PENCIL THERAPY

First a word about mental therapy.

Mention the word therapy and a lot of people have a rather negative attitude, and associate the word with somebody who has drastic mental issues or is at the point of a mental breakdown. This is rather harsh and undeserved, therapy can come in many forms. When the word therapy is used most people think of some kind of treatment often under the guidance of a professional therapist or other medical practitioner, or maybe they think of alternative therapy which some people turn to when they feel that nothing else seems to help. Most people do not tend to think of the ways we can give ourselves a little mental therapy each day. But there are some everyday activities that can have beneficial therapeutic value.

Who has not turned to a bar of chocolate or other sweet treat because they feel a little down and find this helps. Okay too much chocolate is bad for your health but in moderation it can help lift your mood, so this in a sense is a form of self therapy as long as it is only once in a while and not used as an excuse to eat loads of chocolate which will make you put on weight and then depress you even more.

Do you like making model kits? Do you enjoy filling out crosswords and other puzzles? Are you someone who knits or does cross stitch? Maybe you like to lose yourself in the countryside on long walks or are somebody that likes to get their head into a good book. All these and more are ways we constantly use as ways to enjoy our time, and because they help us to relax they are acting as a form of therapy. You probably noticed the word relax just then, a very important word because being able to relax means that your mind is not mulling on any problems or worries that you may have at any one time and this can be a difficult thing to achieve.

When stress becomes too much.

When we have a lot of long term worries they can accumulate with the day to day stress we receive. Stress is a normal everyday circumstance that we usually take in our stride but every now and then we may find ourselves in a situation where we have a lot more stress than normal and are finding it difficult to cope. It is during these times we need to have a way to deal with this and self therapy is one of our biggest weapons. It is very important for us to find a little time to ourselves so that we can take a break even if it is just an hour or so a day. Once we give ourselves the time then we need to find an activity that can totally absorb us in what we are doing, something in which we can lose ourselves mentally.

If you already enjoy doing something like the activities mentioned above and your mind can be focused on what you are doing without it wandering back to your worries then you have successfully found the right form of self therapy for you but do not just leave it there try something new as well. Trying something new can sometimes be better than something you already do. Why? Because if you are doing something familiar then you do not always have to concentrate so hard on it and so those worries have a better chance of invading your thoughts, meaning you are not getting any real benefit. Far better to do something where your mind has to concentrate solely on what it is doing and therefore does not have the time for all those worries. And that is where Pencil therapy can be a very strong contender.

What is meant by the term 'pencil therapy'?

Whenever we hold a pen, pencil or even a brush and then make a mark on a surface, usually paper or canvas, we are employing our brain in a multiple of ways. The most obvious is hand and eye co-ordination, our eyes observe the movements we make not only with our hands and fingers but the effect this movement has on the implement we are using and the result it has on the the paper or canvas. Our brain constantly sends signals to our hands and fingers and adjusts the movements made to get the desired effect There is more than one dimension to the task, our brain is dealing with the movements it gets our hands and fingers to do, but it is also controlling the amount of pressure employed to achieve the desired effect. Now when you add shade and/ or colour into the equation then this can provoke other parts of our brain to join in. You can get the picture ( no pun intended ). We all have our favourite colours and some colours remind us of things, so if we start to employ these in a positive way we may find our mood can be lifted. With the combination of our brain concentrating on guiding our hands and fingers and the association of feelings with different colours there is a good chance of being able to occupy our minds to the extent of excluding our worries even if it is just for a short while. Like to try some simple pencil therapy Practice therapy ideas.