Holiday Anxiety? Here are 3 soothing activities from an Art Therapist
You can feel the nervous energy all a buzz. It’s on the freeway, in the parking lots, and those lines at the store. You can’t avoid it online either. Anxiety around the holidays is real. As a therapist, I know that for some people, the holidays just feel overwhelming. Perhaps you are searching for ways to feel calmer during this season in the midst of all that is going on in your life and the life of those around you.
While many of the following suggestions are not specific “art therapy activities”, some of them involve the therapeutic use of art. For many people, art-making, and working with their hands is an important and enjoyable coping tool for dealing with life’s stresses. Additionally, focusing on your five senses can be helpful. Here are some ideas to help soothe your holiday anxiety along with three simple, yet therapeutic art activities, in no particular order.
Art Therapist’s Activity #1: Nurture a childlike mindset
One of the things that change and often disappear as we become adults is the excitement and wonder we had during the holidays as children. If you have children at home, it’s an exciting time, but if you don’t have children, you may be missing the childlike joys of the holidays. The movie “Elf” captures the joy of a childlike mindset in contrast to the stress of adults. To revisit those feelings, allow yourself to do some of the things you remember enjoying as a kid. Here are a few examples:
Listen to upbeat holiday songs… and sing along, loudly
Make and decorate sugar cookies or a gingerbread house with lots of frosting
Make yourself a cup of hot cocoa, with marshmallows and savor a candy cane
Therapeutic Art Activity: Fold a square sheet of white paper and cut out a snowflake. Create several snowflakes of different sizes.
Art Therapist’s Activity # 2: Brighten your mood
Having fewer hours of sunlight in the shorter winter days can shift our mood. Living in San Diego, we are blessed to be able to access the outdoors year-round. I encourage you to get outdoors and get some sunshine in the middle of the day when possible. Additionally, here are some other ways to feel a little sunnier.
Hang small white lights in your home or even at your office at work, where you spend time
Sit near a window and get some natural light
Wear a bright color that makes you feel good
Therapeutic Art Activity: Buy a package of multi-color construction paper. Cut the paper into strips and make a colorful, garland to hang up. Bonus if you write one thing you are grateful for on each strip.
Art Therapist’s Activity # 3: Calm your senses
Sometimes we don’t even know how we need to just take a break. We move on to the next thing and the next thing without stopping to sit and be quiet. Do you really need to answer that text or email right this very second? Or can it wait while you take a mini-break?
Take a 5-10 minute deep breathing break, in a relaxed position
Run your hands under warm water
Enjoy an aroma that you find comforting. It may be lavender or a cup of herbal tea
Therapeutic Art Activity: Put on soft, instrumental music, move gently to the rhythm as you dance a paintbrush, marker, or pencil across a piece of paper to the same music
If you struggle with anxiety during the holidays and other times of the year it may be time to seek support from a therapist.
If over this past year, you have been searching for effective ways to cope with your anxiety, and it continues to interfere with your life, working with a therapist can help. You may not know why you feel anxious. That’s okay. Art Therapy can uniquely help in treating your anxiety because you don’t have to have words to explain why you feel the way you feel.
If you’re interested in Art Therapy for anxiety treatment, please seek out an art therapist credentialed through the Art Therapy Credential Board (ATCB). As a national credentialing board, the ATCB ensures the educational and professional standards needed to be a qualified art therapist are met and maintained. This is essential in any mental health field to provide an ethical standard of care and improve treatment outcomes.
Free consultation for Art Therapy in San Diego North County
If you are looking for an Art Therapist in North County San Diego providing anxiety treatment for adults, click here to visit my contact page where you can book a free, phone consultation. If you would like to learn more about how I help with art therapy, click here.
To learn more about Art Therapy here are some links to other blogs I have written about the topic.
Thank you for visiting my website. I hope you found this blog helpful. Take care and be well.
Tami