Autumn is here and I feel ready to slow down and give myself time for self-healing. I just want to sit in a cozy chair and read. I want to keep my diary next to me and jot down thoughts and ideas.
For me, that provides a completely different calm than the artificial, flickering and blue light of the screen and the constant news about all kinds of crises.
But this spring I discovered that I had been on screens so much in the last few years that I had forgotten how to read a regular book! Afterward, I asked many others who said that they also have a hard time with it.
I am not talking about dyslexia or general reading difficulties here – my dear husband has struggled with dyslexia all his life, and that is a completely different issue.
I’m talking about the fact that we forget to give peace and time to be quiet, reflective, take something in slowly and form new thoughts within ourselves.
Research shows that our ability to concentrate has decreased dramatically and stress has increased since we all got computers and the internet. Don’t get me wrong: I use technology with great gratitude and joy (just like now!).
But I have discovered that it is necessary to slow down and write or draw by hand or read for my brain to function and have balance.
I find that reading and calm are the foundation for being able to create, to be able to solve problems, and form new ideas.
If you’d like to read and reflect with me, I’d like to share the new expressive arts therapy book I’ve co-authored, which is just around the corner. You can pre-order here with a discount if you use the code AF2E right here. It’s a comprehensive work that explains how to integrate movement, sound, art, play, images, drama, and other multisensory practices in psychotherapy. The book weaves together the latest theory and research with practical recommendations to improve communication and support regulation, attachment, trauma healing, and sensory integration.
My chapter is about my own method, Creative Mindfulness, which helps to find calm, balance, and regulation in our emotions through creativity.
Here is one of my exercises you can try right now:
Imagine what your inner peace and wisdom would look like if they were in the room. What kind of posture would it have? How would it move? What would it sound like when it spoke? You can play with shaping it in the air. Feel it with your hands. And you can go on to dialogue with your calmness and wisdom, asking it some essential questions and hearing what it wants to tell you right now.
Thanks for reading this verbose description! If you’d like to read the book while I do and tell me your reflections on it, I’d love to hear from you.
Thanks for reading along.
I wish you a calm and reflective autumn.
With love and creativity,
Karin
All artwork on the blog by Karin von Daler ©