What’s the next step ? / Feedback and thoughts following tutor /peer session:
I’m feeling overwhelmed with ideas and thoughts and am not sure where to begin. I must find a starting point. Gather information through drawing?
- REFLECT REGULARLY – WEEKLY! (Use the points from the Individual Learning Plan for guidance)
- Mood boards
- Research and read
- Go for a walk and experience nature – practice mindfulness – what are the steps?
- How is it practiced? Categorise ways of being mindful. I could narrow it down to something within my own experience.
- Loose sketches
- Explore practitioners in art and mindfulness/wellbeing
- Reflect on whether this might border on fine art, will it be authorial?
- Is it a map for someone who doesn’t need a map? Look at types of hand drawn maps. Map my own environment? Have I travelled in my mind to places I have pictured during lockdown? (Oh yes!)
- The act of drawing and knowing the geography of a place … connections….
- Test and explore materials, start to pre-empt problems arising and ways in which a solution might be sought.
- Evolve the project as it progresses, adapt and change. The form may not be specific at this stage.
What is mindfulness?
It’s the awareness of the ‘here and now’, being in the present moment. The awareness of the self both mentally and physically, our thoughts, senses and imagination responding and reacting to each moment as we experience it. A present moment of freshness and perspective, connecting to the wonder of life. It’s meditation, positive affirmation, journaling, practicing gratitude, positive psychology, reflection and balance.
Where can you practice it? Find a calm and peaceful spot, a green outdoor space in nature, or a calm place indoors to meditate, exercise, eat good food, breathe deeply. Anyone can practice it and it doesn’t cost anything.
What are the benefits of Mindfulness?
It improves your well-being (it reduces anxiety, improves self-esteem, creates deeper connections and empathy with the environment and with others.
Mindfulness improves your physical health (scientifically proven) (helps reduce stress, treats heart disease, lowers blood pressure, reduces chronic pain, improves sleep and alleviates gastrointestinal difficulties.)
It has proven benefits on the brain and thickens the amygdala. (Dr Sara Lazar – TEDex Talks). It can help improve many areas of mental health illnesses.
Please click on this link for my body of early key research – http://mandmade.co.uk/?page_id=503
