More experiential exercises

For those who can't find The Mountain Astrologer, or don't have an extra $ 7 to spend to get that article I recommended, I offer this handout I've used with my clients for years.

Exercises from Art Therapy

Gather your materials and put on some gentle instrumental music. Take some cleansing breaths. Relax. Meditate or pray if you wish. Try to rest your judging, verbal mind and see what the experience brings to you.

1. Draw a Bridge

Fold a piece of paper into three sections. Connect two ideas with a bridge in the middle section. (Perhaps, something you want to change, bridging into that changed life, or your past bridging into your future, etc.)

2. Road Drawing

Meditate on roads, signs, detours, crossroads. Then draw a road that reflects where you’re been and where you’re headed.

3. Landscape

Draw a landscape that reflects your life right now. Is it garden, desert, ocean—what?

4. Draw a Dream

With broken crayons (so you don’t feel you must be perfect), quickly draw a scene from your dream. Sketch dream images into your journal.

5. Collage

Cut articles and pictures that interest you from newspapers and magazines. With a glue stick or spray (that may allow easy repositioning), cover a notebook or folder. (You can use the notebook to hold your memories or journaling from this period in your life. Keep a collection of items that catch your eye if you like this exercise and want to do it again. Consider collecting rocks or sticks or things from nature too! You can assemble collections, or make garden art—you can do anything you wish.)

6. Mandala (or Circle Drawing)

Draw a large circle on your paper. Then, without thinking about it, quickly select five colors from a pile of crayons to represent these five spheres of your life (Emotional, Spiritual, Intellectual, Physical, and Social). Fill the circle in any way you like with these five colors.

This last technique is the one art therapist Beth Kean taught me. I use it regularly to "take my temperature," as the great therapist Virginia Satir used to say.

Most often, after completing the mandala, I find that the parts I drew with the color I chose for "physical" is the least developed--and I remember once again to give more time to exercise. At other times, I recognize that I am out of balance in meeting my social needs. I file the mandala in my journal, sometimes with and sometimes without comment. Looking back, as with dreams, I often see more.

Assignment: Choose a technique and see what happens for you.