Art Therapy: Opening To Express

Sensations from the Inside Out
This exercise is intended for you to take what you sense internally and put it onto paper. For the next few minutes, you will tune in to your sensory world and then spend some time drawing what arises.

Gather some crayons, colored pencils, or pastels and have them handy along with this workbook or other paper. Next, set a timer for three to five minutes.
Sit quietly or lie down somewhere comfortable. Close your eyes or hold a soft gaze with your eyes open. Turn and tune inward. First, notice your breath: simple in and out. Then allow your awareness and attention to scan your body, noticing what is going on inside.
Remember, there are no right or wrong sensations in your body. Even uncomfortable ones are worth noticing and connecting to, even numbness.
Do not let yourself get overwhelmed, flooded with internal sensory information. If that starts to happen, place your hands on your belly, take a big, deep breath, and feel your hands on your skin. Then return to what is happening inside.
The aim is to identify just a few sensations inside your body, such as bubbling in your belly, softness in your back, pinching in your knee.
Once that timer is up, you can set it again for another five minutes or so. Now pick one of those sensations and let yourself draw that sensation onto paper.
You can even draw what numbness feels like. Don’t worry at all about what the picture looks like or what colors you choose. Simply allow yourself to translate what you felt inside onto paper, where you can see it.