{"id":19155,"date":"2020-03-04T09:00:26","date_gmt":"2020-03-04T17:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=19155"},"modified":"2020-02-29T12:39:46","modified_gmt":"2020-02-29T20:39:46","slug":"camosun-mywellness-column-creative-ways-to-deal-with-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2020\/03\/04\/camosun-mywellness-column-creative-ways-to-deal-with-mental-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Camosun MyWellness column: Creative ways to deal with mental health"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a creative person who\u2019s struggled with anxiety most of my life, I\u2019ve found many ways to write, paint, and sing my way to mental freedom. Author Neil Gaiman once said that when things go wrong (which they most certainly will), you should make good art.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, you may be thinking that there\u2019s no way for you to do that\u2014maybe you\u2019ve never explored that aspect of yourself. Maybe you\u2019ve never tried painting or writing, or you picked up a guitar once and now it\u2019s collecting dust in your basement. Well, this column might give you some simple ways to reframe the racing thoughts and negative emotions that often come hand in hand with mental-health issues.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
This story originally appeared in our March 4, 2020 issue.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1. Journalling\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Journalling is the simplest, yet arguably most effective, way to deal with mental-health issues, and there\u2019s infinite ways to do it right (and no way to do it wrong). Try writing the negative thoughts down. And then look at them, and realize just how untrue they are. <\/i>Then try writing some positive things about yourself, and repeat them. Tape them to your mirror. Say them out loud! Try writing about your day\u2014mention five good things that happened. What do you want to do better tomorrow? Just write about your emotions. How do you feel? It\u2019s all valid, and sometimes writing it down helps to get it out of your head.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Painting\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Finger painting, paint-by-numbers, abstract painting, throwing a bunch of paint on a canvas\u2026 It\u2019s all painting. Focusing on something external often balances your emotions and calms your mind. There are also thousands of painting tutorials on YouTube that anyone could do. Try it. Maybe you\u2019ll find a new passion.<\/p>\n

3. Music\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Music is a bit more complicated, but even after 20 years, I truly believe anyone can make music if they apply themselves. Try playing guitar for 10 minutes a day. Make a song on GarageBand; sing to a karaoke track. Try writing a poem and putting a melody to it! It\u2019s all practice, and if it makes you feel <\/i>good, then it\u2019s a good thing. Music saved my life. Maybe it will save yours as well.<\/p>\n

4. Nature art<\/p>\n

This one really hits two birds with one stone. There\u2019s lots of inspiration on Pinterest\u2014try looking up nature mandalas or rock sculptures and balancing. While developing an appreciation for nature, you\u2019ll feel more balanced and proud of what you create. And maybe you\u2019ll get a nice picture for your Instagram!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a creative person who\u2019s struggled with anxiety most of my life, I\u2019ve found many ways to write, paint, and sing my way to mental freedom. Author Neil Gaiman once said that when things go wrong (which they most certainly will), you should make good art.\u00a0 Now, you may be thinking that there\u2019s no way […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19105,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,249],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns","category-march-4-2020"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19155"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19156,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19155\/revisions\/19156"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}