Journaling Through Crisis: Inner Child Work with Youth

There is a great need for mental health tools for children and teens during this time of global crisis. Just as the COVID-19 pandemic is confusing and traumatic for adults, I think it is even more so for youth. It’s important to give them age appropriate tools for dealing with their feelings and experiences. Our guest blogger, Esther Rappaport, is one of our candidates for certification in Creative Journal Expressive Arts Training. Like many of our CJEA practitioners, she is working with youth, sharing time-tested techniques for expressing emotions, releasing stress, and becoming more self-aware.

Journaling Through Crisis: Inner Child Work with Youth

How are you making sure not to get overwhelmed, anxious or depressed during this chaotic time? Everyone is going crazy. Are you, too? What emotions are you feeling? Which parts of you, which subpersonalities are taking charge?

I think everyone is reacting based on their own previous stories, traits and disowned selves.

For example, I am currently working with a teenage client who is really lonely. She doesn't have friends and almost no social life. She attaches herself to her work and her studies all the time. She’ll stay up late and wake up really early to study. Studying is the only place she feels safe and valued.

Now, all of a sudden there is no school. She is at home and has a phone conference for a few hours a day and the rest of the time she is free. This teenager is thrilled. She doesn’t have to deal with the social pressure. She doesn’t have to feel left out. She doesn’t have to deal with rejection.

However, she realizes that most of her classmates aren’t too excited about this arrangement. “They come to school for the social part,” she notes.

So although she’s glad she’s got this extra break, she realizes her void. She realizes it's up to her to change things and have a better life. But how can she do it?

Lucia’s Creative Journal Expressive Arts methods to the rescue! My client is working her way through the Recovery of the Inner Child book and is currently spending a lot of time journaling with her Inner Child. Especially her Lonely Inner Child.

There have been many realizations, painful truths and action steps that have come out of her dialogues. For example, after being rejected and hurt so many times in the past, she no longer wants to put herself out there and try to make friends. She’s afraid she’ll get hurt again. She has also come to realize that she put her self in a vicious cycle. She thinks no one wants to be friends with her, so when she puts her self out there she is expecting them to ignore her and then they really do. Then she’s only more hurt and doesn’t want to try again.

This sweet client of mine is making the most of this opportunity and is learning about herself on a very deep level.

What are you doing to improve your life in this chaotic time?

 

Esther Rappaport
Relationship Photographe
Host of the LifePix Relationships Podcast: https://anchor.fm/lifepix-relationships
Candidate for Certification in Creative Journal Expressive Arts 
Email st@lifepixphotography.com

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Lucia

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Creative Healing for a Fractured Collarbone: Weaving Together Non-Dominant Hand Scribbling and Writing

In early February, I fell and fractured my right collarbone. I’d been working in my studio hanging small drawings and watercolors to the wall with push pins. Descending from a small 2 stepladder, I misjudged the bottom step and extended my right leg too far. With my left foot still up on the top step of the ladder, my right foot was unable to land steadily on the floor. Next thing I knew, I was on the floor on my right side, still holding onto the ladder, which came down with me.

Long story short, the result was a fractured right collage bone (clavicle) and badly bruised right should, arm and elbow. The irony of all this was not lost on me, my friends, students and the physician in ER when I told him I’d written a book called, The Power of Your Other Hand. Upon showing me the X-ray results, he informed me that I’d have to keep my right arm in a sling for a while and limit use of my right arm and hand while my collar bone magically knitted itself back together over the next 4 – 6 weeks. No surgery required, just self-care, rest, and patience while Mother Nature glued the bone back together.

I am naturally right handed, so guess what? For a month I had to practice what I preach and teach and use my non-dominant (left) hand for almost everything: including writing, drawing, painting, typing, using a mouse, brushing my hair, shaking hands, etc. The corona virus was just hitting California, so “social distancing” was IN and shaking hands with people was OUT for health reasons. No driving, of course, and none of my regular leg and upper body exercising for strength at the gym. I’d get physical therapy later.

It could have been worse, I observed. If I hadn’t already had hip replacements on both sides, I might have broken a hip. No chance. These hips are made of unbreakable ceramic and titanium. So, grateful to be walking, I launched into my own healing program. My physician was out of town, so I made an appointment to see him upon his return. We had a phone conversation. An expert in vitamins with his own line of supplements, I got some supplements designed to help with bone growth and mending. And then I started Creative Journaling.

I drew the outline of my body (front and back) and let each body part tell me how it felt in a word or two or three. There were lots of places that were hurting and they had plenty to say.

What I learned after in depth dialogues (using my non-dominant hand to speak for the body parts) was that I needed to “rest, be quiet, not work, slow down…let the parts (of my personality) that go out in the world and are always in charge have a rest. Last year was all about that. This year is about being at home, care-giving us & out home….” We’d just renovated the kitchen. The emphasis was on “a place to nurture self and be nurtured.”

My fractured shoulder told me, “Your business right now is to take care of me.”

About 3 weeks after the injury, my arm still in a sling, I was able to do some bilateral (2-handed drawing) to music in my journal. I call this “Dancing on Paper” and always find it very relaxing in the face of daily news about COVID-19 and how rapidly the virus was spreading. Anxiety was in the air, as the corona virus became a worldwide pandemic, with entire cities and countries in lock down in an effort to contain it. I hadn’t realized how much tension was stored in my body from the injury and from the news until I left it on the page through scribbling and then writing to the rhythms of Keith Jarrett jazz piano solos.

The message, again, was that I needed to “baby myself like an infant” in order to heal my collarbone. It was written with my non-dominant hand using two pens of different colors.

As the words formed with my left hand, I thought, “Yes, it always comes back to inner child healing.” I realized that my right hand, which is the side of the body that does so much giving and reaching out and being in charge in the world, was forced to rest on my own stomach, due to being in a sling. The energy that I'd been putting out for many months, leading workshops, doing book signings, etc., was now being turned inward for my own healing. I continued scribbling my pain and stress out, this time with both hands.

Weaving insights from my Creative Journaling and the emotional release they provided into my daily program of rest and self-care has moved my recovery along quite beautifully. As of this writing, I have an appointment to start physical therapy, and will continue with the journaling and more artwork as my arm permits.

One important observation that I want to share is this: My experience over the years is that each and every body part or physical symptom has its own unique, situational and time-bound message. That is why I do not have much confidence in books that claim to tell you what your symptom, disease, body parts or pains “mean.” My clients, my students and my professional associates have all had the same experiences I have had. Each time we converse with our bodies we get different answers. The words from the body differ dramatically depending on the circumstances of our lives, the nature of the particular pain, the specific location, and the guidance the body gives on how to heal it. There is no easy formula for this. No quick answer from outside, from an “expert” or author who claims to know what’s going on in YOUR body and in YOUR life on this particular day.

The lessons the body has to teach us are individual, very particular and personal to us at any given time. Drawing and writing with the non-dominant hand can unlock the gifts that illness, injury or pain have to give us.

Note: Journal prompts for bilateral drawing and body parts dialogues are in Chapters 3 and 6 of The Power of Your Other Hand (Conari, 2019). There are also many journal prompts for self-healing in Drawing Your Stress Away and Hello, This is Your Body Talking (Ohio U/Swallow Press, 2017).

Be well,

Lucia

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From Chaos to Calm: Drawing and Collaging Our Way Through COVID-19

The anxiety we have all felt in the face of coping with COVID-19 is universal. To one degree or another we have all felt it. Anxiety comes in many colors and themes. It may appear as fear of the unknown, of living in highly unpredictable times and with circumstances out of our control. Then there is the fear of coming down with the virus. For many millions, panic about financial survival weighs heavily. Many are scared about day to day challenges, such as schooling children at home, finding much needed supplies that have become scarce, or care-giving sick family members (whether they have COVID-19 or not).

We all need ways to release this build up of anxiety from the body and mind. If we don’t, our immune systems can be weakened (the last thing we need right now). As Dr. James Pennebaker’s research shows, writing about trauma or crisis strengthens our immune functions. My research with children showed that drawing and writing about anxiety has health benefits. (Edinburg School District, Edinburg, TX, Jefferson Elementary School, 2013-14.) I’ve also observed that creating collages depicting chaos, followed by collages of calm, can bring about a deep state of inner peace.

Scribbling it out

Scribbling with both hands, as well as writing with the non-dominant hand, are great ways to shed anxiety bottled up in the body. Using both hands for these stress scribbles helps balance my brain and appears to regulate the nervous system.

Letting my non-dominant hand add words can help as well. The looser the writing, the better. Sometimes a simple image will tell the whole story, as in this “Long windy road” scribble when I realized that sheltering in place could last awhile.

When scribbling out my stress I always find that I draw my way to another mood, one of acceptance and calm. The colors often change, as in this stress series when red and black suddenly turned to yellow and blue. I was also healing from a collar bone fracture and bruised arm and found that all the scribbling I had done made my shoulder and arm feel much better. On the last drawing, I wrote, Mending the Fracture.

Collage: Feelings piece by piece

Another great medium for dealing with anxiety and chaotic feelings is collage. The very act of tearing images out of magazines is cathartic. Sometimes the subject matter in the photos expresses accurately how we feel. That was certainly the case with these photos of trash from an article in National Geographic. Just recognizing how the photo depicted my jumbled up feelings was healing in itself. But I went even further and scribbled my mixed feelings out onto the next page, forming the background for more photo fragments of trash.

The words, Finding Our Way to the Future, amidst all the chaos of COVID-19 jumped out at me from the magazine pages. There was something positive we could do. Shelter in place, wear masks in public, protect ourselves and others from this mysterious virus, which was turning up new symptoms every day and striking new unsuspecting populations, like the young.

On the facing page, I placed a photo of the cosmos torn asunder. I got the feeling that this too would pass. The split seemed to represent a big divide between “life before COIVD -19” and “life after COVID-19”. I had no idea what that meant logically, but my intuition said there would be a big sea change in our lives. And yes, it would be a “trip on the wild side” as the words stated.

As usual, this morphed into another mood and a new message on the next page. Holding pictures of underwater images and a deep sea diver with the caption, Get a clearer picture of the… inspired me to write the words…Inner World. That’s what all this chaos and stress were leading me to. I added to the left, Healing through travels in Inner World. After that I wrote Visions of the heart.

It was clear that sheltering in place while also recovering from a fractured collar-bone were forcing me inward. Time to introspect, feel my feelings, and listen to my heart.

At that moment I noticed a Get Well card from a friend sitting to the side of my work area. The sentiments were perfect for this moment. So I glued the card into my journal. The words, Time and rest, gentle healing, and a deep-down cared-for feeling!…echoed exactly what I needed at that time in my life.

Later on in my journal I expressed the “vision of my heart” by creating collages of places and scenes I associated with peace and well-being: safe and beautiful places I’d been to in Hawaii and other spots on the planet.

This led to a collage I call, Calm, that speaks for itself. A cozy, safe sanctuary in which to rest, relax and recover.

 
For more activities in scribbling and collage, please see my books: Drawing Your Stress Away and The Art of Emotional Healing.

These journal pages also appear at my YouTube channel, Lucia Capacchione, in the series: The Creative Journal Goes Viral - Part 4.

Lucia

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Sheltering-in-place: Finding Inner Freedom Through the Non-dominant Hand

In early March, before shelter-in-place became “a thing,” I was already doing it. Having survived a horrible case of the Hong Kong flu in 1968, I didn’t want this virus anywhere near me. I was familiar with the 1918-19 influenza outbreak in Los Angeles. My mother, a preschooler at the time, had carried vivid memories of those terrible times, which she shared with me.

I researched as much information as possible about COVID-19 and, in the process, learned about quarantine strategies that had worked effectively in past pandemics. I learned that San Francisco had been largely spared in 1918 because of a robust quarantine policy put in place right away. When they eased up on it too soon, they were hit hard by a second wave.

Sometime in early March, we began staying at home and only going out for essentials. I had worked at home for all my adult life, when I wasn’t on an occasional book or workshops tour. But this was different. On March 11, I expressed my feelings about voluntarily being at home all day and night and limiting contact with others. Using both hands, I drew this maze-like scribble.

I was able to express the feelings of being contained and protected but at the same time held in. As I drew the concentric circles inside the enclosure, it felt like going around in circles inside the enclosed space. The drawing expressed all the feelings I was having at the prospect of staying at home all the time. We had also been having raining days, so that familiar “stir crazy” sensation of being cooped up inside due to cold, wet weather was there as well.

The next drawing I did was a scribble pattern that felt like the chaos that was being unleashed in the world as COIVD-19 swept across Asia and was making its way down the west coast of the US. After scribbling with both hands for a while, my dominant hand began doing its own thing by coloring in the natural loops created by the scribble pattern. This is an old tried-and-true warm up activity used by art therapists, but now it took on a whole new meaning. This felt like people in quarantine sequestering in their own separate spaces. They were all floating in the chaos, but contained in their own quarters. I wrote the words, “quarantined COVID”.

On the same day I drew what felt like scribbled chaos in orange (using both hands) followed by a brown cage-like grid. Were the cage bars somehow an attempt to contain the chaos? Or were they standing between me and the chaos, protecting me from it? Perhaps both. We know that staying at home protects us, but also protects others if we are carrying the virus.

Writing with my non-dominant hand, I inadvertently misspelled quarantined as quaranteened. Later, I recalled having a serious case of bronchitis when I was seventeen, followed by measles, and having to be in bed for many weeks. The present was triggering a past trauma. This kind of double entendre happens all the time with the non-dominant hand-writing. The unconscious knows what it knows, even if we don’t. And it will “blurt” it out through the non-dominant hand in words and in drawing.

I did many drawings that day, and more scribbling with both hands that looked like quarantine in times of chaos.

By contrast, another drawing done that day was a harbinger of good things to come. A dynamic blue and green container holds a bright, flowing yellow light.

When the official sheltering-in-place announcement was made by our Governor to begin on March 19, I was ready. I saw it as an opportunity to use the extra time on my hands to do journaling. As anyone who knows my work is aware, journaling is my personal therapy, meditative practice, refuge in the storm, and creative incubator. It has certainly been all of that and more during these trying times.

On April 5, after two weeks of the official shelter-in-place mandate, I decided to draw out my feelings about staying at home all day every day. My non-dominant hand grabbed a black marker and started at the center working outward forming a square-ish spiral. From there I continued with brown maze-like lines expanding out from the center spiral. The final black lines on the perimeter felt like an outer protection for the inner space.

This was followed by a two-handed dialogue with the drawing. My dominant hand asked the questions (in brown). My non-dominant hand answered in black.

What are you?
I’m the insides. Your insides. All cooped up inside you. ON this gray dark rainy day. 

How do you feel? 
Grounded. Like when we were kids. Couldn’t go out on rainy days. We felt restless + stir crazy like now, like all these days of staying home. I feel sad, too. 

Why do you feel this way? 
Cuz of COVID19 we are staying home – we’ve been staying put for over 2 weeks now. Even when it’s not raining like today. I miss doing things + going places we always did before. Like going out for lunch or dinner, going to the gym for exercise every week, getting coffee at the coffee shop near the gym – they closed down now. Going to the local shops. Can’t do any of that… I really miss that. 

And I miss seeing all the people in town – friends, shop-keepers, and visiting with them. It’s like a ghost town in town. Empty. Only the bank + grocery stores + gas stations open. 

I’m so glad the ice cream parlor on the west end of town has been open. When we got a cone there last week I though, THIS is definitely a necessity. Ice cream is essential right now. That made me feel happy. If I couldn’t have my ice-blended latte from the coffee shop, I could at least have a coffee ice cream cone! But I had to eat it outside, alone on the sidewalk because everything is take-out these days. And I was the only one on the street. Just me and a couple of cars passing by. 

What can I do to help you? What do you need from me?
Exercise at home on the little trampoline some more. We started that last week but I need to do that more and longer periods of time. I like doing the walking, a little jumping, and dancing on it to music. 

Also, keep letting feelings out by “dancing on paper.” Scribbling and drawing to music in the journal here. And even on big paper. 

Is there anything else?
Yes. Call friends and stay in touch. It’s OK to email, but I like hearing the voices of friends + family + co-worker. Skyping is good, too. 

Also, I miss eating out. So do what you did yesterday and get take out. It’s like “Dining out at home.” And it feels good to help the restaurant folks. It keeps them working. And we have to help each other. That feels really good, especially right now. I’m glad we donated to NOKIDHUNGRY.COM. THE IDEA OF KIDS GOING HUNGRY OR ANYONE GOING HUNGRY REALLY MAKES ME SAD. So donate + help others. That feels better to do that. 

I’m glad we can help others when we do work as a therapist on the phone + Skype. And when we do group calls for CJEA or interviews + podcasts + YouTube videos. Helping others helps me. And sheltering in place helps everyone. 

Lucia

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www.luciac.com
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Dialogue With COVID-19

One of the most effective journal prompts I’ve developed is one involving a dialogue with a current challenge, problem, or crisis. The coronavirus sweeping the globe certainly constituted a crisis, not only for myself, but everyone in the world. I decided to have a dialogue with the virus in which my non-dominant hand spoke for COVID-19. As always, I received profound inner guidance from “the crisis.” Over the years I’ve learned that by confronting my biggest fears directly, using this dialogue form, I’ve come to understand the teaching I was receiving and be able to work with it productively, in my own life and in my work with others.

The following journal entry was done with both hands. My dominant hand asked the questions and my non-dominant hand answered for COVID-19.

Lucia Journal entry
Mar. 24, 2020

I want to talk to the coronavirus.

What are you?

I’M THE BIG C Coronavirus. 

How do you feel?

OUT OF CONTROL.
RAGING ALL OVER THE PLACE.
LIKE A RAGING FIRE. 

Raging. Like Anger? Like fire?

YES Raging

Why are you raging? Out of control?

Because I can. There are do defenses, no boundaries being put up to stop me. 

What can I do to help you? What do you need?

I am neutral. I go wherever I can. I don’t want to kill people. I just spread. It’s my nature. If people want to stop this contagious situation they need to set boundaries & limits. Also people need to learn to do nothing. To stay out of harm’s way. They don’t know how to protect themselves from raging out of control people, ideologies, policies, practices. They look the other way or think they are helpless & can’t stand up to these out of control elements in society that are fueled by violence & greed. It’s eating people alive, sucking the life right out of some people. 

This is bigger than “germs”. It is bigger than bacteria. It is out of control rage raging across the globe like wild fire. Like the fires that were set intentionally to destroy the lungs of mother earth: the Amazon forest. 

What does humanity need to do to save itself? Things are really dire.

People need to & will wake up to the giant imbalance. Look at what the raging out of control pan demic is begetting? Panic, Fear, anxiety, depression and all kinds of illness. Teach the writing & drawing cure for creating healthy & strong immune system. That’s what is needed. That’s what YOU can do. 

The forces that contributed to this calamity must be curtailed, limited, stopped from continuing. The force of numbers must be brought to bear. Individuals who feel powerless must come to realize the power of groups, strength in numbers, healing in community. 

People MUST rise above myopic camps who can’t see beyond their own trench in the ground, their own cave. I may be the world teacher if folks heed the call & learn the lesson. 

I’ve been saying this is all 3 catastrophes my parents survived, all happening at once. Ellis Island (my family - Grandma Lucia, Aunt Rose and Dad - in a cage in the prison wing in 1920), like the Mexico border today. The influenza pandemic of 1917-18, and the great depression of 1929 that lasts to the late 30s.

It’s all 3. The main differences are you have the internet so you can quarantine while staying connected....more medical care can be there IF everyone works together. Systems can be put in place. And you are right. This is a repeat of 3 classic, well-known tragedies in US history striking all at once. A triple whammy because – although no one is talking about the Mexican border, it’s going to figure into this crisis of virus. Some bad, bad karma has accumulated for the US from the inhumanity inflicted on people on the border. It all adds up to a red plague. Time to wake up, yo!

Lucia

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The Art of Transforming Fearful Mental Images

Our guest blogger is Claire Perkins, an artist, author, and expressive arts coach. During an experience of deep grief, Claire discovered the healing and awakening power of expressive art and journaling, which she now brings to her clients. Trained in the Creative Journal Expressive Arts (CJEA) method, Transformational Life Coaching, Active Dreaming and SoulCollage®, she gently guides people to deeper self-awareness, inner healing and awakening with a juicy mix of simple expressive art, dream work and journaling.

Here is what Claire shared with me:

“This pandemic is definitely a challenging time that triggers all kinds of fears. A perfect time for this work in the world. Over the past few days, I have been collaging imagery around my own fears. Today I wrote a blog post that includes two of the SoulCollage® cards that I created - the first expressing virus fears and the second, an "antidote" vision of healthy lungs. I journaled with these cards using both "I am the one who" (a SoulCollage® format for working with cards) and CJEA journaling dialogue with the non-dominant hand. It was a wonderfully transforming activity.

The Art of Transforming Fearful Mental Images
by Claire M. Perkins

When vague inner fears dance around in my heart and mind, I’ve found that giving them visual form through collage is an excellent first step in getting a handle on them. There is something healing in the act of gathering together those disturbing but hazy feelings and turning them into a visual you can hold at arm’s length and address in a more solid and concrete way. It’s cathartic.

This corona virus pandemic has definitely stirred up some fears, so I decided to explore my uneasiness through SoulCollage® and Creative Journaling, including the use of my non-dominant hand (NDH) to allow the images to speak.

The first card I created is a representation of this virus pandemic that I call “Aye! Corona!” In this card, the whole world is wearing a mask (of illness? of fear? of protection?). Those spiky little virus buggers have evil monster faces and sharp teeth – and they are everywhere! The poor beleaguered health worker, like something from a horror movie, looks out through the eyes of the virus.

Allowing the card to speak, here is what emerges from the voices of the virus, the world, and the health worker imagery.

Virus Images

I am one who is coming at you with teeth bared and spikes out. I am one who is everywhere. You can’t hide from me any longer. I am one who has come to make you wake up and pay attention. I will multiply until you start to listen. I am a symptom of a world out of balance. I am a desperate call for change.

What do you need from me? 

(NDH) I need you to wake up. I need you to recognize that I am a messenger – that this is bigger than the here and now crisis – that your entire culture needs to make deep, systemic changes if humanity is to survive. Think about the gift of your breath. Your breath is life. It feeds your entire system. It is a balance of gathering in and letting go. But your culture gathers, gathers, gathers and never lets go. The wealthiest of you always wanting more, more, more while so many have not enough. If all you ever did was inhale, you would explode. And your culture is doing just that. It is no accident that I attack the lungs. I am a metaphor, a symbol of breath out of balance, of a world drowning in an excess of greed and complacency, like a balloon about to burst from too much air. It’s time to let go of this need for more, more, more.

World Image 

Help me! I am desperate. I am dying. I can’t breathe. I am one who has been your home, your mother. I am one who has been abused – nearly to the point of no return. You and I are one organism. We will live or die together. It is time to come together. There is still time to heal.

What do you need from me? 

(NDH) I need you all to allow time for a reset. I need you all to reexamine your priorities. I need you all to recognize that this is one world, that all of you are interconnected and bound with me. I need you all to make me – your home – a priority. I need you to recognize how out of balance this world has become and to work at bringing balance back. Start with balance in your own life, in your own way of being.

Health Worker Image 

I am one who is here to help, but I am overwhelmed and outnumbered. I am one who must protect myself so that I can help to heal others and the world. I need supplies: gloves, masks, medical equipment, tests and medicines, rooms and beds. I am one who stands on the front lines. If I fall, we all fall.

What do you need from me? 

(NDH) Keep their feet to the fire – those in charge. Make them see that in this moment of crisis we need to focus on procuring the necessary equipment and facilities for the storm that’s about to hit. Please, please, please heed the advice to stay home as much as you can, to wash your hands often, to disinfect surfaces. These actions can lower the amount of cases that land in my care.

~~~

Having created a card that expresses my fears and having listened to what it wanted to say to me, I begin to think and feel my way into creating an opposite or antidote card.

 One thing that really stands out to me from what the virus said is the idea of breath – that this is a disease that attacks the lungs. I take a deep breath and feel that my antidote phrase is “healthy lungs.” Yes, there is much more to this crisis – deeper, systemic social construct issues, climate change, greed, etc. But my right-now-fears are centered in the current health crisis. So, “healthy lungs” feels right.

A couple things that really stand out to me visually in the “Aye! Corona!” card are the round, spiky forms of the virus and the predominant pink color. When I look through the fear at just the visual impression, I can’t help but think of a softer form in a similar shape and color. A flower, like a peony or hydrangea. Now I have the clues I need to begin to create my antidote card.

I find several appropriate images and create my new card. The combination of the pink peony and the pink daisy mirror the round shape and pokey spines of the virus, but in a soft, transmuted way. The pink color is echoed in the bronchial pathways of the lungs and it feels healing.

When I look at this new “Healthy Lungs” antidote card, I feel an immediate shift in my energy from fear to peace. Just looking at it automatically triggers several deep breaths and the feeling of peace grows.

Healthy Lungs Image

We are ones who bring you the breath of life and pour that life through your whole system. We are healthy. We are strong. We are ones who, while vulnerable to viruses and pathogens, have worked and will continue to work remarkably well for the vast majority of your life.

What do you need from me? 

(NDH) Please keep breathing deeply. It helps to keep us strong and clear and gives us what we need to feed and restore the entire body system. In addition, it lowers your stress and relieves the system of stress hormones, which are detrimental to your health and immune processes. When you feel fear and stress arise, remember to breathe.

Pink Peony Image

I am one who transforms the fear in your head. I am one who softens your thinking. I am one who brings the pink light of healing energy into your entire system. I am one who rests gently around your third eye and crown chakras, opening the way for spiritual wisdom and guidance to help lead you in right action.

What do you need from me? 

(NDH) I, too, am fed by deep breathing. I blossom as fear moves aside, and fear moves aside when you inhale peace and exhale worry. Breathe deeply, and when you feel my calm presence – listen. Listen for Divine Guidance. Know that you are safe, protected and guided at all times.

Pink Daisy Image

I am one who projects your energy out into the world. I am your spiritual antennae. Like a halo, I project your inner light – or your inner fear to those around you. Like an antenna, I can also soak up the light or the fears from those around you.

What do you need from me? 

(NDH) Be aware of how you are affected by the fears of those around you and the fears peddled on the nightly news. Do not allow yourself to soak up too much of the fear around you. Be aware, too, of what you are projecting out into the world. Try not to feed the fears, but rather to be a light.

~~~

I found this process to be cathartic, calming and healing. If you are looking for a way to transmute your fears about the current pandemic, I encourage you to give this activity a try. Your fears and my fears may take different form. Let your own emotions and intuition guide you as you gather images and make your cards.

While I created my cards digitally with free use source images from Pixabay, you don’t have to do it that way. You can also use magazine images, scissors and glue to make your cards. Or source your images from the internet, print them out, and then use scissors and glue. You can even simply draw a visual representation of your fear and then draw an antidote. The main point is to use imagery to express and then transmute your fear.

I plan to keep my antidote card out where I can see it throughout the duration of this pandemic as an anchor and a reminder to breathe, to tune in to spiritual wisdom and guidance, and to watch out for both incoming and outgoing transmissions of fear.

Claire Perkins
Artist, author, and expressive arts coach
Certified in Creative Journal Expressive Arts
Claire@claireperkins.com
https://claireperkins.com

-----

Lucia

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Healing Conflicts with Others through the Non-dominant Hand

One application of non-dominant hand drawing and writing that my clients and students are using more and more, are the relationship prompts in Chapter 8 of The Power of Your Other Hand. This chapter focuses on interpersonal dynamics and gaining deep insight into where the other person is really at. In written conversations, the "other person" speaks through the writer's non-dominant hand. These prompts are to be used when you are in conflict with someone or where there has been estrangement. Going past our own ego and the ego of the other person seems to be a precious gift that our non-dominant hand gives us. The words that come out always have the ring of truth, provide insight into hidden meanings in the conflict, and bring about empathy in the one writing the dialogue.

Jack Jimenez, a candidate for Creative Journal Expressive Arts Certification, was able to resolve an argument with his adult daughter by doing such a dialogue and some drawing with his non-dominant hand. Here is his account of how he used his non-dominant hand to get past a block to understanding and loving his daughter during a family crisis.

Healing Conflicts with Others through the Non-dominant Hand

Journal entry: 1/10/2020

As I write this I am waiting to go to my 48-year-old son-in-law’s funeral this afternoon. He died of a massive heart attack, unexpectedly, four days before Christmas. He leaves behind my 39-year-old daughter, a 15-year-old son, and a 12-year-old daughter.

My son-in-law was a big tough Marine with a heart of gold. He was universally loved by his family and by most anyone whose lives he touched. There are many shattered hearts that will gather today to honor and show respect for this fine man. Through the tears I don’t know how we the living will handle it.

The short version of this tale is as follows: my daughter and I had been estranged for over a year and had not spoken. I received the call that AJ had passed out at work and then died on the way to the hospital. We rushed to the hospital where my daughter and grandchildren were.

I have been with my daughter either physically or by phone ever since AJ’s death and as she struggled making the necessary arrangements for the funeral. Then, two days ago we got into a heated discussion. I did my usual and shut down and became mute. I was very hurt, but it came out as anger and I was completely unable to communicate with her.

I called my mentor in Creative Journal Expressive Arts training, who told me to journal and gave me some prompts. I did, and channeled what I needed to know from my daughter using my non-dominant hand.

The wonder of this work is that it turned me into a crying mess, walking in my daughter’s toes and heartache. Right after I finished I texted her that I loved her and said I was sorry for adding to her burden. She texted me back with a very loving response.

I now understand the incredible power of this work and have made a huge shift in my mindset and approach to communication and conflict resolution.

Jack Jimenez
Life Coach, Grief Recovery Specialist, and Candidate for Certification in Creative Journal Expressive Arts
oldrthndrt@msn.com
Southern California

-----

Lucia

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Containing the Inner Child, Activating the Nurturing Parent Within

Our guest blogger this week is Lori Jo Siegel, a candidate for certification in our Creative Journal Expressive Arts Training Program. As she was applying my methods in her everyday life we talked on the phone about how she could use Inner Child and Inner Family work for dealing with a health issue. Here is a description of Lori Jo’s process, including illustrations of the artwork that became 3-dimensional.

Containing the Inner Child, Activating the Nurturing Parent Within 

Towards the end of November 2019, I came down with a severe upper respiratory infection. Missing 3 weeks of work at a new job that I had started a month ago was causing me a lot of stress. In addition, I was having mixed feelings about this new job and was asking myself if it is the right one for me.

I decided to delve deeper into my psyche to find the root cause of me feeling unwell. After discussing this matter with Lucia she offered helpful prompts to unlock the problem. I discovered there were 3 three selves involved in root of this matter. I drew a picture of each self with my non- dominant hand and dialogued with all of them.

After gathering all the information from the 3 selves, listening to their concerns and feelings, I was able to get a clear picture of what direction I needed to go in.

The process of communicating with the 3 selves and using my non-dominant hand helped me to learn the following: I need to get a housekeeper; on the weekends I have to carve out down time at home and not over plan and finally, I need to continually give myself praise for the positive changes and things I am doing. I also understood, that I cannot go into my head and override my body’s signals for rest and healing. I came away with a lot of helpful information.

After doing all this dialoging, I was inspired to take this process a step further. Still longing to create a deeper connection with my inner child, I was motivated to create something to celebrate and commemorate my connection to her.

Ideas were flooding through me from the knowing field. In my minds eye, I saw a picture of us together. I was intuitively guided to create a 3D visual representation of us. Fueled by enthusiasm, I was eager to get to know her, to understand her and to receive guidance from her.

I transformed a 16 oz. cottage container and it’s lid into a vessel to house my inner child and my adult self. With my non-dominant hand, I drew a picture of my inner child and then one of my adult self-using colored pencils. I drew big ears on my adult self puppet to represent me being a “good listener”.





I cut both drawings out and mounted each one onto a Popsicle stick creating a puppet. On the back of each drawing I glued a photo representation of my inner child and my adult self. I made 2 holes in the bottom of the cottage cheese container and placed the puppets in the holes so they could stand sturdily facing each other with arms stretched out and hands touching. I then cut a big hole around the inside perimeter of the lid. I placed it in the middle of the container as a symbol of me cutting out any obstacles to connecting to my inner child.

Cutting the inside out of the lid was a most satisfying and transformative part of the process. I felt I was cutting out any barriers between us. As I continued to cut through the thick plastic lid, I imagined the veils between us being lifted! When everything was set in the way I imagined it, I covered the container with a soft fabric of a favorite color.

The finished project shows my adult self and my inner child standing up on opposite sides of the cottage cheese container, facing each other, holding hands and gazing into each other’s eyes thru the cut cottage cheese lid. I can also turn the puppets around and let the photo images look at each other or at the drawings. I can mix it up any way I like.





After completing it, I dialoged with my inner child using my non-dominant hand. She expressed, “ I feel more happy. I can relax and sleep. I love you Mommy. I love our holding hands and your big ears! I love you.



I felt really happy about being able to create something commemorating our relationship, and my commitment to her.

This 3D representation sits on my dinning room table where I look at it regularly and can feel this beautiful connection. It also serves as a visual reminder for me to stay connected to her.

I continue to journal with her and draw pictures with my non-dominant hand. She lets off a lot of steam informing me of how she feels. I hold the space for her to vent and express anything and everything. Most of the time, I wind up crying, or I feel a surge of anger welling up that needs to be released. I feel much lighter after releasing these feelings. I can see and the feel the havoc they can wreak when not addressed.

Using my non-dominant informs my decision making in everyday life. Just the other day, I was feeling under the weather and I asked her what she needed. My usual pattern would be to push through; instead I listened to her when she told me to stay home and rest. She told me, “Don’t care about everyone more than me!” That was a true and powerful blow. As I dialogue with her my adult self is becoming a better listener. She is helping me to be direct and assertive.

This process of using my non-dominant hand has been meaningful to my mental, physical, emotional & spiritual growth and development. The 3D creation is a visual reminder of my sacred connection to my inner child and the importance of listening to and taking care of her.

Lori Jo Siegel, MS Education, Early Childhood Teacher, Artist, Musican, Reiki Master/Teacher,
Singer/Songwriter with a cd to be released of orginal songs and compositions.
Candidate for Creative Journal Expressive Arts Certification
Lorsieg9@aol.com

-----

Lucia

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The Power of the Other Hand in the Face of Injury

Our guest blogger is Beth Batinnelli, who is currently training in Creative Journal Expressive Arts. She has a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies at Adelphi University. Her areas of professional interest Include Health Psychology, Positive Psychology, Brain Science and Neurodiversity. As a psychologist in corrections she saw thousands of inmates with ADHD and that experience led her to understand many different aspects of the ADHD brain. She founded THE ADHD Project - an educational program designed to teach inmates about the brain behind the behavior that led to incarceration.

Here is Beth's post:

The Power of the Other Hand in the Face of Injury

Currently I am expanding my curriculum to introduce Creative Journal Expressive Arts methods to the population with which I work. I am very excited to be a 2020 CJEA Candidate for Certification!

My formal relationship with Creative Journal Expressive Arts began in October 2019, when I traveled to California for the first week long intensive training on my journey to certification.

I was immediately fascinated with The Power of the non-dominant hand. The efficacy and efficiency of the techniques are amazing.

Using the Creative Journal prompts, I found myself understanding my mother in a different way than I had before - that her criticism of me was fueled by her own inner critic. Looking at my sketch, I felt content. Peaceful.

I see me as both baby and mother to both baby and mother.

It is fun to see what other parts of me have shown up in my journal.

 
This self portrait above shows the scar on the right side of my scalp. Prior to CJEA and using non-dominant hand techniques to access my creativity, I had brain surgery to remove a benign brain tumor. The tumor was embedded in the bone behind my right eye. The sketch includes words. ‘Express’ presses on the back of my right eye.

After attending CJEA Instructor Lisa Brown’s weekend workshop in early December, and celebrating my 65th birthday, it was time to prepare for the holidays.

It was a cold Tuesday night. Freezing actually. As I parked the car in the Home Goods parking lot, I remember the thermometer on my dash read 32 degrees. Brrr!

I walked across the lot and as I stepped up onto the sidewalk I slipped and fell on both hands and knees. Oh! It hurt! I felt like I was five years old!

Part of me was upset that my injury would interfere with my training to become a CJEA facilitator and another part of me (probably the clinical psychologist) wondered if I was unconsciously trying to sabotage my progress.

I just decided to ask my non-dominant hand what it wanted to say about the fact that it is injured.

The tone with which my hand answered seemed very impatient, as if it was waiting our whole life to be heard.

"Give me a break, Beth!...even though you have a lifetime of emotions to access, it isn’t as if you haven’t done any work on yourself before this. I am glad you finally found me, but don’t put me on a pedestal.

There is no reason for you to be stopped by this injury. As a matter of fact, take this as an opportunity to focus on a different aspect of your work with CJEA.

Concentrate on getting the work out there.

The power of your non-dominant hand comes from within you.”

It was as if my non-dominant hand had a voice of its own.

My non-dominant hand basically told me to just “Get a Grip.” So I did!

I enjoy my non-dominant hand! My new friend is Powerful and Colorful.

This last colorful image was actually the same photo of my non-dominant hand; I made the edits on my phone and actually used both hands to apply filters and to Pixelate. I have to wear the cast for a couple of more weeks.

Beth Lanes Battinelli, PhD
theadhdproject.com

-----

Lucia

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Spiritual Guidance through the Right Brain

Although most of my inner guidance comes through my non-dominant hand drawing and writing, I have found that this practice has made it possible for spiritual wisdom to come through my dominant hand as well. This usually happens spontaneously and it expresses through poetry and art. Both of these forms of expression rely heavily on right brain functions, so it makes sense. There’s no question in my mind that the right side of the brain has the advantage when it comes to finding inner wisdom and spiritual guidance. I’ve explained in other posts and in most of my books how the hand that didn’t learn to write is free to access the right side of the brain. I’ve also written about how developing access to the right brain through the non-dominant hand enables the dominant hand to tap into deep wells of inner wisdom, spiritual awareness and creativity.

After having drawn and written with my non-dominant hand for quite some time, one day I was drawing with my dominant hand in my journal. Without intending to, I drew a design that resembled a top view of the human brain. The connection between the two hemispheres was a continuous pair of figure eight loops with a sunburst at the center point.

Drawing and poem from The Creative Journal: The Art of Finding Yourself (Ohio University/Swallow Press, 2015

Then suddenly a poem poured out spontaneously. It felt like automatic writing, with no conscious intent or editing. The poem was written with my dominant (right) hand, but the words flowed with the same ease and simplicity typical of my left handwriting. This is the poem that that appeared on the page as if from nowhere:

Hold me, echoes the whisper from within
Hold me near you
Hold me close to your heart
as the apple of your eye

Through the distant chambers of time
our hearts beat
as the wings of doves
brush against the skies of eternity

We were never parted
for we are one through infinite
space and time

You have embraced me in shadow
unbeknownst to my daytime self,
always present behind me, above me, beneath

You are the ground of my existence
forever with and within me.

Here is how I described the experience in the last chapter of The Power of Your Other Hand.

Sublime peace filled me as I completed the last line. I heard the “whisper from within” coming from my Inner Self. I acknowledged a divine power within and felt its presence. It was still “embracing me in shadow,” yet I could say, “Yes, I know you are there.” I remembered the film about Jung, the images of his inner guide, Philemon. Now I understood what Jung must have felt when he first contacted his inner wisdom voice in the form of that white-haired sage. Although I didn’t see a form, I certainly felt its presence.

Later, I also came to understand how essential it is to develop a personal relationship with the divine Inner Self. I encounter many people seeking “quick fixes” from intermediaries channeling information from disembodied spirits. For me, the only message worth channeling is the truth of the Inner Self, the God that Dwells Within. To channel messages from disembodied entities with doubtful credential seems like the little leagues compared to the pure gold of the Inner Self.

The Power of Your Other Hand: Unlock creativity and inner wisdom through the right side of your Brain (Conari Press, 2019)

I still write my Inner Wisdom or Spiritual Guidance dialogues with both hands, asking questions with my dominant hand and receiving answers through my non-dominant hand. However, sometimes a poem will come through my dominant hand. It is usually spontaneous and unplanned, like the one above. Whichever hand writes it, I simply allow the poem to express Inner Guidance in any way it likes.

Sometimes I ask for guidance about specific issues in my life. A good example is the process of completing the writing of The Power of Your Other Hand. When I got to the last chapter, I asked my Inner Self to tell me what to say. Naturally, I turned to my other hand. Here is what it said. They are the last words in the book.

Just say that the deepest
well of inner knowing
and of peace is within
everyone. It can be
reached in stillness,
in quite, and in
solitude.
I am here in everyone
and everything and
the glory of being
human is that you
can know and
experience at-one-ment with
Me. For we are one.
When you are afraid,
lost, doubting – be
still, go inside and
find your True Self.
I will be there – where
I’ve always been –
waiting for you to
recognize the truth
of who you really
are.
I will speak through
everything that is so
human in you – your
feelings, your wishes,
your body, your
relationships.

(Dominant hand) How do I know I’m not just making you up out of my imagination? How do I know that you really exist?

You will know. If you
don’t recognize me at
first, eventually you
will. Sometimes when
you have lost your
way and are far away
from your true self,
you may doubt that I
exist. That is when you
have forgotten who you
really are. But if you
will speak with me,
as you are now, I will
respond. Later on
when you read our
conversation, you will
recognize my realness.
You will see
your own doubting
mind, and you will
feel my essence
and know it to be
yours. You will see
the difference between
your small, fearful,
anxious self and your
true, beautiful and
peaceful Self. And
since you have
written both voices,
you’ll realize
that they both came
from you. Then you
will see that the
Highest Truth and
Wisdom resides
within you. Everything
else is illusion. You
will see that you’ve
had it backwards
all these years.
You thought your
self was the little, scared,
confused “character”
that doubts and worries
and defends itself. That
is the figment of imagination.
That is the thing you made
up with your mind.
I am the Real You. I
am your True Self
reminding you to
wake up, come home
to the bliss of your
Inner Self. 

Lucia

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Bilateral Drawing: Balancing and Relaxing with Both Hands

In Chapter Five of The Power of Your Other Hand, I introduced bilateral drawing. That is defined as drawing done with both hands at the same time. Since the book was first published in 1988, many therapists and art therapists have applied bilateral drawing with clients. One of these is Cornelia Elbrecht, who has written a whole book on the subject entitled, Healing Trauma with Guided Drawing: A Sensorimotor Art Therapy Approach to Bilateral Body Mapping (North Atlantic Books, 2018). I recommend this book for anyone interested in either trauma work or the benefits of bilateral drawing.

In this post, you will see some examples of my own bilateral journal drawings and a video by Amanda Joy Wells, a graduate of our Creative Journal Expressive Arts and Visioning® Coach Training programs. Some of these drawings illustrate techniques I introduced in The Power of Your Other Hand and later books. You’ll see these in the video below. Other drawings show new variations on this method from my own journal. I will also discuss benefits of bilateral drawing based on my observations of clients and students for over 40 years.

I started the journal session illustrated here by putting some relaxing music on. I suggest using music that you enjoy and that relaxes your mind and body. Music can help to soothe a busy, over-active and chatty left brain and stressed out nervous system. The first drawing shows a single page in my journal (8 ½ X 11 in.) on which I drew with two crayons in 2 different colors. I had been stressed out due to many professional responsibilities I had been carrying at the time. I realized later that the drawing resembled graphs I’ve seen of the human brain. I had not intended this. It just happened. The connecting fibers, the corpus callosum, seem quite clear in this drawing. I was not trying to draw recognizable objects or symbols, but noticed this brain image after the drawing was completed. Somatically (in my body and brain) I felt more relaxed after doing the drawing. That was my goal.

This kind of pattern is called mirror symmetry and is the first prompt in Chapter 5 for bilateral drawing. In observing clients and students, I notice that when asked to draw with both hands simultaneously, this is the most common pattern they make. It is spontaneous and apparently very natural. That makes sense because the human brain and body are actually a mirror symmetry design. So is the common symbol for the human heart. Think of making Valentine cards as a kid by folding paper in half and cutting half a heart. When you open it, a full heart appears. That’s how you can tell it is mirror symmetry. The halves mirror each other. We also make paper people cutouts this way. Why? Because humans are constructed in a mirror symmetry design. So are butterflies, another image that often appears spontaneously in bilateral drawings.

I decided to continue drawing with both hands at once and expanded onto 2 pages, also known as “a double page spread”. Each hand held a different color crayon and even changed colors from time to time. Each hand was drawing the same pattern, but as a mirror image of its “partner’s” drawing. I felt more and more relaxed with each drawing.

On another day, shortly after this, I did a single page drawing, again using both hands, each with it’s own color. Again, this was accompanied by relaxing recorded music. This time I used another prompt from Chapter 5 of The Power of Your Other Hand. In this prompt, you draw with both hands, using 2 colors, and each hand “does it’s own thing.” I found this quite energizing and relaxing at the same time

Then I drew a “duet” with both hands, using 2 different colors. In this case, my hands wanted to draw the same spiral pattern collaboratively. I found this spiraling motion very relaxing and could feel a balancing happening inside my brain. Later I shifted to using 2 pages in the journal for more Bilateral Drawing. My hands spontaneously created multi-colored mirror image drawings. These were more textured and involved and I spent more time drawing them. The result was a relaxed state, but I also noticed a decided increase in energy.

I hear this a lot from people doing bilateral drawing. Regardless of which particular prompt they are using, drawing with both hands seems to help people slow down, relax, enjoy the moment (mindfulness) and what is happening in the now. The report a feeling of freedom, playfulness and urge to be more creative in many ways.

Amanda Joy Wells created this excellent video of bilateral drawing. It demonstrates the benefits and the amazing experience of drawing with both hands at once. Enjoy!


Lucia

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