to live your best life.
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As you think and draw it becomes meditation #34
Channel your energy into drawing – its therapy. Instead of burning calories in nervous energy, direct it towards art. Reflect on how you spent your day yesterday.
If you can’t draw scenes and humans, draw simple things like the objects you used. Sketch out line drawings. It is preferable to use time and energy to draw. If you really can’t manage it, use free photos from any online depository. This is my example https://artmater.com/not-quite-100000-thoughts-but-what-i-did-on-june-15-2025/
Look at your art. This was your day. You have accomplished much. Do you think you deserve a break? You are allowed to reward yourself a small treat. This can be a small item of food/ drink/ pampering/ book/ music/ online time/ exercise activity or etc.
————————————————————————————————————- Resources besides meditation to care for your mental health #35
Everyone has some resources within themselves to handle stress, anxieties, problems and tough times. What are your learned skills, and talents that you can use to take care of your mental health? Write and draw the keywords.
Here are some resources commonly used by many:
– sanctuary for calm, peace, meditation, reflection and recharge. Do you have privacy in your room? If you share a room with someone, you might want to consider getting a movable screen to place around your bed or desk for privacy.
– brainstorm for potential resolutions.
– ask for advice from your network of friends and professionals.
– invest in yourself by learning useful knowledge and skills by whatever ways you can afford. You can borrow books from your library, enrol in free courses online, or search for cheap learning venues.
– be realistic and select an area that complements your talents, skills, time, money and market potential. Take one area and explore your options. What can you do to maximise usage of your skills in that area? Can you earn money, do useful work or meditate with that skill?
You might want to devote one page to record your explorations in that topic. It is important to keep this for reference. Sometime in your future, you may want to refer to this record.
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Draw and meditate #36
You grow stronger with each encounter with adversity. Each face off is like a real training session for you to build up your defences, strengths, experience, and skills.
You become like this:
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Meditate on your new skills #37
What newly acquired skills have you added to your skill set?
Right now, you can challenge yourself by drawing your new skills here for entry #36 – Draw and Meditate
If you’ve recently learned how to cook a dish, draw a doodle of a cook, draw your cooked dish, or take a photo of your dish and try to draw outlines of each different ingredient in the dish.
If you’ve learned to make something, draw your crafted object. The goal is to focus on your drawing and maybe blank out other intrusive thoughts.
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You need not meditate alone #38
Draw your listener you choose to have heart to heart talks with.
Meditation is not always reflection alone. Sometimes, you can ask for advice, suggestions, get a second opinion, or get affirmation for your beliefs. Who are your confidantes? Can you draw simple doodles of him, her, or them?
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Meditate on your triggers #39
What triggers your anger, frustration, unhappiness and other negativity? I would meditate on that and list my triggers so that I can spot them, manage them and avoid a full blown episode where I’m snappy, edgy and not a delight to be with.
For this meditation, you can draw your faces when you’re angry, unhappy or sad.
You can also draw on what triggers your anger. Is it a non-living object or person?
Have you seen the bear in “sleepful” meditation?
You can meditate in water too, but don’t fall asleep in your bath tub or anywhere in water.
What do you do in water?
Look at the wonders of water. It cools you, cleans you, helps you relax …
Feel the water around you. Did you turn on heated water or cold tap water? Do you like a cold bath or a warm one?
If you have added soap into the water, it will feel slippery, smooth and maybe luxurious too.
Smell the water. Does the liquid soap add fragrance to the water?
There is a variety of assorted bath accessories. You might want to look for them before you start this meditative bath exercise.
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Meditation in drawing #40
Have you watched clouds floating across the sky? Try drawing clouds. You can do this when the sunlight is not bright because of the potential damage to eyesight. Or wear a pair of sun glasses. Get a small sketch pad, drawing pencils, blue marker pens, blue oil pastels, blue water color pencils, blue watercolor paints and etc. Look at clouds at the far left and draw them. Give yourself a bonus point if you can see shapes in the clouds. If the clouds are moving fast, they’ll change their shapes and you’ll be busy drawing their new shapes.
Top extreme left cloud looks like an old person carrying an umbrella. Next, in clockwise direction, is a giraffee. Next is a big bird flapping its wing. Down below the bird is a twisted heart shape. On its left is a hippopotamus. The last shape is a group of three people.
I saw these clouds in the pre-dawn/ dawn hours from 5 am onwards. When the sun rises, there are no dark clouds, but white ones.
If you don’t see shaped clouds, you can add facial features on a large cloud to make it look like a face. You can draw a funny face, happy face, surprised face and etc.
I hope you’ll find enjoyment in this activity. It is one of the oldest drawing exercises but it is still popular.
Make art & craft collage for meditation #41
Note: Pooh or likeness of that bear, is permitted as its copyright expire in Jan. 2022.
If you can’t draw, try making simple craft work. Patterned papers or cloths are great for backgrounds.
How to make this paper, cloth, cardboard, felt and wool collage:
- Draw the back of figures on colored papers/ felt and cut them out. If you make female figures, you need the desired colored wool/ yarn, to glue strands of wool hair onto the back of heads.
2. Draw clothes on different colored fabrics. You only need scraps of fabric to draw clothes. Cut them out and glue them on the bodies.
3. You need two small pieces of cardboard for the wooden seats of the swings. Poke two holes on each cardboard as shown in the photo. Thread strings of thin cotton threads that look like rope through the holes.
4. Glue the figures on the cardboard swing seats.
5. Take a small sheet of brown paper and roll it up to make a cylinder. Scrunch up this roll to make a tree branch.
6. Tie the swings’ strings to the “tree branch” as shown.
7. Paste two pieces of contrasting fabric patterns on a sheet of paper as shown.
8. Arrange the “tree branch”, swings and figures as shown.
9. Glue everything in place on the paper and fabric.
You’ve put focused effort in quiet concentration in meditation to make this piece of art and craft collage. Your figures are sitting on swings in meditation, as they enjoy the swing.
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Draw for meditation #42
We are not created equal. We have different faces, body shapes, intellects, natural talents and different types of acquired skills. Celebrate the diversity of life. You are special.
Draw a big picture of yourself. For each part of your body, write down your unique abilities.
What are your special thoughts? Are you kind? Are you good at solving problems?
What talents and skills can you do with your hands? Can you make creative things with them? Play any musical instrument?
What can your legs do for you? Can them kick soccer balls? Run marathons? Help you to swim?
You’re likely to end up with a drawing labeled with many unique abilities. You can learn to use a talent/ skill to help yourself, or use a combo of your abilities for a good purpose for yourself and/ or others.
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Drawing is a meditation #43
Drawing is a meditation when you concentrate on it and it occupies all your thoughts. Fill your mind with positive thoughts. What are your favorite foods? Which are the places you enjoy spending time on? Think of the activities you like. What are your most loved objects which you would take with you everywhere you go?
Draw these in your journal.
Drawing for meditation #44