Letting my Emotions do the Painting! by Jeanette Amlie It is important to note that ‘insight’ is not an auditory experience, nor is it linguistic or verbal by nature. Insight is visual. Herein lies the benefit of utilizing the process of simply drawing what we are feeling in order to gain insight into what we may not be able to access through talking. These two processes tend to use different hemispheres of our brains.
The left side of the brain is primarily intellectual and is highly developed for problem solving and complex analysis. It is also where our language ability initiates from and although it is the primary way we communicate ideas, it has also been heavily conditioned by the beliefs and expectations of our family and culture. Therefore, it is prone to censoring beliefs, ideas and impulses that conflict with our acquired sense of what is right an wrong.
The right side of the brain, which controls the left side of the body, is much more intuitive and visually oriented. For many of us western humans, it is also often much more under used. Yet most of us began communicating our feelings and ideas early in life by drawing rather than writing. In fact, the use of simple shapes, lines, colors and textures has an amazing ability to communicate complex emotions very quickly and easily, thus the familiar quote that a picture paints a thousand words.
In modern western cultures, and many other parts of the world as well, the intuitive and visual faculties of our brain have been relegated to a few supposedly ‘gifted’ people who are adept at rendering their ideas in images. Yet this remains a powerful and untapped resource of inner guidance and inspiration for all of us, if we so choose. And when a person is working on early life experiences and traumas, often they simply do not have the words to express what they are feeling for the experience was pre-verbal. So working with images allows them to get below the analytical mind, so to say, in order to access the memories and beliefs that can be the key to liberating many chronic mental and physical issues.
A wonderful resource to help you try out this process is shared on my website at http://www.blueearthawakening.com/visual-journaling-process.html. The process evolved out of my work with a wonderful book called Visual Journaling: Going Deeper than Words by Barbara Ganim & Susan Fox. This simple process allows nearly anyone to utilize shape, color and texture to explore the deeper reaches of their unconscious mind and emotions. So I encourage you to give it a try and see what you discover. It may surprise you how insightful your little scribbles and doodles can be!
If you would like assistance or support using creative expression to access old tension and trauma please contact me for more information about Creative Awakening Sessions at /creative-awakening.html.
Blessings on your journey of Self Discovery ♡ Jeanette
The left side of the brain is primarily intellectual and is highly developed for problem solving and complex analysis. It is also where our language ability initiates from and although it is the primary way we communicate ideas, it has also been heavily conditioned by the beliefs and expectations of our family and culture. Therefore, it is prone to censoring beliefs, ideas and impulses that conflict with our acquired sense of what is right an wrong.
The right side of the brain, which controls the left side of the body, is much more intuitive and visually oriented. For many of us western humans, it is also often much more under used. Yet most of us began communicating our feelings and ideas early in life by drawing rather than writing. In fact, the use of simple shapes, lines, colors and textures has an amazing ability to communicate complex emotions very quickly and easily, thus the familiar quote that a picture paints a thousand words.
In modern western cultures, and many other parts of the world as well, the intuitive and visual faculties of our brain have been relegated to a few supposedly ‘gifted’ people who are adept at rendering their ideas in images. Yet this remains a powerful and untapped resource of inner guidance and inspiration for all of us, if we so choose. And when a person is working on early life experiences and traumas, often they simply do not have the words to express what they are feeling for the experience was pre-verbal. So working with images allows them to get below the analytical mind, so to say, in order to access the memories and beliefs that can be the key to liberating many chronic mental and physical issues.
A wonderful resource to help you try out this process is shared on my website at http://www.blueearthawakening.com/visual-journaling-process.html. The process evolved out of my work with a wonderful book called Visual Journaling: Going Deeper than Words by Barbara Ganim & Susan Fox. This simple process allows nearly anyone to utilize shape, color and texture to explore the deeper reaches of their unconscious mind and emotions. So I encourage you to give it a try and see what you discover. It may surprise you how insightful your little scribbles and doodles can be!
If you would like assistance or support using creative expression to access old tension and trauma please contact me for more information about Creative Awakening Sessions at /creative-awakening.html.
Blessings on your journey of Self Discovery ♡ Jeanette
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