Table of Contents
What is spiritual healing arts?
The healing arts are creative practices that promote healing, wellness, coping and personal change. Traditional healing arts include music, art, dance/movement, poetry/writing, and drama therapies. People have used art to connect with their souls and to heal a sense of loss, grief, isolation, loneliness, fear, despair, anxiety, pain and depression. Art heals through a unique process by bringing hidden issues to the surface, and thereby making us conscious of these difficult problems. Art therapy, just like talk therapy, has enormous healing potential when done with a trained professional. In fact, for those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), working with an art therapist has been a lifesaver. By engaging works of art, we can experience a sense of comfort and peace, as well as feelings of unease and being challenged. Art invites us to an encounter, which is a gift—a spiritual gift that might bring us into a deeper relationship with God. Art is a powerful way to express oneself, and it is also one of the most important ways to connect with others. Art helps you process your emotions and understand your surroundings. It allows you to see life from a different perspective and it makes you feel alive. Therapist use patients’ free form art expressions to encourage them to talk about the images and to begin to look to themselves for meaning and insight. Combined with talk therapy, it can help people deal with strong emotions, increase self-awareness and self-worth and decrease stress and anxiety.
What is spirituality art?
Spirituality reigns supreme in art. Known as the driving force of art, spirituality is art’s expressive vehicle as well as a special voice. Human history of arts has never been devoid of spiritual content; artists studied the relationship between art and the spirit for decades. Producing and appreciating art is known to have measurable psychological and physiological healing properties. This has been recognised by the scientific community to such an extent that the field of art therapy was formally created. Art shows the wounds of our soul, as well as the lovely spots. Art surprises our soul, sometimes scares also when it tells us what we never imagined or what we were not aware of. We don’t involve ourselves in the art of escaping the world; we involve ourselves in it to take a closer look at who we are. Art is the energy that sees a thing as it is, by seeing it more as it is. Always in energy is the idea of more: energy is more than stillness, more than leaving a thing as it is at any one time. So, in art as energy there is the change that is care, the power that is good will. Participating in the arts can enable people to deal with a wide range of mental ill-health conditions and psychological distress. The best part is that it helps people to improve their mental health through creativity. Making art is helping many people express themselves, without having to use words. There is increasing evidence in rehabilitation medicine and the field of neuroscience that art enhances brain function by impacting brain wave patterns, emotions, and the nervous system. Art can also raise serotonin levels. These benefits don’t just come from making art, they also occur by experiencing art.
What is art healing therapy?
Art therapy, a type of psychotherapy, helps provide a way to express emotions and experiences not easily expressed in words. It is not about the final product; it is about healing through the process of making art. Research has identified a range of physical and mental health benefits of art and art therapy. More serious concerns included art therapy causing anxiety,72 increasing pain,72 and resulting in the activation of emotions that were not resolved. In one study,73 a participant was also concerned that art therapy may be harmful if the art therapist was not skilled. Art gives us meaning and helps us understand our world. Scientific studies have proven that art appreciation improves our quality of life and makes us feel good. When we create art, we elevate our mood, we improve our ability to problem solve, and open our minds to new ideas. Emotions in the arts affect us on a subjective and bodily level which influences aesthetic evaluations, e.g, liking. Thus, emotions in the arts are not only represented in a perceiver via a cognitive or detached mode, as often implicated by cognitivistic art theories.
What is art for psychological and healing purposes?
Art therapy has been shown to benefit people of all ages. Research indicates art therapy can improve communication and concentration and can help reduce feelings of isolation. This type of therapy has also been shown to lead to increases in self-esteem, confidence, and self-awareness. Art helps you reconnect with yourself For the observer too, experiencing the art evokes our emotions and touches different parts of our souls and minds. Those who truly appreciate art tend to be more connected to their emotional bodies and therefore more “whole.” Art has the power to move individuals to social action, manipulate and influence, entertain, and educate. “Art makes a great gift because it is so personal, from the creation of the work itself to choosing a particular piece for a friend. Receiving something so unique will without a doubt make the recipient feel very special. And since art lasts a lifetime, you’ll always share that connection.”
What does spiritual mean in art?
Abstract. Spirituality reigns supreme in art. Known as the driving force of art, spirituality is art’s expressive vehicle as well as a special voice. Human history of arts has never been devoid of spiritual content; artists studied the relationship between art and the spirit for decades. Soul making plays a major role in art-production; it is a form of crafting stories, transforming brief moments into images, symbols that connect with people, understanding culture and embodying tolerance, peace, and imagination. After describing God’s gifting for this endeavour in the spheres of religion, politics, and science, Kuyper named art as “one of God’s richest gifts to mankind.” Art serves the pivotal role of tapping into our imagination to offer a vision of what human flourishing might look like in the various spheres of life. Researchers have shown it’s never too late to change your mind. As we get older, we’re more likely to be thought of as ‘set in our ways’, but researchers have discovered that art can in fact fundamentally change our sense of who we are.
How does art promote healing?
Q: How does art contribute to healing? A: Art is healing because it forces you to forge a connection between your mind and your body. Unlike exercise, which works your body, or meditation, which clears your mind, art-making accesses both mind and body to promote healing. Throughout history, art has been used to support many causes including social, political and religious. Through art, the artists express their thoughts and feelings with greater intensity than may be possible in words. It is scientifically proven that every individual thinks and interprets things differently. Any art form can be a way to pray, reflect and cultivate a relationship with God. Personal devotional practices should respond to one’s styles and personality, so bringing one’s authentic self before God in prayer could also mean including art. Depression and Art Therapy Art therapy provides an individual who is feeling pressured or overwhelmed with an opportunity to slow down and explore the issues that are occurring in their life. It provides them with a way to manage their behavior, reduce anxiety, process feelings, and destress.