Neurographic art to calm frayed nerves, stimulates positive change
Hyderabad: Last year, I had written about the Mandala art form where drawing and colouring can take our minds off the unnecessary, worrying thoughts. When Omicron threatened our lives all over again, a friend suggested neurographic art to calm our frayed nerves. People ask ‘how can art help?’ Well, research over the years has shown […]
Hyderabad: Last year, I had written about the Mandala art form where drawing and colouring can take our minds off the unnecessary, worrying thoughts. When Omicron threatened our lives all over again, a friend suggested neurographic art to calm our frayed nerves.
People ask ‘how can art help?’ Well, research over the years has shown that drawing/ painting helps in increased level of Dopamine – a chemical in the brain – that is responsible for making a person feel good.
Our brain has nerve cells called the neurons which carry messages between the brain and the body parts. It is the basic unit of our central nervous system. Dopamine is a type of neurotransmitter. Our body makes it and our nervous system uses it to send messages between nerve cells. It plays an important role in how we feel pleasure.
In 2014, Pavel Piskarev, a Russian psychologist, created neurographic art. This art form connects science with art. ‘Neuro’ comes from the word neurons that are found in the brain and ‘graphic’– the use of pictures shapes or words. Pavel claims this art form awakens the dormant neuro connections which stimulate positive change in the person.
The psychologist believes that neurographic art is therapeutic as it works with the subconscious mind through drawing freeform lines, which help in transferring fear, chaos and stress of our world into something more calming and peaceful by expressing feelings in an abstract way.
It is based on 5 simple steps:
Step 1: Consider an area of discomfort or challenge. Write it on the back of your paper.
Step 2: Focus on your challenge and let your hand draw lines freely, crisscrossing them.
Step 3: Curve out corners where the lines intersect. It is called transformation.
Step 4: Add additional lines to enhance your composition.
Step 5: Fill in your shapes with solid or blended colours depending on your preferences.
When your work is complete, reflect on the process and the product. Ask yourself some questions; ‘Did you enjoy the process?’ ‘How did you feel when you were making it?’ ‘How do you feel now?’
You will find that when you were engrossed in drawing lines, your mind was away from worries of the past and future. You were focussed only on the present. You had gone into a meditative state and transformed your stress into something beautiful and thus find peace.
By Farida Raj,
Remedial Educator and Psychological Counsellor.
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