For many of us, anxiety is just another fact of life; it’s something we live with every day. Sometimes it feels like a small dot – there, but imperceptible enough that we can go about our daily lives without fear. Other times it’s like a gaping black hole, mercilessly devouring everything that made us feel happy, confident and comfortable, leaving us as a shell of the person we once were. Finding the right treatment can totally transform your life, and there are so many options available. Whether you’re already receiving treatment and you’re looking for a complementary therapy, or you’ve yet to take that step and you’re searching for something to take the bite off your anxiousness, embracing your creative side can work wonders on reducing the effects of anxiety. Art therapy itself has existed for decades, and science has shown over and over again that getting creative offers a range of benefits for the mind, from helping to explore difficult feelings that can be hard to verbalise, to meditative opportunities to process our emotions. In this brand-new title, we’ve provided dozens of mindful creative tasks for you, from colouring-in pages to guided doodling spaces.
Welcome
Understanding this book • Read on to learn how to make the most of the following pages
How do you feel? • Acknowledging your anxiety and taking note of how it affects you can help to rein it in
BREATHE
Rainbow grounding • Use colour to get you back on track
GROUND YOURSELF
Breathe it in • When panic takes over, controlling our breath is one of the best ways of getting back in control
Doodle away… • Use these pages to draw on, doodling whatever you feel
5-4-3-2-1 technique • Employing the five senses to return to the present
FIND PEACE
Progressive muscle relaxation • Learning how to relax the muscles of the body
Doodle away… • Use these pages to draw on, doodling whatever you feel
3-3-3 Rule • Pulling back from panic by the power of three
Getting wet • Use your hands to pull yourself out of a spiral
Doodle away… • Use these pages to draw on, doodling whatever you feel
Mood tracking • Discover the hidden cues and nuances of your feelings
Doodle away… • Use these pages to draw on, doodling whatever you feel
Shake it off • Burn off the adrenaline before calming the mind
CLEAR YOUR MIND
Doodle away… • Use these pages to draw on, doodling whatever you feel
Brain training • Sometimes distraction can be your friend
FEED YOUR BRAIN
Take it steady • How the act of balancing can pull your brain back out of a tailspin
Doodle away… • Use these pages to draw on, doodling whatever you feel
Art to Reduce Anxiety