When meditative drawing comes with its own trigger warning

It was a moment when I realised I must have reached far deeper than I had intended in my meditative drawing when my teacher told me, she felt stress in her throat and in her stomach when she looked at my picture.

This was my first introduction to meditative drawing. I was meant to be having a conversation with myself through colours and symbols – giving space for my intuition, freeing creativity and getting out of my head. Well, I guess everything that was going on in my head and indeed my whole body certainly came out on to the page.

Reclaiming my inner child had been the main reason for grabbing my crayons in the first place. Yes, drawing. I hadn’t done that since…well a long time. Although I was teased into it by my grown-up mind with the word ‘meditation’ which quickly had my inner child jumping up and down with excitement with the addition of drawing.

Yes, drawing meditation. Who would have thought those two words would go together? But there you go, I am a yoga and meditation teacher after all who teaches creative visualisation, so why not add drawing into the mix. I was attempting to move into a phase of ‘unlearning’. This is not something grown-ups do especially well when there is always this need to learn quickly or come to a solution immediately. But I am told transformation is often more about unlearning than learning and, who doesn’t enjoy the thrill of a transformation? Bring it on with butterflies (that’s the curious fearless inner child coming out).

Although the teacher’s comment surprised me, the reaction hadn’t. I may have initially pulled out my inner child when I reached for the crayons, but what came out were clearly grown-up issues. Namely juggling life as a single mother, working full-time as well as teaching part-time, and generally stretching beyond my limits to meet the needs of others.

When I reflected on my drawing I knew the main thing I needed to let go of was my stress. Without even realising, it had clung on to my body, seeped into my mind and I just let myself carry it around with me like it had a home in my body. What my meditative drawing had shown me was that this stress needed to be released and, to start producing some calmer meditative drawings, not ones that could potentially carry trigger warnings. What a wake-up call.

All this time not checking in with myself, not processing how I felt. This realisation about slowing down the pace to take more child-like steps has made me reflect on myself and look at how, as grown-ups, we behave in comparison. Because, while children discover one thing at a time, grown-ups are all about multi-tasking and trying to keep going like a Duracell bunny on long-life batteries.

When you start to really look at grown-up behaviour and inside yourself you also realise that being in a rush doesn’t let you develop your imagination and all those child-like qualities like curiosity, awareness, discovery and, fun which is what we give up in our grown-up world (after all we have no time for such frivolities).

But meditative drawing can help to embrace the inner child in a complicated grown-up world. An outlet for releasing stress, even if it might look like chaos on the page – all those colours, shapes, scribbles, doodles and whatever else comes naturally from your intuition. The most important thing is that it gets out. It’s the process of unravelling, processing, learning, checking in with yourself, self-inquiry, reflecting and practicing inner calm like it’s an instrument you want to get good at playing.

It’s about letting go of the mind, directing the crayon (even pencils or paint if you like) to wherever it wants to go on the page as you focus on the breath and draw…whatever comes naturally.

Meditative drawing plays a big part of my life now – it’s the first thing I do in the morning before my children wake up as it sets me up for the day – just 15 minutes of meditation followed by drawing and, in the evening to unwind and relax before bed.

Now that I teach meditative drawing I am often fascinated by the stories that come through in people’s drawings and their reflections that transpire while they draw. As one lady told me after I asked her why she drew a tree upside down with extremely long root; “It’s a reminder for me to take better care of my roots.” A good reminder it is too…for everyone.

How to encourage meditative drawing

For meditative drawing it’s best to sit straight with a relaxed spine. This way you are more alert, and you can easily grab your pencils, crayons or whatever materials you decide to use.
Make yourself comfortable in a quiet relaxed space and let your eyes close. Take a few moments to focus on your breath and let each breath relax you more deeply. Allow your hands to rest on your lap, with your palms facing upwards.
If your mind starts to wander then notice whether you’re thinking, hearing or feeling. Then go back to the breath, imagining inhaling peace and exhaling any tension.
There is no time frame so if you feel relaxed after 5 minutes then prepare yourself for the drawing part.

Here are a few suggestions of what to draw.

Intuitively – When you open your eyes notice which colour pencil/crayon you are drawn to and start drawing whatever shape or pattern you feel intuitively to draw. You may even feel like doing this with your eyes closed so your inner critic doesn’t come out. Notice how you feel when you free-draw with no idea of what you are drawing. Notice the thoughts you have while you are drawing and write those down. Reflection is an important part of the drawing meditation.

Your favourite song – Alternatively, you can try drawing to your favourite song with your eyes closed. Notice how you feel when that song plays. Can you translate that feeling on to paper?

Using a prompt – Before you meditate write a random list of words that come to mind. For example; happiness, creativity, balance, love, relaxation. Then have your list in your hands and during meditation (without opening your eyes) randomly point at a word. Use this word as the focus of your drawing. Asking yourself questions while drawing by placing your chosen word into questions such as; What does……..feel like? What does………feel like in my life?

And most importantly…. reflect – After you have done your meditative drawing it’s important to reflect and ask yourself questions such as;
What kind of patterns do you see?
How do you feel while looking at your work?
Did you learn anything about yourself?

Lastly, have fun with it! Draw from your heart and let your intuition guide you along the way.

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