How Moms Can Use Art to Reduce Stress

Using Art and Creativity to Reduce Stress

Are you feeling a lot of stress right now? Feeling overwhelmed, distracted or irritable? Does it seem like you are taking care of everybody else except for yourself? Are you wearing many hats as you juggle the responsibilities of a parent, spouse, employee, and now maybe remote teacher because of the recent pandemic? How’s it all going? Do you feel like you’re running on automatic pilot? Do you feel a bit disconnected from yourself and what your own needs and feelings are? Do you dream of having just an hour to yourself a day to just think or perhaps even NOT think!? Maybe do something creative? Just for you? Have you you heard that art can be used for stress relief but you don’t feel like you have the time to pursue that idea because you feel too stressed to take time out to do something like that?

When we think of a stressed-out, overwhelmed Mom, it’s almost a cliche. You can kind of picture a woman in her yoga pants with crazy hair who hasn’t had a shower in days and has multiple screaming kids underfoot, piles of laundry, late or burned dinners…It’s all a bit ridiculous. But, in reality, a stressed-out mom may not actually look like that at all. She may look like she has it all together on the outside. She may be very good at juggling multiple roles and responsibilities of work and parenting and home life and perhaps remote or homeschool teaching. But inside, maybe there is stress emanating from the fact that she does not regularly check in with how she feels in all of the overwhelm of daily life. Feels about what you may ask?

How Are You Feeling?

How about how she feels about everything that is happening in her life right now? Perhaps how she feels about things she has been through in her past that sometimes still creeps up and affects her – maybe about things she thought she was “over with”- and how is she dealing with the multiple stresses of what’s happening in our world right now? – How are we all handling that? How are our families doing mentally and emotionally? How are our kids doing? We all know that the mother sets the emotional tone for the home. If mama ain’t happy, then nobody is happy! We’ve all heard these phrases before. Of course, these types of sayings are not always accurate, but often this one is!

It’s Difficult to Find Time for Self Care In the Midst of Parenting and Work Stress.

I remember about 20 years ago when my first-born daughter was about three years old, I really struggled to get even an hour to myself a week. I was supporting my family while my husband was back in school to become a teacher. I was commuting 5 days a week over an hour away to my job at a commercial design firm. I was an Interior Designer/Project Manager, which meant that many of my clients met with me after they got off work. Which meant a lot of overtime hours and coming home late, scrambling to figure out what was for dinner, trying to be a good mom, spend time with my daughter, and put her to bed. Those years were honestly a blur to me. I remember reading her stories and falling asleep in her bed almost every night.

I certainly tried hard to give her what she needed and make up for when I wasn’t there. The truth is that I was exhausted and pouring from an empty cup. People – and children especially – can pick up on when we are doing that. When we are not fully present and attuned because we have not adequately given to ourselves. We are running in Stressed-Out Mom mode, which is not a good place to be. I never meant to neglect taking time for myself. I just accepted that as a condition of life at that moment. I mean, I had to work and support the family. I lived on coffee, soda, and probably a whole lot of chocolate! Any quick form of energy would do. I didn’t realize that I was running in chronic stress mode. I didn’t stop to check in with myself AT ALL. I honestly did not think I had the time during that busy season of work and parenting. I didn’t realize what the implications were of not taking time for myself really in any way at all, let alone check in with how I was feeling. But I realize there were a lot of consequences from being that disconnected from myself. Some of these consequences were that I was diagnosed with a scary thyroid condition, had trouble losing weight, had difficulty sleeping, and developed anxiety and depression. My relationship with my husband suffered. What really troubled me about that time the most was that my relationship with my daughter was definitely suffering. I would come home from work at 8 or 9 o’clock most days, and my daughter was apparently “fine” all day until she saw me. (That’s what my husband always would say anyway) That’s when the meltdown started. I tried to soothe her and give her all my attention the rest of the night. Bath and storytime, cuddle time. I honestly did the best that I could. It was essential to give that time to her. She needed it! What I now know is that her being “fine” all day and then melting down at night when I got home was her finally letting all her stuffed emotions from the day come out at me when I walked in. She had feelings that needed to be expressed; she probably missed me or was naturally even mad at me for being gone all day and was letting me know it! I don’t think I realized that at the time. She probably needed to talk about and express her feelings. Even if they didn’t make sense to me, they were vital for her to communicate. I just think I was a little too stressed and in survival mode to understand that at the time. I realize now that I could have been more present for her during that time if I was paying more attention to myself and my own feelings. What would have made things a lot better was if I was giving myself what I needed too. If I had taken better care of myself and my emotional health during that time, I could have felt like I was pouring from a much more full cup and not such an empty one. I could have been much more present with her about her own feelings. Thankfully, I got much better with that as time went on.

Get Out of Survival Mode and Begin to Prioritize Self Care – Start With One Hour A Week.

At my low point dealing with parenting and work stress, I met with a spiritual advisor and had sort of a “come-to-Jesus” moment when she told me that I absolutely must start taking some time for myself. She told me that taking regular time for myself would create a positive ripple effect for my whole family and that if I didn’t, I would eventually see more negative consequences play out over time. I had already felt the physical effects of ongoing stress, yet I argued about how little time I had to do that and how stressed I already felt working 55+ hours a week plus an hour commute each day. All my whining fell on deaf ears. I was told to simply take ONE HOUR A WEEK for myself to do anything I enjoyed doing that wasn’t work-related. I was wound so tight at the time that I had trouble even thinking of what I would spend an hour doing! But that was my homework assignment, and I always do my homework! The first week I had no idea what to do, so I took a bath. It was kind of nice but kind of boring too. Sometimes, being bored is actually a good thing as it opens your mind to new possibilities and ideas, which I started to have for the following week.

Self Care Using Art and Creativity

I quickly realized that I needed something a little more exciting than taking a bath for my next week’s homework. Something a bit more creative. I knew that doing art could be used to relief stress, so I went to Michael’s craft store and had a blast browsing the aisles for what felt like hours. It was close to Christmas time, so I decided on building and decorating this beautiful miniature glass-beaded Christmas tree with ornaments and lights. It even had miniature gifts, a rocking horse, and a little toy train set that circled the tree’s base—all underneath a protective clear glass globe. I worked on this every week for my homework and just got totally LOST in how much FUN it was!

Having Fun, More Energy, and Less Stress

I noticed that I started to feel more energized at the end of my days because my brain had something creative to focus on, reducing my stress levels and making me happier. On homework day, I had something fun to look forward to doing. Working on a creative project boosted my mood, and that more positive mindset had an immediate ripple effect outward towards my husband and daughter. THIS was a START! I was enjoying something fun and creative just for me. Art was helping me reduce my stress!

Developing a Creative Routine

Since that time, over 20 years ago, I almost always have a creative project going in one form or another. Sometimes multiple longer-term projects that I really enjoy. I find that it gets me back in touch with the energy of fun and play and creation. I definitely suggest that you start doing something creative just for yourself if you are feeling stress. Pick up a creative project. Doing art or something creative can help to reduce some of your stress – and it’s just a lot of fun! Take that hour a week and just PLAY. Get in a creative flow. Don’t know how to do it? Watch a child. They will teach you!

Needing Something More

Sometimes, picking up a creative project might be enough to help you reduce some of the stress in your life. Of course, talking to a trusted friend or family member also helps immensely. However, sometimes our stress is genuinely overwhelming, and we need to speak with a licensed therapist or counselor. If you are dealing with trauma or experiencing ongoing anxiety or depression, therapy can be very beneficial. It has been for me.

Art4Healing® Painting Classes Reduce Stress and Help Heal

In addition to talking to someone, I have found an incredibly creative art process for helping you to reduce stress, feel and process your feelings from both present and past life stressors. I discovered this technique about 15 years ago, and I have used it repeatedly over the years with so much benefit to my mood and overall happiness. It’s called Art4Healing®, and it’s a therapeutic abstract painting technique created by artist Laurie Zagon. The classes were initially designed to help stressed-out wall street executives mess up a canvas with paint after work. With input from therapists and counselors, the courses were later expanded to include timed guided questions and prompts that elicit emotional responses. No paintbrushes are used in an Art4Healing® class! Instead, using just q-tips, cosmetic foam wedges, or your fingers to paint, each themed course guides you through structured and timed prompts to get in touch with and process your feelings about things going on in your life. This therapeutic art process can be very healing! It is not art therapy, so there is no analysis or diagnosis. You can journal about your discoveries after you paint or perhaps share your painting with a trusted friend or a therapist, or you don’t have to talk about it at all if you don’t want to. What you paint and discover is private to you!

Taking Art4Healing® classes has helped me get more deeply connected to myself and my feelings over the years. Doing these art classes have helped me reduce stress and process more difficult feelings from events in my childhood. Even sometimes more than talk therapy has. The classes have helped me to express and process my feelings and understand my wants, needs, motivations, hopes, and dreams. They’ve helped me understand myself in so many ways. Taking Art4Healing® classes have been incredibly healing for me. I loved them so much that I became a certified Art4Healing® Facilitator about eight years ago to introduce these beautiful therapeutic art classes to others. I’d like to introduce you to this incredible innovative healing tool that is an Art4Healing® class.

The mission of Art4Healing® is to support emotional healing through art & creative expression for those living in pain, grief, fear, or stress.

Whatever level of stress you are feeling, I’d like to help you in ways that have been helpful to me. I want to encourage Moms to use Art4Healing® art classes for stress relief, self-expression and healing.

I want to encourage you not only to begin to regularly take some time for yourself by picking up a fun, creative project, but I also want to encourage you to try an Art4Healing® class.

Start taking more time for yourself, getting support, doing something creative, getting connected to and expressing your feelings, and reducing whatever level of stress you’re experiencing. If you commit to this as a regular practice, it will not only benefit you immensely, but your whole family will benefit as well.

Art Allows Us to Express Ourselves, Have Fun, Reduces Stress, and Helps Us Heal. http://artforhealingandfun.com/art-allows-us-to-express-ourselves-have-fun-reduces-stress-and-helps-us-heal/

Through art and creativity, I am able to reduce stress and feel more connected to myself and my feelings. I feel more connected to what I want and what I need. What my hopes and my dreams are. And as I take this regular time to restore and connect to myself using art and creativity, I feel happier and more energized. I feel more connected in my relationships and have become a much happier person because of art and creativity.

I want that for you too.