Anxiety and Art Therapy: Grounding with Art Materials

Apr 29

When you are feeling anxious, your nervous system is on high alert. You may feel disconnected from your body, struggle to slow down and quiet your thoughts, and feel tightness in your chest or other muscles. One of the most powerful ways to calm anxiety is to engage our senses. We can do this by tuning into the present moment and noticing what is going on around us. I like to offer the 5 senses activity as an easily accessible exercise: find 5 things you can see, four you can feel, three you can hear, two you can smell, one you can taste.

Another way we can tap into this and begin to soothe our mind and body is through art making!

Art is a sensory experience that is repetitive, tactile, and grounding. We can feel the materials, notice the colors and textures, and the movements of our hands. This allows us to move out of survival mode and into the present moment. Here are a few of my favorite tactile/texture rich materials that simulate grounding if you need an idea of how to get started:

Clay, modeling clay or Playdough can be calming because of their weight and resistant nature. Kneeding, molding, and shaping offers grounding through deep pressure touch.

Oil Pastels or soft chalk pastels have a velvety texture and blending/smudging ability that can be a soothing sensory experience.

Textured paper/collage materials/recycled materials challenge sensory awareness through all types of surfaces
(smooth, rough, rigid) and provides ability to explore auditory stimuli through crunching, ripping, and crushing material.

Watercolor paints have a free flowing nature that encourages us to lean in to the process and give up control as we watch colors blend into one another.

Fabric and textiles such as weaving and knitting involves touch and rhythm while exploring textured fabrics.

Follow up: If you give any of these materials a try, take a moment after engaging with them to pause and reflect. Does your body feel different? Are you breathing easier? Notice what feelings came up while creating and what you’d like to carry forward from this experience.