Weekend Design & Wellness Project

Reflection

Photo by: Aaron Burden @aaronburden

Reflecting on a moment in time can be a helpful way to be grateful for where you’ve been and keep focused on where you’re going. Take some time this weekend to write a few hurtles you’ve jumped through to get where you are today. Find some gratitude for your strength and even be in a bit of awe of your resilience. Life is challenging so reflecting on the whole picture can be rewarding. If you’d like a visual to support this idea, then take a look at Pointillism (also known as stippling), an Impressionist painting style. Georges Seurat and Paul Signac created this stippled technique as a branch of Impressionism Art. Millions of little dots are strategically placed so when seen from a distance it appears as one big picture. If you’re feeling creative, give pointillism a try. You do not need an art degree to pull this off. Stipple smiley face, the sunshine or a flower. Doodling has calming effects so it’s perfect for alleviating stress and anxiety.

Happy reflecting and stippling weekend!

Line Drawing

Practice Makes Straight Lines

Want to get inexpensive cognitive therapy while enhancing your stick figure making game? It’s kind of a win, win!

Practice drawing a freehand straight line. It takes a while to draw a straight line naturally. Using a straight edge may help to create some muscle memory with the consistency of the lines and with the space between the lines. Slowly start to make freehand lines to see the natural progression and consistency of the lines. Fill up a whole page or an entire sketch book of practice lines.

Drawing lines on paper, doing puzzles and listening to music taps into the cerebral cortex of the brain. Deep within the cerebral cortex is the the hippocampus, or memory center of the brain. The hippocampus stores both long and short term memory along with navigation and spacial awareness. Using the hands to create patterns, words and numbers enhances memory and cognitive function. Activating the hippocampus also effects cortisol levels (belly fat). So grab some pens, pencils or crayons and work on those abs.

Creative, stress-free exercise without the sweat:

• Make some lines on paper and group five vertical lines together (up & down)

• Then draw five horizontal lines next to the vertical lines (left to right)

• Keep going with this pattern or mix it up and do some diagonal lines.

• Your lines may end up creating a cool pattern that you can upload to society6 and make a few bucks.