Well, that’s what did it for me. I did a search to see what kind of healing arts that has to do with doodling. I found Sacred Doodling with Carol Edmonston on Web Talk Radio. Edmonston is a breast cancer survivor who found healing through doodling. “Edmonston began doodling by chance while anxiously sitting in a medical waiting room shortly after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Since then doodling has become a creative and meditative practice and the spring board for a new beginning for her life.”
You can learn more at http://webtalkradio.net/internet-talk-radio/2012/04/02/healing-through-creativity-healing-through-creativity-healing-through-doodling-healing-creativity-and-sacred-doodles/ and http://www.sacreddoodles.com/
Another site is zentangle.com.
Zentangle is about making deliberate patterns, deliberate focus, rather than random scribbling. At the end, it looks like art you want to keep and displayed. “It increases focus and creativity, provides artistic satisfaction along with an increased sense of personal well-being. You discover that not only can you create beautiful art; you also can increase your focus and create a different mood and state of mind. As you make a deliberate pen stroke on your Zentangle tile without concerning yourself of what it will look like when you are done, that very act of putting your pen to paper focuses your attention in a special way. As your eye follows your pen strokes your attention shifts to a state that allows fresh thoughts, new perspectives, and creative insights to flow unhindered by anxiety or effort.” (Zentangle)
This seems like the perfect art form for a patient with high anxiety. Using a black paper and a violet gel pen. I created my own Zentangle following some of the examples at http://tanglepatterns.com/ Their tag line is “Anything is Possible One Stroke at a Time”. And it is true. I highly recommend it to anyone. Here is my piece. I do not like it, because I’ve seen samples of amazing Zentangle drawings and mine looks amateurish, but I still like it. It helped me to feel accomplished and focused enough to start my mini needs assessment project.
