Your Creative Spirit: Using Art to Heal Your Heart

In this post, I share how art has been crucial in my healing journey and offer practical tips for using art for healing and transformation.

Art in all its forms is a powerful tool available to all of us. Whether dealing with stress, grief, or seeking to enhance your well-being, creative activities provide profound benefits. Through painting, sculpture, music, literature, and dance, we can express and release our emotions, leading to profound life shifts.

Using art to heal my heart

In the depths of my own suffering in my early 30s, after years and years of zero creative pursuits, I reconnected with ‘wee me,’ who loved all things arts and crafts.

I began to paint again, wrote poetry for the first time, learned a few chords on the ukulele, and wrote my first song. I began to heal my heart one stroke, one strum, one word at a time.

I continue to use my creative spirit and pursuits to process my emotions, replenish my energy, restore peace, and access that deeper part of myself.

Recently, this much-needed flute song poured through me to soothe my soul. I’ve been enjoying it as my meditation soundtrack for the past few days, and you’re welcome to use it too. Our creations are more than just artistic expressions; they’re born through us and from us to serve both ourselves and others.

We can stroke away any hard, painful feelings or paint our feelings of passion and joy. Or, we can simply let our inner child play. We don’t have to be great artists, musicians, or writers; it’s not about that. We are using our creative spirit to help move any stuck energy and enhance our experience of love.

Here are a few of my own paintings many of which look like a 5-year-old painted them (one of them I did paint when I was about 12, called Wee Me’s Village). Others, like the Bloodshed painting, helped me process emotional pain, while the Love Rays painting was an expression of love.

Music helps us tune into the beat of our own hearts. Playing an instrument or singing a song can allow us to strum at our own heartstrings. Learning and playing even just a few chords or notes, or singing a few lines you wrote, can have profound effects.

I once wrote a song to recover from a traumatizing road trip to New York in our old camper van. Both my husband and I couldn’t even step foot into the van after that trip. By adding humor and minimizing the intensity of the experience, then turning the song into a little music video, the whole process helped us recover from the trip and make peace with the van.

Writing in the form of poetry has been my greatest source of insight and healing, especially during those sleepless nights when words would fall onto the page and shower me with peace. I particularly cherish those moments when the words reveal timeless wisdom and provide greater insight into the nature of The Voices in Our Heads. 

Writing my book Sweet – Highs, Lows and Mystic Glows was a major source of healing for me. The process of writing helped me confront and let go of the baggage I’d been carrying. Sharing it with others led to a spontaneous rebirth experience.

Practical Tips on Using Art for Healing and Transformation

Choose your environment:

Find or create a safe place that evokes inspiration and creativity. 

Can you set up a sweet spot in your house, or are there places in nature that you can visit to get your creative juices flowing? Ensure your creative space is free from distractions. Turn off notifications!

Choose your medium:

What art forms turns you on? Do you prefer writing, painting, making music? Try experimenting with various forms to find what resonates with you. Try combining them. Start with simple projects and gradually increase the complexity as you become more comfortable.

Make space and time for art:

Would scheduling regular sessions be helpful to you? Or would being spontaneous in your free time suit your personality better? Would getting together with a friend or an art group be helpful?

Could you incorporate art as part of your morning or evening routine?

Let yourself go wild:

Use your art form to vent, release anger, express sensuality, soothe anxiety, whatever you feel the need to release or express. Get your whole body involved in the process.

Have an attitude of curiosity: 

Allow yourself to explore and experiment without judgments, without the need for perfection, staying open and curious about what might unfold. Enjoy the process, using it as a form of mindfulness, a way of access that timeless dimension of the present moment. This is where transformation happens.

Share your work:

Some creations are meant for our eyes only, others for a specific person, and some are meant to be shared with the public. Art enriches our world and supports others on their journeys.

Using art for healing and transformation is a deeply personal journey. By incorporating these practical tips into your life, you can use the potential of art to bring about profound emotional and psychological well-being.

May your creations bring healing and restoration to you. Feel free to share your creations with me.

❤️❤️❤️