Art therapy, autumn & me
The changing seasons can influence our mood and wellbeing. They can also help us understand our own emotions. Let’s take a moment to notice autumn.
Autumn’s creative and mindfulness activities are all about ‘paying attention’ and helping us to reflect on changes.
Autumn provides us with an amazing backdrop and selection of materials to work with when we start to bring our attention to the natural world, our environment and ourselves.
This season, let’s ‘pay attention’ to those changes happening in nature. We can ask ourselves questions to help us notice more, like:
‘When I look outside, what changes do I notice?’
‘Have the colours of the leaves changed yet?’
‘Does the weather feel colder?’
‘Does the sky look a little different?’
‘How do these changes make me feel?’
Getting support
If you need further support or want to engage with art therapy, then we’d encourage you to contact an art therapist in your area. Or head to ‘Find an art therapist’ on the British Association of Art Therapists’ website.
Paying attention
What you'll do
Continuing our theme, looking at art is a great way of ‘paying attention’, or ‘slow looking’. It’s also part of the creative process. Recent studies confirm that looking slowly and mindfully at art improves our wellbeing by helping us to make connections, both within ourselves and with the world around us.
Tate has an excellent guide to paying attention, or ‘slow looking’ here. You can try it out by visiting a local gallery or museum and taking time to look at the art.
