Art/Crafting: Nervous system Reset

I remember sitting in Advanced English listening to Mr. Farley tell the class about my artwork in the showcase in the main entrance. I was 17 and that flighty mix of nerd, athlete, and artsy-fartsy teen-ager. The piece of art he was describing was a pen and ink drawing. I had drawn a lady leaning up against a store window and just as I was drawing the facial details I dropped a large blot of black ink onto her face. I needed to turn my mistake into something else. I put a large balloon over her face. Mr. Farley was explaining what he thought I meant by hiding the woman’s face. What could it mean? There was no hidden deep meaning to having a woman hidden by a balloon. It was a mistake turned into an acceptable assignment.

That is memorable to me because it was soon after that, that I quit drawing. I quit being crafty and outwardly creative. I married an abusive older man when I was 18, and it would take until I was 42 to be untangled enough from that relationship to begin drawing again. While married to my ex-husband I kept most of my creativity inside. Needless to say, my nervous system was fried from holding everything in- words, thoughts, creativity, and fun.

Now art just flows from me. It is my therapy. I do not profess to be any good at it. My drawings are all out of proportion, my photography is blurry, my watercolor is watercolorey (let’s face it, watercolor does it’s own thing), my writing is all over the place, etc. But it is exactly the way it is supposed to be. Being creative is an expression. For some that expression is perfectionism; for others it is a means to an end as a business; for me it is just a fun release. When it ceases to be that, then I will know I have finally said all that I was holding inside.

Why is art, and expressing oneself creatively, a reset for your nervous system? Why would I consider it therapy of sorts? Creating can help you to shift your body out of a state of stress and into a more regulated one. When you create something, several things happen at once: your attention narrows onto simple things like color, shape, movement, rhythm, etc. This attention interrupts the spiraling thoughts and can lessen your mental overload.

Repetitive motion such as tapping, swaying, etc. can interrupt the stress cycle and bring calm. Drawing, painting, stitching, doodling, molding, photographing, etc. can also act a lot like other regulating practices because the rhythm and steady hand movement cues calm.

Giving the body a way to process activation and stress makes the nervous system feel settled. Creating gives your system a sense of manageable focus, choice and curiosity. These in combination increase feelings of safety and control which is usually what is missing in the stressed state.

(Creating art for profit doesn’t necessarily create calm. It can cause its own stress. Reset comes more from the process than the product.)

I encourage everyone to find some way to express themselves that is helpful in resetting the nervous system by interrupting the stress cycle. Everyone has art in them. It may be as simple as appreciating a sunrise. You don’t have to paint it or photograph it. That song you love that stops your spiraling. That’s appreciation of art. You don’t have to have written or performed the piece to recognize the joy and reset it brings.

I have included a video with a guided “Art” stress reset meditation of sorts. The working meditation is about drawing/doodling; the video is of felting, the idea is the same: free-flow creativity is like breathing to reset the nervous system. In and out. Up and down. Over and under. Rhythm and movement. Reset.