The Benefits of Mindful Doodling
I have doodled my entire life; on the bottom on my parent's kitchen table, the walls of the house, my nightstand, the side of school notes, and on occasion on a blank piece of paper, indented for drawing.
Do you doodle? When you're on the phone or sitting in a meeting, do you find yourself making mindless marks on a scrap piece of paper? Sure, doodling can be a mental distraction, but doodling acts more as a form of therapy.
Coping skills don't have to be particular strategies taught by counselors in therapy. Often, clients have several techniques to cope with daily stressors and significant life challenges before starting therapy. As a counselor, I help my clients identify what they are already using and help them see it is a skill and how it can be used purposefully.
Mindful Doodling
Mindful doodling adds intentionality to the act of doodling. If you are someone who finds themselves doodling in the margins, you are likely benefiting from the act of doodling. You can build on this natural self-calming skill to purposely create space for your emotions and experiences, feel more connected to yourself and others, reduce your anxiety, and feel more at peace. In the mindful doodle course, I go into more detail on how the brain, mind, and body benefit from doodling, but let's briefly talk about these and other benefits of doodling.
15 benefits of doodling:
Builds resilience
Doodling allows you to strengthen the parts of the brain that relate to resiliency.
Exercises the brain
Doodling keeps the brain engaged and works out different connections to strengthen how the brain is wired.
Gives the brain a break
Doodling stimulates the brain and turns down the noise of our other senses.
Aids concentration and information retention
Doodling stimulates the brain enough to keep it interested without being distracted.
Helps problem-solving
When we don't have the solution, we may also lack the words. Doodling helps stimulate the brain to help us think of ways to manage a problem.
Boosts brainstorming ideas
Doodling allows you to develop new solutions to problems and generate fresh ideas in general.
Supports self-reflection
Doodling, even the simplest of lines can be packed full of meaning that can tell us something about ourselves.
Expands the "picture."
Doodling helps you see the bigger picture as it expands your view and thinking
Improves humor
Doodling distorted realities (e.g., funny faces) make them part of our brain light up that is associated with humor
Creates balance
Doodling targets emotions held deeply in the brain and help reorganize them to bring about mental and emotional balance.
Reduces stress
Doodling helps us and our brains unwind.
Assists in managing, reducing, even eliminating anxiety
Doodling helps get and keep our bodies in a relaxed state, where anxiety cannot exist.
Allows for safe and non-threatening expression
Doodling allows people to access and express emotions without needing language or risking others being aware
Promotes Unfiltered Emotional Release
Doodling ability to release the brain from self-monitoring allows you to "let it out" more cathartically.
Increases creativity
This one is almost redundant because much of what I have listed above is creative. Creativity is about new ideas, fresh concepts, problem-solving, expression, expanding your view, and more.