20 Jan Neuro Doodling to reduce anxiety and stress
Looking for a simple tool to help reduce stress and anxiety?
Or process any other emotions?
Struggle with meditation?
Find mindfulness a good intention, but something hard to stay with?
Adult colouring in books feel too constrictive and contrived?
If so, you might like to give Neuro Doodling a go.
As a creative therapist, friends assumed that I would be all over adult colouring in books. Over the last few years, I have been given (and have bought) several. However, they never really clicked. I wanted to enjoy them, to find the relaxation that was promised.
But they just didn’t do it for me.
So when a close friend, who typically steers clear of the latest fads and is sceptical of anything advertised as ‘mindful’, introduced me to neuro doodling I was curious.
What is Neuro doodling?
Neuro doodling is a simple meditative drawing process that can help focus the mind and create a sense of flow.
The benefits of doodling have long been acknowledged but starting with a blank page and having no structure can make it difficult to get started.
Neuro doodling is reported to have been created in 2015 by Russian Psychologist Pavel Piskarev.
Benefits of Neuro Doodling
It is believed by some to have specific therapeutic benefits for the brain, helping us reawaken dormant neuroconnections and create positive change. It engages the brain in a focused, creative activity, which can help to us relax and unwind, reduce stress and anxiety, and improve overall mental well-being.
There is some evidence to suggest that neuro doodling may be helpful in improving memory and cognitive function, as well as reducing feelings of anxiety and depression. However, more research is needed to fully understand the potential benefits of this activity.
Helping gentle transformation of stress and fear
I have found that it can be a gentle and effective way of helping transform stressful and fearful thoughts and feelings.
There is something about starting with drawing freeform lines and then following a simple process to transform this stress into an often beautiful work of art.
There can be something cathartic about the process which taps into the unconscious and allows spontaneity and creativity.
Give it a go by following the process below. You can either focus on a specific issue or emotion, or just doodle away and see what arises without any agenda…
The Process
1. Think about an issue that is alive for you at the moment (OPTIONAL*)
Bring to mind an issue that is alive for you at the moment. This might be a specific event, decision, feeling or obsessive thought.
2. Create a brain dump of what comes up for you (OPTIONAL*)
Next do a brain dump of what comes up for you as you think about this issue using word association.
Take a piece of paper and write down all of the words and feelings that come to mind about this issue. Try and withhold any judgement and let yourself be as free as you can.
Words and emotions might include anxiety, fear, indecision, frustration, anger, depression, love, calm, irritated etc.
Be as quick and as messy as you like.
You might also like to check in with your body. Is there any tension or tightness is your body? Perhaps in your throat, chest, stomach, legs? Just notice what is there.
3. Start mark making
Take a black marker (ideally a sharpie as it won’t run if you decide to colour in) and start mark making – fast and without thinking too much.
Aim for long squiggly lines that randomly go across the page and that express the energy of the issue.
This process should only take a few seconds, and may have a cathartic quality:
For any lines that don’t go fully to the edges, continue them onto the edge, so that no lines end in the middle of the paper:
4. Start rounding and softening the intersections
The next part of the process involves slowing down and going back over the drawing and softening the edges and intersections.
Curve out and round out the corners.
There is something about taking the hard jagged edges of our thinking and revisiting them with non-judgement and softening then with a curve.
This rounding process can feel calming and like a rewiring of the brain. Some people have likened the resulting drawings to the neurons and synapses of the brain.
You can then add additional lines to enhance the composition and also add circles – tracing round jars etc.
This is an opportunity to introduce more control into the overall picture. And continue rounding out the corners.
5. Observe what is going on in your mind and body
You might like to keep checking in with your mind and body. Has anything changed? Have any sensations or tensions changed? Just notice.
6. Colouring in
Some people like to stop at this stage and enjoy the monochrome drawing.
There is an opportunity to enhance with colour using water colours or pencils etc. Alternatively you can shade in or fill with words, or draw a new picture over it…
7. Reflect on the process
Did you enjoy doing your neuro doodle? How do you feel now? And compared to when you started?
At the same time we are not looking for something ‘pretty’ or ‘impressive’. There might be benefits of creating something ‘ugly’ and challenging, especially around less socially acceptable feelings of anger, rage, jealousy, shame etc.
Even those who don’t think that they have an artistic bone in their body report to being impressed with the results.
Here are some examples of other doodles:
Exploring Unconscious Promptings
You might also be interested in coming back to your picture or taking it to therapy or coaching to see if the doodle has any potential messages or promptings from the unconscious.
The doodle below was done while exploring the topic of grief about the past and areas of life that had been cut off. There was an initial sense of being trapped and being bound up with barbed wire.
As I moved through the process, I found myself turning the picture upside down, and the barbed wire was transformed into a string of pearls (whose beauty starts from the grit at the centre of the oyster).
And out of the seemingly random colouring in process, a butterfly still in its cocoon started to emerge. Perhaps hinting at the possibility of ongoing change and metamorphosis in the future.
Fancy giving it a go?
I’d love to hear how you get on.
Interested in using art and creativity in your therapy?
Feel free to get in touch to find out more about how I work.
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