Meditation and its benefits
Its no secret that meditating once in a while shows many benefits for your mental and physical health:
Meditation decreases depression, anxiety and stress and increases positive emotion and immune function; It increases emotional intelligence and focus/attention + memory (which might be due to larger grey matter volumes )
I have tried meditating many times in the past and once I even managed to stay on track for a couple of weeks (with the help of Headspace, I recommend this site to everyone struggling with meditation) but most times I found meditation to be quite challenging. I was frustrated because I wanted to have a spiritual awakening as well! I wanted to know and feel too what everyone was talking about but I ended up giving up.
Meditating while drawing
A good friend of mine had been into mandalas the last year of school. She would create a new mandala every day and it was drawing those simple patterns that would eventually help her relieve stress and seperate herself from her busy schedule. I was sceptical at first and I didn´t try it out myself until two years later when I was experimenting with my art. I started with my dot art and immersed into this new world without realising.
Practice
In the beginning I was just listening to podcasts while drawing but I noticed right away that I was able to focus and understand more.... In between the podcasts I had these pauses though; moments of silence and moments of not absorbing any kind of information. In those moments my head would be completely silent. Not focusing on anything, automatically doing the same hand movements and 'shutting' down my brain. Thinking of nothing and just being present. At first those pauses didnt last for very long, but the more I drew the better I got. I don´t do 'meditative art' often, but it helps when life is getting too much.
Meditative Art brings one to the present moment, makes them aware and attentive, peaceful and quiet, connecting one to themselves, to their ‘higher self’ or a higher power. (Meditative Art)
