Creating Dynamic Experiences in the Arts & Inspired Art
I will be honest when I tell you that I was not considered the school’s top artist as a youth. When I was young, I wasn’t even chosen for the artistically-gifted fine art programs. There were all sorts of children more technically skilled, partly because singing was one of my first mediums (tools or modalities) for self-expression and healing. But, I had a love for art, and the arts in general, and that was enough to initiate a healing path. As the pressures and demands of my life increased, fine art, music, and movement became my coping mechanisms. I often would spend my free time perfecting art techniques to unwind (or create new dance moves). Simply having basic art tools around, and access to artist guides, like public television’s Bob Ross and our wonderful art teachers at school, was enough to inspire us to explore.
Can YOU Embrace the Arts?
You don’t need someone to tell you that you are gifted in anything in order to develop new skills or techniques (or a new way of living). Often times children who are identified from a very early age as traditionally gifted may be funneled into society as destructive pawns (with their creativity and intuitive nature squashed, not harnessed). If they are told that they are gifted, they may also not feel motivated to try harder to maximize potential because they perform well with minimum effort.
YOU definitely don’t need someone to tell you that you are artistically gifted in order to create a masterpiece that you can feel proud of. Most importantly, you don’t need anyone to tell you that you are artistically gifted in order to enjoy the wonderful wellness benefits in artistic expression in all its many forms and the mind-body-spirit connection.
Creating a space where the mind-body-spirit connection is celebrated is key. We need to carve out time and foster creative space. As children, we made the transition from paper and pencil into watercolor on our walls, perfecting themes of nature in flowers and vines (and mastering a more 3-dimensional feel). We crafted our masterpieces and space with *freedom* of expression. It was a true stress-relief and a lifesaver at times. We also engaged in spiritual traditions and meditative techniques on a daily basis.
Movement as Expression: Building Community, Transcending Limitations
While artistic expression can be very healing on its own, it is not limited to fine art (drawing, painting, etc.). Movement itself, such as therapeutic dance, is also a wonderful modality (tool) for self-expression. It is by nature therapeutic for many people. It’s an ancient tool for expression, building deeper social and spiritual connections; this is found across cultures.
One year, I was blessed to have a gentle and healing dance therapist as a roommate who introduced me to the basic concepts in therapeutic dance (practicing the release of losses through movement). Later, while traveling, I discovered Marie Hélène Desmaris, a famous and extraordinary dancer, who led expressive dance classes just around the corner from my tiny studio (my home where I sang, explored arts, and 'healthy-French-cheffed' the nights away). It was an incredible opportunity in healing that I wish everyone to experience.
Extending the Healing Arts into Society: Inclusion and Fitness
In my expressive dance, I engaged in various freestyle techniques in partnership with other students and the teacher (truly group “meditation-in-motion”). I rarely before had so much fun in my life. Many of the students in the class faced personal challenges (such as communication and movement barriers). But, we collectively benefited from the techniques and from one another in ways that would ordinarily be difficult without this devoted class.
Personal limitations were transcended in these precious moments, as we connected with ourselves and each other. Stress, peer-pressure, bullying, and isolation melt away in these moments. In this example, expressive arts can extend beyond the realm of therapy right into community. What’s more, professionals in the areas of health and fitness can benefit from psychological tools and the ‘inclusion philosophy.’ This maximizes the influence of the health and fitness industry and may help to extend greater healing.
The Mind-Body-Spirit Connection in the Arts
As I grew in technical skills in the arts, spiritual inspiration transformed much of my work. We are fortunate to come from a family that equipped us with some good values and tools; but, they were not limited to beliefs and stories. There is a spiritual dimension beyond cultural and tradition.
As my spiritual journey grew more alive and vital, my artwork transformed as an extension of spiritual inspiration. As it is for many others, art was, by nature, therapeutic. But, there was something more dynamic than paint and canvas. I took the technical skills that I was developing (in formal art and dance) and used them as one component of my technique, but not alone. I began to add in the life-changing “spirit and soul intuition” (the mind and spirit connection to the art creation).
The Mind-Body-Spirit Connection Does NOT Negate Science
Individuals unexperienced in spiritual expression and the noetic sciences are often tempted to limit spiritual awakening, feeling that spirituality is just a way to meet psychological needs (a purely psychological coping-mechanism). Others filter the spiritual experience through the lens of psychologist Carl Jung’s “collective unconscious” paradigm. I do not doubt the existence of collective consciousness (unconscious or otherwise) or that people use religion as a coping skill; we evolved, in part, through community for survival.
But, is there is something much more alive and vital to the spiritual dimension? My experience says, “YES!” and that it may be science that has yet to be explained. People all over the world have agreed.
Are spiritual people a metaphoric ‘island of rogue hippies’ or flakes? Absolutely not. How do more formal disciplines account for spirituality in an unbiased way? I once had a business partner who was a Harvard University behavioral cardiologist, who, like me, explored the mind-body-spirit connection (academically and in self-exploration); in one of our last conversations, I told him that I had concluded that the spiritual experience exists primarily in the parasympathetic nervous system, or “rest and digest” part of the nervous system, when it is turned on. That’s when the “fight or flight response,” or sympathetic nervous system, is turned off. He quickly agreed, and said that he had independently discovered this as well.
Embracing the Whole Person Equals Life as an Art
Developing the brain and nervous system, as well as the mind-body-spirit connection, can partly be compared to building big muscles. The muscles that you want to grow larger must be exercised to build the area up. The same is true for the nervous system and the mind-body-spirit connections (the neural epicenters associated with spiritual connection).
Unfortunately, it’s often very challenging to build up the mind-body-spirit connection, to truly integrate a vital spiritual lifestyle, for most people in modern society. But, why?
My father wisely reminds me that as a society, when the majority of our time (since childhood) is spent exercising the “Fight or Flight” parts of the brain, it is very challenging to utilize the other parts of the brain. This is especially true for the spiritual centers and parasympathetic nervous system where deeper insights into consciousness, the universe, and ourselves, are often found.
Research shows that children who exercise the spiritual centers of the brain with abstract concepts that require belief (whether it is Santa, the Easter Bunny, or a religious figure) will have an advantage in spiritual experiences as they grow older. This represents a functional advantage that can be exercised with practice.
This is not pseudoscience science, but the fundamentals of neuroscience: the more we activate parts of our brain, the easier it is to metaphorically go to that place (for good or bad). Using the same neurons (brain cells) over and over again is like creating a clear path in the snow. It creates faster arrival to the same destination in the future because the path is used more. We must learn to activate spiritual centers. Experts in the meditative arts often describe personal growth through deep spiritual enlightenment, along with experiences that extend beyond the mind, through the body, and into the universe.
Embracing a spiritual journey (with mind-body-spirit balance) has been described as a rebirth from the primal nature. The former animalistic self-preservation and self-gratification where the “Fight or Flight” response that previously dominated, can be transcended in this space. We become a better version of ourselves (still unique individuals with something wonderful to share).
I do know that what is recognized as key features of spiritual awakening, described as the “fruit of the spirit” (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, meekness, self-control, and faith) can be a natural manifestation of a greater balance in mind, body, and spirit. In my experience, engaging the mind-body-spirit practices as a lifestyle, in balance, helps to create a transformative, priceless, life-changing way of being. Note that it extends beyond the self, into deeper community connections. It feels oneness in community and new confidence (in contrast to fear, division, and strife that exists in the ‘Fight or Flight’ response). In this active state of being, it is not overly self-gratuitous; it is balanced and inspired.
Many favorite artistic pieces on this site were developed through inspiration, using the life-changing mind-body-spirit connection and lifestyle. Use it to remind you and your loved ones that art, balance, and vibrant living is for everyone.
In health & healing,
Angeline Pacy
