Yoga & Art & Psychology

Welcome to my fantasy world. In this world, I get to do all my favorite things at once. And since this is my fantasy world, let's also imagine I am wearing roller skates, blue dreadlocks and eating vanilla custard in a waffle cone with rainbow sprinkles... in the summertime... beside a swimming pool... while listening to the Beastie Boys... among good friends.

My work philosophy, if I haven't said so already, is that I don't want to do anything for money that I won't do for free, which is why art therapy is so fantastic for me. But know what would make it even more fantastic? If there was some yoga thrown in for good measure (and maybe roller skates, but I'll try to keep it real for the remainder of this post). If I could do yoga, art and psychological thinking all at once, that would be an ideal fantasy world moment. I know people actually mix these three, but I'm still trying to figure it out for myself in a way that I feel good about in the real world.

This past Saturday I went to a Journey Dance class at my favorite yoga studio. It was a very exciting class and I left feeling all warm and healthy and full of wonder about how to visually express the intention I had in my head during class. Journey Dance isn't really yoga, at least in a traditional sense, but the mental gymnastics of non-judgment, self-acceptance and intention exploration might be similar, so for today's purposes, I'm putting them together. Anyway, I made this.

Let Go, January 2010, mixed media

"Let go," was the mantra I repeated to myself when I started to worry that I was looking like a dork. I don't know if making art based on an intention discovered during a yoga class would make a good directive or not, but it worked for me.

I have seen people do things like draw their chakras, but I'm not so sure about the accessibility of chakras for the average American. Art to yoga or yoga to art with a therapeutic purpose is something I intend to continue exploring though.

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If this also interests you, I recommend a book I got not too long ago: Meditation and Yoga in Psychotherapy by Annellen M. and C. Alexander Simpkins. I just started reading it and thus far it is practical and provides believable research and evidence.

Also, I would love to go to an art & yoga workshop and maybe Aquarian Teacher Training if I had the extra time and cash. I cannot speak to its awesomeness, but it looks like there could be some good art and yoga combinations to come out of such training.

Distress Tolerance A.T. Directive

I just started using a new A.T. directive that can tack onto groups about self care, distress tolerance and/or grounding skills. It's based on something someone from my supervision class last year was doing with nurses in hospice work. (Thank you Jackie, if you happen upon this.)

Often in these groups the how-to of using the five senses to stay present seems to come up. I talk about how engagement in the moment (and distraction from a stressor) is easiest if it isn't forced and is something enjoyable. Then we go over the five senses and name things that people find a pleasure to see, smell, taste, hear and touch. The list often includes things like a fire, fresh cut grass, fresh fruit, laughter and hugs, for example... the group comes up with their own, whatever it may be for each individual.

A common response to this list is, "Yeah, but who can think of that when feeling triggered?" And the next logical answers are, in my opinion: 1. It takes regular practice when one is not being triggered and 2. Start small. What is the absolutely minimum most simple thing we can do?

Enter sense of smell and small pocket-sized item: the little smelly bag thing... registered technical term.

I wanted to purchase bags to do this, but I could only find clear mesh bags that people use as party favors at weddings in the local Michael's and Joann's where I spend most of my time and money.  I wanted people to decorate their own, so that fabric didn't work. However, you can find muslin bags that would be ideal online here. I just bought some white cotton scrap for a dollar and made a bunch myself, which is simple, but dull work.

Supplies You'll Need

1. Fabric and string (or the aforementioned muslin/cotton sacks).
2. Stamps (optional)
3. Fabric Markers
4. Smelly stuff like dried flowers or potpourri
5. Safety pins or paperclips
(This was all from Joann Fabric dollar bins, by the way. No great expense.)

I thought it would be great to let everyone choose and stamp their own bags, but because I have a massive stamp collection and don't want to carry it around, I decided to prestamp. Also, since I made the bags myself and found it fun like factory work, I knew if someone smeared a stamp or something and wanted another bag, a little piece of me deep inside would be a teensy bit irritated and that's a good emotion to avoid when leading groups for the most part.

Some Prepped Bags (with dollar bin stampage.)

I left some blank, stamped some with an image or word on one side and stamped some with an image on one side and a word or phrase on the other, so there are several options.

I also cut a bunch of the string to the right size and burned the ends to keep it from fraying. 

I think it is valuable to finish a directive with A.T. materials and supplies oneself if at all possible before experimenting with others, so one knows if additional technical directions are needed or if there are any potential pitfalls.

That being said, here are directions that work.

1. Select a bag
2. Place folded piece of paper flat inside bag to keep marker from bleeding through to other side.
3. Use fabric markers to color and decorate. Keep in mind markers that touch another area wet with marker will bleed together. That can be a tad cool, but if you're looking for a sharp line, allow one color to dry before touching it with another marker.
4. Select string and use safety pin or paperclip to thread through drawstring opening (which you need to leave if you make these yourself. You don't need this step at all if you bought the bags with strings and you'll probably need to thread bags yourself with small breakable strands if safety is an issue with your population.)
5. Place a spoonful of perfumed stench, a.k.a. potpourri, in bag.
6. Tie up bag. Place in pocket and give good squeeze and whiff when practicing grounding skill.

This is a completed bag. The other side of this one says "It gets better."

Grief Group Work

As mentioned previously, my graduate school journey has both professional and personal therapeutic components. Among the personal has been participating in a loss and bereavement workshop and group through a local Hospice. (It also happens to be led by an art therapist, so this is a double bonus.) Today was the last day of the holiday support group I was attending.

Each week we began the group by selecting colored glass stones and saying something about what it represented or acknowledging something about our process. I wanted to do something special with my glass to memorialize the experience and remember what I was thinking each week when I took a stone.

I spent Sunday night doing this...

The last three stones were added today: the green and the two larger stones. The large stones were made at the end of our last group. They are clear with images/words in the background. One was my own and another was from another group member. Interestingly, they both say "growth," which is what I have received from my whole loss ordeal, as terrible as it has been.

The banner across the chest (and title) is "It Only Hurts Because You Loved." That was my mantra after losing my mother, which has been the hardest for me, and reading Grieving Mindfully by Sameet M. Kumar, PH.D. Luckily, I'm a proud owner of this one, because I need to read it again now that I have a little more space. One of the things I learned from this book is that grief is only possible because we are capable of large amounts of love. The deeper the love, the more intense the sorrow. For me, this concept made grief pain more endurable, because it was a reflection of how much each of the family members I lost meant to me. I felt like I had a responsibility to carry and nurture where it hurt and acknowledge also the positive traits I want to foster from each person I loved and lost.

Currently, this 8x10 canvas sits above my desk and one of my inherited quilted pieces of my mother's. It needs some placement adjusting, but this works for now.

Something Embarrassing from My Ipod

One of my idols of group leadership is 9-year-old Willow Smith (daughter of Jada Pinkett and Will Smith). Okay, she is 9 and not really educated in group dynamics or theory. In fact, if she got dropped in the middle of my internship, things would probably go quite poorly for the group and Miss Smith. However, there's just something about this video that makes me say, "Yeah, I want to be that!" when I think about an ideal group experience. So far, people haven't come into groups bored and colorless and been transformed into dancing, clapping, happy, hair-whipping people, but this is my intent. I want this.

Resolutions and Professional Responsibility

I'm a day behind on blogging and still trying to figure out where I want to go with this today. I have a schedule of things to write about in my mind and today/yesterday is a blank page. I feel like I should be writing about resolutions of some sort, but the mood strikes me not.

I am not a New Year Resolver. I see it as a set up for failure and disappointment. I am, however, a Birthday Intenter, which has worked well for me. Unfortunately, I have been forgetting to do that the past two or three years, because of this grad school thing. It's like a 3-year resolution that consumes all other goals and possibilities... a little... possibly... okay maybe not... it's really just been an excuse. I am still perfectly capable of other improvements. I forgot to set intents this last birthday too, but since it wasn't that long ago, perhaps a New Year Intent would be an okay exception.

And for visual appeal purposes, here are some randomly placed photos of an old expressive therapy class assignment about being/doing/understanding expressive therapy.

Here's how this relates to my art therapy journey. I firmly believe that all therapists have a duty to practice what they preach. And art therapists have an additional responsibility to also regularly feed their creative sides. I would not want to go to a medical doctor who smokes, never exercises and eats chili fries and valium everyday for breakfast, because if that doctor said, "Hey you really should consider blah blah blah for your health," I'd think something along the lines of "You're a stupid hypocrite" and that sort of thinking just doesn't foster a good doctor patient relationship. The same goes for being a therapist. If one is telling others how to care for their mental health and find fulfillment in life, one must be doing the same work. Along those lines, I often review anything that could possibly be lacking in my own self care and adjust as necessary.

But self care improvements make bad birthday/new year intentions, because they're not especially awesome. In fact, they're just plain BORING! Intentions are most possible when they are something you want to do anyway. Birthday intentions got me into yoga teacher training, riding my bike 150 miles for MS, taking drum lessons and even buying a house. They were things I already wanted to do, but might have put off without setting the intention. None of those things were necessary; they just made my year extra cool. Happy birthday to me.

As mentioned earlier, I believe art therapists have the additional responsibility to also practice regular creative expression. We're living The Dream after all. So today I ask myself, "Self, in what way will you be living The Dream in 2011?"

It's important to also keep in mind that I am graduating soon and hopefully (fingers crossed) getting a job, so my dream has to be doable and not of the buying-a-house caliber this year. So, five ways to live the dream this year...

1. Take a class at the junior college, adult continuing ed. group or somewhere in either ceramics or painting, because I've never had professional training in either and they're classics.

2. Restart my etsy store, because it helps keep me artistically active and provides minimal income (extremely minimal!).

3. Participate in this, because I just wanna.

4. Donate one quilt, because I just noticed these all sound really selfish and a little balance is in order.

5. Go on a trapeze, because Jung said, "What did you do as a child that made the hours pass like minutes? Here is the key to your earthly pursuits." I miss the swing set.

Collage? Eh, I don't know.

At the AATA Conference in Sacramento, Seena B. Frost, creator of SoulCollage was was one of the keynote speakers. Seena is not an art therapist, but some art therapists are into SoulCollage and it has an art therapy feel to it. I enjoyed Seena's presentation, was curious about collaging cards and ordered her newest book SoulCollage Evolving which I received two or three weeks ago.

So far, I have mixed feelings. First, if I'm being honest, I don't especially like collage. It's too rigid for my creative tastes. Mixing and matching the images of others feels creepy to me. Plus, my undergrad degree is in photography and electronic design, so I'm pretty picky about how these sorts of things should look and fit together. However, one thing that I missed in my own work at times was the lack of actually touching a product. I could create an image, a book, a poster or whatever and it was all just glowing pixels until someone else printed it. Although I put a lot of time and thought into it, I never touched any materials during the creative process most of the time. So collage allows for a little more dirty work. Touching stuff is fun. Add that with my search for combining easy with looks good and collage is worth a try.

Secondly, I take issue with spiritually-sounding language in my psychology. In one paragraph of this new book, I pick out these four words, "mysterious, holy, Oneness and mystical." I prefer charts and diagrams to mysteries and holiness.

Third, the cards are like tarot cards you make and read yourself. This also makes me feel pretty weird and I can't imagine using these with anyone in seriousness.

And now that I have dogged it, allow me to show the two cards I made so far.

This is my Source Card. Apparently, it is supposed to "point to the infinite reservoir of the possible." It's actually a carnivorous plant image I found in the National Geographic, but it looks really alive, colorful, active. I was going solely on appearances for this choice.


This is my SoulEssence Card. It's my own personal potential or "that spark of Source that was in [my] individual soul from birth."


So now that I've said what I don't like about SoulCollage, here are the pros... it's simple and possibly fast, depending how long it takes to figure out what images you like. There is lots of training available. It's a social activity that involves people getting together in groups and using their cards as catalysts for deep conversation, which is probably pretty healing in itself most of the time. Also, although it's very Jungian and kinda hippy sounding (this is published in Santa Cruz, CA, by the way, which may explain some things if you've ever hung out there), it looks like the intent for the questions and answers really come from the people who make the cards, which is not very tarot cardy at all. Also, I like the cards I made, even though it didn't feel like doing much and I have trouble taking credit for making some choices and using scissors.

I will give this a deeper try and consider adaptions, before I make an official decision. The jury is still out.

Knit, Purl, Philosophize

I've heard that many people get into this profession to work on their own stuff, but I got into it because I like art and psychology. However, it turned out to be a parallel process because since I put together my portfolio and applied to the program, I lost my brother and both parents. Most things about experiencing a lot of deaths are terrible, but there are some parts that aren't so bad... or maybe they are also pretty horrendous, but really important lessons.

I became aware of this impermanence train that is life earlier than some. Did you ever regret not knowing at the moment how awesome it was to be a kid and get to color in school, take piano lessons every week and spend three months a year in a swimming pool and on roller skates? Instead you probably spent your kid time thinking about how great it would be to grow up, have your own money and never have to listen to a single teacher again. Sometimes I feel like that kid, except I know how totally radical it is to be living this life right now every single moment. When you lose a lot of people, especially a sibling or maybe a friend around your age, you might think, holy crap life is short. What am I gonna do with this thing to make it meaningful? At least that's what I thought about.

In spite of life opening a can of whoop ass on me the last three years, I feel that overall, I'm extremely lucky. I'm lucky I was trying to get into this profession when I started, because when I thought about what makes my life meaningful, the perfect career was simultaneously falling in my lap.

Here's what I want out of life... Even though we're small and insignificant in the universe, I want the world to be a little better while I'm in it. If I can make something just a tiny bit prettier and someone a little happier, I consider my life well lived. I don't expect perfection, but an overall higher score in the gee-it-was-great-you-existed column.

That being said, allow me to get to the knitting portion of this post. Here's some handmade/hand-dyed yarn I was knitting today which sent me spinning on this whole thing...


The last thing my mother taught me was how to knit. She had taught me when I was little, but it didn't take, so she taught me again as she was dying. After she died, I knit. A lot. I knit so much I didn't even know what to do with the stuff. I donated some of it. My favorite organization is Spirit Jump. It works like this: you sign up, you get emails about people who have cancer and feel down, you make or buy them something, you send it. The receivers get a surprise (or probably a series of surprises) in the mail and the senders get major feelgood points.

Know what makes me feel even better? Anonymous giving. Sneak-up-on-someone-who-never-sees-it-coming-giving. Stealthy-ninja giving. Making-people-feel-good-without-seeing-a-result-or-even-getting-thanks giving. Know why? Because it's fun and way more real.

And what does this have to do with art therapy? Tons! We often work with people who have lost their way and are traveling on the what's-the-point-of-all-this-pain train. They need help finding the transfer station. Challenge people to make something and send it to someone. Help them knit some squares and combine them to create a blanket for a homeless shelter or nursing home. Get them to make some origami and drop it in strangers' purses (in a safe way and place -- no need to go around getting patients slapped).

It can be the season of giving all year.

Here's a related video someone shared with me yesterday...