All forms of art have the capacity to heal our mind and body and have been used consciously and unconsciously throughout the history of mankind. People have used art to connect with their souls and to heal a sense of loss, grief, isolation, loneliness, fear, despair, anxiety, pain and depression.
Art heals through a unique process by bringing hidden issues to the surface, and thereby making us conscious of these difficult problems. Art can magically help us to stay focused, to experience and to deal with these issues. Art heals with its sincerity, power, beauty, vibration, color, tone, dynamic, rhythm, words, interaction and intention.
The healing powers of art happen in two ways: When you create art to get in touch with and express your emotions and when you channel higher energy with a conscious intention to heal and transform your overall well-being. Of course, most of the time, art heals spontaneously without us even being aware that it does. However, we are aware of the fact that art makes us feel better, and we look to experience different forms of art by either creating it or by simply enjoying it.
Too often in our modern, fast-paced world, we allow our emotions to be neglected, suppressed or denied. Creating art gives us a way to get in touch with our emotions, whether they are suppressed or obvious, and provides us a safe and graceful way to access and fully experience them. Art heals by helping us to focus on a feeling or an event, and helps us to deeply experience them, thus getting the full spiritual benefit into living our lives to the fullest.
Art allows us to actually become the master of our emotions rather than our emotions becoming our masters. The same thing is happening when we heal emotionally – we get in touch with and express overwhelming or deeply hidden emotions, resulting in ownership of our emotions and full responsibility for our lived experiences.
Today, almost everybody connects with one form of art or another – from watching a movie, listening to music, reading books, dancing, singing, writing or painting. To use art consciously as a healing force is only a matter of intention, and one does not need to have an artistic talent to benefit from this type of healing. Anyone can use art as a therapy to access the subconscious mind, deal with emotional issues, restore the soul and ease the pain.
Here are some recent quotes about the impact art has had on people: “Recovery is enlightened by art”; “Art is hope, available, relief from abandonment and a dependable guide out of depression”; “Art allows me to use my mind and imagination”; and “Art gives me an outlet to express my self-worth through creativity that lifts my spirits and outlook on life when nothing else worked”.
I encourage you to take advantage of opportunities in our community to either engage in learning a new art form or merely to enjoy art created by someone else and let the healing process begin.
Liza Fischer is the Office of Member and Family Affairs coordinator for Axis Health System. She can be reached at 335-2206 or lfischer@axishealthsystem.org.
