Art can be a fantastic way to express how having an invisible illness makes you feel. Even the use of particular colours can help relay emotion and show others what may be invisible to them. This therapeutic art activity can be a great way to tell others about the way your body and mind feel, shedding light on the effects of such conditions.

Introduction

The mind and body are so connected that each influences the other. Feelings in the mind can create tension in the body, and heightened feelings in the body can lead to overthinking in the mind.

This activity brings awareness to that connection by making you identify how your feelings are influencing your body and bringing awareness to them. Once you identify the connection through this mindful technique, you can work on changing any negative emotional or physical feelings through further relaxation or grounding techniques.

Getting Started

• Start with drawing and colouring tools and paper, drawing an outline of your entire body.
• Take a few moments to reflect on the physical feelings in your body.
• Start to fill in your body outline with colours or shapes that reflect your physical feelings.
• You can go body part by body part, or focus on the parts holding emotion in some way.
• Use the drawing as a map to pinpoint feelings throughout your body and bring awareness to their presence.
• End by reflecting on your drawing and what you have identified or learned about yourself through your drawing.

Variations

Before you start the body drawing, you can do some breathing exercises to identify and reflect on any pain, tension, or discomfort in your body. Pairing this activity with a colour wheel where colour represents feelings specific to you, can add another layer of understanding to this activity. Following the exercise, you can create a journal entry describing some of the emotions or feelings you identified in your artwork.

You can find more therapeutic art activities to communicate with others about invisible conditions on our Art Therapy at Home Hub.