“The man and the horse”

“There is a story in Zen circles about a man and a horse. The horse is galloping quickly, and it appears that the man on the horse is going somewhere important. Another man standing alongside the road, shouts, “Where are you going?” and the first man replies, “I don’t know! Ask the horse!” This is also our story. We are riding a horse, and we don’t know where we are going, and we can’t stop. The horse is our habit energy pulling us along, and we are powerless.” Thich Nhat Hanh

EXPRESSIVE ARTS THERAPY
In our journey to personal wellness, why is it so important that we bridge the gap between our conscious and unconscious mind?

Perhaps it helps to understand our conscious mind like the rider in our story and our subconscious mind is like that of the horse, pulling us along. Without deep looking, our thoughts, behaviors, inner drives, and motivations can become blocked, inhibited, and
stuck. Like the rider in our story, we may feel powerless to our habit energies leading us places we do not want to go.

Expressive arts therapy brings greater awareness to these areas of concern with a primary focus on the process of our here and now experience. Like a flower opening to the sun, this unfolding allows for new insights and meaning that might not be realized through talk therapy alone. Expressive arts does not require “artistic ability” but rather the openness to explore one’s own process in a new way. Expressive arts is ideal for all ages to enhance emotional, spiritual, cognitive, and physical well-being.

Right brained activities like painting, drawing, sculpting, music, and movement encourage our unconscious experience to come into clearer focus, bringing to light suppressed and repressed energies, allowing them to be fully experienced, expressed, processed, and cleared. Through the act and action of letting go, such as getting into a state of creative flow, a doorway is shaped to listen, watch, and observe our sensory experiences, without judgement or interference.

Unlike other types of therapy that activate left brain processes like logic and reason, expressive arts awakens and sparks the healing properties of our imagination, allowing space to integrate lost parts of ourselves, to reclaim our lost inner child, and to give ourselves the gift of new experience, without resistance, judgement, or control. Expressive arts encourages new expressions of self, bringing to light darkened areas of the psyche for acceptance and integration. Expressive arts can open new windows to unarticulated feelings, shedding light on past experience to help create meaning and let go.

Expressive arts can offer a new language to anyone looking to heal.

Andi Posey is a visual artist and therapist. Andi specializes in bringing Expressive Arts to  her clients in the therapy space to facilitate growth and healing. Working in a style that  integrates traditional counseling methods with Art, Mindfulness, Meditation, and  Somatic Experiencing, Andi believes that everyone benefits from activating the creative process to explore sensory awareness in the present moment. In recognizing that  everyone struggles differently, Andi understands that having multiple tools is very  important. For this reason, expressive arts is just one of the many somatic tools Antonia  utilizes with her clients to facilitate self-awareness, healing, and growth. If you or a  loved one would benefit from Expressive Arts therapy, reach out to Andi at  andi@withinholisticcounseling.com.