Feeling Stressed? Try These 3 Mindful Drawing Techniques
Not all stress relief comes from stillness. Sometimes, it comes from creative movement—letting your hand draw what your heart or body is feeling. This week’s creative check-ins invite you to explore emotions, energy, and calm using simple drawing techniques.
These exercises are designed to help you tune in without pressure, using shapes, colours, and marks as your guide. You don’t need to be “good at drawing”—you just need a few quiet minutes and something to draw with.
Try This One-Colour Drawing Exercise for Emotional Insight
When you don’t have words for how you’re feeling, colour can speak for you. This exercise helps you check in with your emotions using nothing more than a single colour.
It’s a gentle, intuitive way to process what’s beneath the surface—no overthinking required.
Try this:
- Pick a colour that calls to you today—whatever feels right.
- Use it to fill a page. Try varying the pressure, layering, or stroke styles as you go.
- When you’re done, ask yourself: Does this colour match how I’m feeling right now?
What you create doesn’t have to look like anything. It’s about connection, not perfection.
Map Your Emotions: How to Draw What Your Body Feels
We often carry emotions in our bodies—tight shoulders, a fluttering chest, a heavy stomach. This exercise helps you explore those physical sensations in a visual way.
It’s a beautiful way to turn inward with curiosity, especially if you’ve been feeling out of sync with yourself.
Try this:
- Close your eyes and tune into your body. Where do you feel tension, ease, energy, or fatigue?
- Draw a simple outline of a human figure.
- Use colours, lines, or marks to show how your body feels inside that outline.
What did you learn from the drawing? Did it reflect how you're feeling physically—or emotionally?
Why Drawing the Same Shape Over & Over Can Be Meditative
Some days, your mind just needs to settle. Repetition can help. Drawing the same shape again and again creates a rhythm that’s deeply grounding and calming.
There’s something powerful about letting go of decisions and just flowing with form.
Try this:
- Choose a simple shape—a triangle, a wave, a circle.
- Fill a page by drawing that same shape, over and over.
- Let yourself sink into the rhythm.
Did your mind begin to quiet? Did your focus shift? Sometimes, the act of repeating is what brings the reset.
Which Practice Helped You Feel Most Connected?
Whether you’re checking in with colour, mapping your body’s energy, or repeating a single shape, these mindful art practices help you tune in without needing to explain yourself. They’re quick, intuitive, and surprisingly grounding.
If one of these exercises helped you pause and breathe, imagine what a few minutes each week could do.
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Give one a try today—and feel free to share which one made the biggest difference.