Creativity Archives - Louisville Health and Healing

What Can We Learn From a Dandelion?

October 1, 2022/0 Comments/in Creativity, Louisville Health and Healing News, Mental Health, Spirituality/by Louisville Health and Healing

“Dandelions don’t know whether they are a weed or a brilliance. But each seed can create a field of dandelions…We are invited to be that prolific.” – Adrienne Maree Brown

The plants that we often refer to as weeds are also known as pioneer plants. They are the hardy plants that pave the way towards healing in an area of earth that has been traumatized and wounded. We often see these in our yards and in the cracks of our sidewalks, because in all reality, that is not the way that the earth wants to function.

Weeds, though we may see them as annoying, serve as a reminder that what we like (our pretty landscaped yards, paved driveways, and sidewalks) may not be what is really healthy and healing for the bigger “us” – the earth and world we rest on.

Why does this matter and how does it relate to mental health?

Well, in many ways.

Much like a dandelion, we hold more potential, strength, and capability in our bodies than we may acknowledge or believe. Just as the dandelion blooms and grows and changes into its new puff-ball self, and then waits patiently for a breeze to help it take its next steps – our process of healing and growing may not be straightforward. It might look brilliant and easy for a while, then become difficult, and then perhaps seem to stagnate and annoyingly refuse to budge. Perhaps, the whole time, the ups and downs and all, we were growing towards something – even in the waiting times.

Or maybe like the resilient weed we are a pioneer – paving the way for change and healing in our own lives and in our communities. When met with opposition or hardships, we have the heart and strength to continue forward.

And maybe, like the misunderstood weed, our body and emotions tell us important things about what we need as we are healing and growing. Those things might not always feel good, be easy, or make sense in the moment – but when we attend to them and listen to them, we might be able to heal in new and incredible ways over time.

Or perhaps like the annoying but incredible weeds – we can be more than one thing. Maybe we can be nervous but also sure of our strengths. We can be unkind but also incredibly loving. We can struggle but also survive. Two things can exist at once within us – we can know this and be reassured.

The dandelion weed reminds us that we are invited to be prolific, to be a pioneer, to be resilient, to break down paths and form new ones. You can be many things at once and that’s beautiful.

The Power of Storytelling: How it changes our brains and hearts

October 1, 2022/0 Comments/in Creativity, Louisville Health and Healing News, Mental Health, Spirituality/by Louisville Health and Healing

Throughout time, storytelling has held significant power and cultural importance. Written and oral storytelling is the means through which generations of wisdom, traditions, practical information, and values have been passed down and preserved over time.

Stories hold incredible power in our lives.

“As far as the brain is concerned, there is an impressive body of evidence to demonstrate how it has evolved over time as essentially a storied organ.”
– Jeffrey A. Kottler

In humans and in primate species, there exists something called mirror neurons. These brain cells are related to empathy, social behavior, and the ability to imitate – they function as a core part of human learning and connection. These neurons allow our brain to imagine physically and emotionally what another person’s experience is like.

Giacomo Rizzolatti, the neurophysiologist that discovered these neurons explains, “We are social beings. Our survival depends on our understanding the actions, intentions, and emotions of others. Mirror neurons allow us to understand other people’s mind, not only through conceptual reasoning but through imitation. Feeling, not thinking.”

We learn through vicarious and empathetic means – through watching others or imagining others’ experiences.

We watch a person enjoy an ice cream on a hot summer day and anticipate that we might enjoy that icy treat too. We imagine and empathize with a friend’s pain when they tell us about the recent loss of their loved one. We read the story of a person that overcame a struggle that we relate to, and feel hope imagining ourselves doing the same.

Stories are so intertwined into the fabric of our daily living, that we don’t often think about the many ways they influence our fears, motivations, interests, goals, relationships, and choices.

Why not purposefully connect with the way that storytelling can be an agent of change in your life and the lives of others? Listen actively to those you love and value – what can you learn from their story, their perspective? In what ways would your story being shared help someone else?

What’s amazing is that not only can we gather power from shared stories, but we can also give ourselves power by taking command of the way we tell our story. You are your own storyteller and protagonist. Reframing, deconstructing, and reconstructing your story can be incredibly empowering.

If you would like to better understand the ways that stories impact you, consider some of these questions:
1. What is a story that you often tell people you are getting to know, when you want them to get to know you better?
2. What is a story or a character that you have or do relate to strongly? This could be a storybook, a movie, a folktale, something you recall from a song, a play, or a story shared by a friend. How do you relate to this story and how has it impacted your life or your perspective?
3. What is an important or meaningful experience in your life that you haven’t been able to form into words or a story, yet?

As you explore your story and storytelling, we are here to support you!

Being Consciously Grateful

May 10, 2022/0 Comments/in Anxiety, Creativity, Louisville Health and Healing News, Mental Health, Recovery, Spirituality/by Louisville Health and Healing

None of us like to think of ourselves as an ungrateful person. You probably often feel
thankfulness and appreciation for rain after many hot summer days, for help from your
friend when you needed a ride, or even towards yourself and the skills or insight you
used in a specific situation. Feeling thankfulness or gratitude indicates that we
acknowledge the positive impact of something or someone – but the important step we
often forget is actually taking a conscious moment to acknowledge and express that
gratitude.

Many of us feel thankfulness, but let that feeling pass quickly without doing much of
anything with it. To those in our life, and even to our own subconscious self, this can
begin to convey that we do not acknowledge or appreciate the things that have been
done to help us. The good news is it’s an easy fix! This easy fix has two parts:

1. Take an internal moment to pause and truly recognize the appreciation or
thankfulness you are feeling.
2. Take a moment to actively express that thankfulness.

Taking an internal moment to recognize your feelings of gratitude is an exercise in
mindfulness. You may have worked previously on increasing your awareness of internal
negative thoughts or feelings you have, to help change your behaviors or challenge
your negative self-talk – but the awareness can’t stop there. It’s just as important to
acknowledge the positive thoughts and feelings we have too!

Taking a moment to actively express your thankfulness may look different depending on
who you feel grateful towards or what you are grateful for – but that’s a beautiful space
to flex your creativity and love!

Maybe you feel grateful towards yourself for staying patient and calm in a situation you
would have previously blown-up during. You could say to yourself, “I’m really proud of
myself for acting this way and grateful that I chose to be patient in this situation”. Taking
a moment to note our self-gratitude is easy to forget, but also easy to start doing. Doing
so can help build positive self-talk and encourage our own strengths. Doing something
similar out loud for those in your life that you feel grateful towards can similarly build
them up. Our loved ones need to hear we are thankful for their specific strengths,
actions, and ideas, too!

Some people find it uncomfortable to express their feelings out loud to others, especially
gracious and loving feelings. But remember – it’s not uncommon that the things that are
hardest for us to do, show us the spaces we have for growth in our life. It’s also
important to remind yourself that something uncomfortable may only be uncomfortable
because it is unfamiliar – practice makes us comfortable!

Try making a goal for yourself this week to actively and specifically express your
gratitude at least one time a day! Even if it’s about something small. You may find that it
not only makes those in your life feel more valued and genuinely seen, but that you may
also start to see the love and growth in your life more clearly – and who wouldn’t want
that.

The Very Big Question of “Who am I and who do I want to be?”

April 3, 2022/0 Comments/in Anxiety, Creativity, depression, Louisville Health and Healing News, Mental Health, Spirituality/by Louisville Health and Healing

By calling attention to this question, by no means do I want to encourage any feelings of “I’m not
good enough”. The fact that any of us has space to grow is not a bad thing in and of itself. If
anything, identifying space for change can be a great thing. Being aware of who you are, how
you act, and how you want to change can be helpful in giving new thoughtfulness and purpose
to your days. Awareness is key to change and change can be good, but change can also be
slow and tiring at times – and that’s okay.

I have been thinking a lot about this idea of how my self, my self perception, and who I want
to be align or maybe don’t align – trying to find room for growth and space to understand myself
better. I recently saw a post on social media where someone said “Be the person you needed
when you were younger”. Wow – what an interesting thing to consider.

Thinking about what our child self or younger self needed from others but didn’t receive, can be
a difficult or even painful thing to recall and think about. But maybe it’s something you’ve never
really thought about in a concrete way before or allowed yourself to consider. I know I hadn’t.
Thinking about this, I have found that the answer has not come to me easily and may take time
for me to truly understand – but I feel like it’s worth it. My child self / younger self deserves that
consideration. And yours does too!

So what about you? What did younger you need? What kind of person would have made a
difference for them? Maybe start by listing words, or thinking about feelings that come up for
you. Once you start to have an image of this “person”, start to consider what needs to change
for you to reflect that “person” better in your life. Maybe the change necessary requires some
healing on your part, first. Maybe it requires some playfulness that you feel out of touch with.
Maybe it requires a community or some structure. Whatever space for change and growth you
see, know that making that change happen is a process and give yourself compassion. Being
patient and encouraging with ourselves can be hard. But we have the ability to grow within us!
All of these things may be easier to consider and work on with some extra support.

Whether that’s from family, friends, a bigger community – or your therapist! Make sure to let your therapist know what your goals are – we are here to support you through your healing and growth!

“I Want To Be More Creative, But I’m Just Not…”

February 26, 2022/0 Comments/in Anxiety, art therapy, Creativity, Louisville Health and Healing News, Mental Health, Spirituality, Uncategorized/by Louisville Health and Healing

Feeling intimidated by the idea of trying to be “creative” can be hard for many people, especially adults. As we get older, it can become harder for some of us to get in touch with that joyful, curious, less judgemental part of ourselves – our inner, free child. To some, this inner child may be seen as ‘not appropriate’, or for others it may be perceived as a long-gone fond memory that “I’ll just never be able to go back to”. This inner child is our first source of creativity.

Culturally, we value efficiency, production, and profit, which shapes the way we engage with self-care, fun, and with this idea of creativity or art. It can be hard to take the time to do these things or value them without some ‘perfect’ and concrete ‘end-product’. We deny ourselves the opportunity for fun or growth, when we avoid doing something purely on the grounds of thinking that it’s only worth doing if it ends up being ‘perfect’ or ‘good enough’.

How many times have you said or heard someone say, “Oh, I can’t make art, I’m just not good at it”. But, I ask, good at what exactly? Creativity can be so many things – kids know that so well! Our child self was so good at just scribbling lines for the joy of the movement. We once loved the feeling of squeezing playdough and making strange blob-forms out of the colors, with no expectations or worries about the end result. Viewing art-making as having to look a certain way creates a divide between us and the very natural part of our human self that wants to make, be curious, and explore! The making-of-things, or art-making, is one of the oldest human activities and defining human traits that we all share. We are separated from many other animals for our ability to make tools – to create and be creative!

You do not need to make things for others, you can make things for yourself, just because it feels good to do so. So, let yourself make strange things! Or ugly things! Or boring things! Or beautiful, lovely things! I find it helpful to focus on the joy of the process, and then when you are eventually faced with your product, try to look at it with curiosity instead of judgment. Be curious about yourself and be patient with yourself. Getting comfortable with making things can be a process, but you can do it!

Here’s an art directive that may be helpful to start with:

Go to the store and buy a notebook (or make one), ideally one that you like to look at. Cheap ones are okay, but finding one that you really like helps instill worth and sincerity in what you put into it.
Warm-up to your relationship with your notebook by collecting things you like to look at. Experiment! Tape in fabric scraps, leaves, cut outs from the newspaper or magazines. Maybe step on a page and leave a boot print. Dribble some coffee on a page and see what shapes it makes.
Find what you enjoy and play! After this experimentation, you may have found something you liked doing or seeing. Make more of it! Maybe you liked the shapes you saw in your coffee dribbles and want to make more – drawing faces and places into them, like staring up at clouds. Perhaps you liked the repetitiveness of cutting out images from magazines and finding interesting ways to tape them onto a page together – making collages!
You can always take this a step farther and start to fill the pages of your sketchbook day by day – almost like a journal to reflect on what’s happened or what’s been felt that day. I find this to be calming and grounding. Your visual journal can even be a tool to help notice things about yourself over time. Following up with your therapist can be helpful!

I hope you’re able to find some courage and start experimenting with your art-making! If you find art-making and creating to be interesting or fun you may even want to look into expressive therapies in the future – specifically Art Therapy!

Meet Your Mood: Yogic Techniques for Mood Management

January 25, 2022/0 Comments/in Anxiety, Creativity, depression, Spirituality/by Louisville Health and Healing

Changing your entire mood state will not likely happen from just making use of breathing
techniques or yogic practices, but these can be tools to help you better manage mood states
that feel overwhelming. Getting a handle on your mood lays the foundation for you to then take
other steps to help yourself, whether that be: talking with your therapist, reaching out to a friend
or family, doing something that brings you joy or confidence, etc.

It is suggested that when you are in an overwhelming mood state, you should start by meeting
your mood. This begins with growing and developing your awareness of when you are in such a
moment, so that when you are, you can ask, “Am I feeling high or low?”. Are you feeling
heightened stress, anxiety, fear, a rapid heart rate and breath? Or are you feeling low
motivation, low energy, sadness, and apathy? The answer to this question let’s you know what
breathing or yogic techniques to use to best help yourself in that moment.

In yogic philosophy, a person’s psychological state can be understood as the result of the
interplay of the proportions of the three guṇas within them. The guṇas are: sattva
(enlightening, harmonious, uplifting), rãjas (exciting, stimulating, active), and tamas (heaviness,
eveloping). An important part of this, is an understanding that the three guṇas exist inside all of
us and work together to help us achieve a more healthy way of being – or in other words, it is
natural for our lives to be a mix of mood states. It’s a matter of gaining awareness and balance
in navigating them that helps us feel healthier and happier.

“I’m feeling heightened”: Rapid Breathwork

If you find yourself feeling heightened (anxious, stressed, panicked, manic), it could be said you
are in a predominantly rãjasic state. Instead of trying to downplay your mood, meet your mood
with kapālabhāti breath, or ‘skull shining breath’. Meet your inner intensity with energy and
then later move on to calming techniques!

● Sit in a grounding pose – sit cross legged on the floor. Support yourself against a wall, if needed.
Ideally, close your eyes and keep your spine straight and tall.
● Take a shallow breath in through both nostrils.
● Exhale forcefully through both nostrils – feel your stomach move inward toward your spine.
● Repeat this quick breath, aiming for one breath per second. It will sound like a dog panting. This
breath can be difficult for beginners, so start where you can. Practice makes perfect! Keep your
inhale shallow and exhale forceful.

After meeting your body at its heightened state, try to transition into other calming or
self-soothing or self-care tasks/techniques. What might those look like for you?

“I’m feeling low”: Slow, Building Breathwork
If you find yourself feeling low (depressed, apathetic, fatigued, unmotivated), it could be said
you are in a predominantly tamāsic state. Meet your mood with slow breathwork and an active
grounding pose called tādāsana, or mountain pose. Meet your mood with gentleness and
move towards energy slowly!
● Stand tall with your feet below your hips (hip’s/shoulder’s width apart), stretching your toes out flat
on the floor. Stretch your arms out at your sides, with palms forward and fingers out-stretched.
Focus on the feeling of the ground beneath your feet.
● Tighten the muscles in your legs and hips. Feel the energy and strength in your legs. Make sure
not to lock your knees.
● Keep your stomach pulled inward, your chest forward (not in a hunched over position), and
stretch your spine tall. Feel the vertical stretch and remain connected to the strength in your feet
and legs.
● Stand actively in this pose for a few minutes while doing slow repeated breathing (breathe in for 4
counts, hold for 4 counts, breathe out for 4 counts, and hold for 4 counts, repeat).
If you feel you could benefit from some extra invigoration after this, move into ‘bellows breath’.
● Standing in mountain pose, inhale for 4 counts as your raise your arms up over your head. Hold
this for 4 counts and exhale for 4 counts as you bring them out wide at your sides.
● Inhale and raise your arms up again, and exhale while folding over your torso, bending at the
waist, bringing your face down towards your thighs. Loudly say, “HA!”.
● Repeat this at least 10 times and end in mountain pose with your eyes closed. Focus on the
changes you notice in how your body feels.
If you attempt these or other meditative practices and find that it is difficult for you because it
creates a mental space for negative self-talk, speak with your therapist about other coping skill
recommendations or possible alterations!

References:
1. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Samkhya. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved January 18, 2022, from
2. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Samkhya.
3. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). The Samkhya-Karikas. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved January 18, 2022, from
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Indian-philosophy/The-Samkhya-karikas.
4. Horovitz, E. G. (2021). Head and heart: Yoga therapy and art therapy interventions for mental health. Handspring Publishing.
5. Horovitz, E. G., & Elgelid, S. (2015). Yoga therapy: Theory and practice. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
6. McCorry, L. K. (2007). Physiology of the autonomic nervous system. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 71(4),
78. https://doi.org/10.5688/aj710478

Creativity and Healing, Counseling Services

Creativity and The Healing Process

October 12, 2018/0 Comments/in Creativity, Mental Health/by Louisville Health and Healing

I have been on this journey of healing and self-discovery for many years now. What I have realized is that the more I discover the more I dig. The more I dig, then the more I discover. Healing and transformation is a chaotic, confusing, and exhausting process. Sometimes I can’t even describe what my internal world wants to tell me. There are so much evolution and synthesis going on between my head, heart, and soul.

For most of my life, my internal world came out however it could—addictions, passive-aggressiveness, intense persecution, and ridicule of others. I had no way of processing and releasing my internal world. I did not know how to relax, have fun, and create something to represent my process.

Transformation and change are a dying and birthing process. Something is created when we change. It could be a new thought, belief, narrative, or life script—something is created. Pain happens in the transformation process too—grieving, rage, and hostility can be very overwhelming and scary.

When we experience trauma, suffering, and pain our struggle can be adding language to our experiences. Part of the brain that deals with these hurts actually goes off-line to cope. Being creative allows for language and meaning to be attached to our suffering. Creativity allows for relief of pain and integration of transformation. It allows for a safe way to nudge our brain to stay in the game a bit longer—it leads to healing…

Expression through creativity leads to healing. Expressive therapists such as music and art therapy are highly effective practices. People actually specialize in expressive therapy. So, it works and there is research to back that up.

I am working with a mentor on how to use pottery as a creative process. He said something to me about an experience he had in therapy a long time ago. He said, “my therapist asked if I ever got angry”. I said “no”. The therapist then requested for him to get a drum. He bought a drum and did not realize how angry he actually was. Moral of the story—We need things to help us express our internal landscape even if we think “we’re okay” and “don’t have any issues”. It will always come out either in a creative process or a destructive process.

Here are some ways to be expressive and creative:

Writing poetry, music, and stories
Playing instruments
Painting, drawing
Pottery and woodworking

It doesn’t have to make sense. Allow for the creativity that you have to illustrate the beautiful transformative process that you are in—that we are all in all of the time. I would love to hear your ideas and see what you create.