Mindful Creative Therapy for Sleep- Calligraphy

Today we are going to be doing something a little different. I know that I do a lot with knitting and crochet so today i'm going to be spending some time with you doing calligraphy.

I was a little bit leery of the whole calligraphy trend, until my intern showed me some brush pens. They are water-based and very inexpensive, you can get them on Amazon. The other thing that I bought when I started to use brush pens was some calligraphy tutorial books. These are great for practicing because they have the letters that you're tracing underneath see through paper.

One of the things I really like about calligraphy is that you really have to be mindful. You can't just be on autopilot, you really have to slow down in order to make the strokes! Some people find it very stressful, I acknowledge that. Like all art forms, it’s not for everyone. For me, though, it's very relaxing, again I try not to focus too much on the outcome, just the process. Sometimes I blur my eyes so I am not looking at what the letter is that I’m trying to copy, but just a squiggly shape. With just a little practice, the outcome can be very lovely.

I like the feeling of writing with a pen or pencil or some kind of implement on paper. I tend to do it a lot, I do quite a bit of journaling, and I always take notes if i'm in a meeting, even if I know I’ll never read the notes again! Just the act of putting the pen to paper helps me to stay focused on what the person's saying. Writing helps me to remember what it was that I wrote down. When I write in cursive or calligraphy with a pen that I really like, I find it very satisfying in a way that typing doesn't hit.

I hope that this time together has helped you to get whatever is keeping you awake out of your mind. Perhaps your hands have been able to ease things a little bit and help you process your emotions so that you can fall back into a restful sleep.