With the whole world in lock-down at the moment, I can bet that at some point in the day every household has an anxious member.

It was just a few weeks ago that we were rushing around in our hectic lives juggling so many different things to get us through our day. Now that Coronavirus has literally stopped us in our tracks, most of us are beginning to feel emotions that we probably pushed to the side because of our busyness.

We can and should be making the most of this slower pace of life to learn new skills that otherwise we wouldn’t have had time for. What a great time to learn how to tap into our creative side (and yes we all possess one) to help reduce our anxious feelings.

Here are my top 3 reasons that art therapy exercises work to reduce anxiety:

1 It encourages self-expression

Psychologist Abraham Maslow said that even when we are deprived of basic necessities, some humans still thrive to express themselves through the arts.

(The Art Therapy Source Book: Cathy A. Malchiodi)

Art therapy exercises can help us to express the feelings we have but cannot put them into words to explain them. Most people feel a sense of relief after they have worked on a creative exercise, and expressed themselves through their art.

2 Tuning out chaos

While you are using your creativity you are fully concentrating on the process. You have no time to focus on negative feelings.

Then you get that wonderful feeling of accomplishment when you complete it.

“Do I need to say more?”

3 Connects your family unit

Getting the family together to create something special like a happiness collage, helps to reduce stress in the home.

It is fun to work on a project with loved ones and at the same time keeps the kids occupied. Even after the creative process has ended, those positive feelings are going to stay with you a little longer.

If you are a woman who is feeling anxious while the world around us in such hard times, then I would love to invite you along to my Facebook group: Anxiety Free Art. CLICK ME TO JOIN