To be able to give my best, I had to start by knowing better myself. Painting accelerates this process as it naturally integrates mental, emotional, physical and spiritual parts.
Self-knowledge and personal development have been and continue to be pillars in my life. The turning point was when suddenly and without warning, painting appeared in my path. At that moment, the process of self-knowledge accelerated. I discovered painting as an integrating vehicle for everything learned, studied and experienced over the years, since it contemplates mental, emotional, physical and spiritual aspects.
Having lived the transformation within myself and having verified that art therapy is a powerful technique, I was clear about my life purpose:
To help people in their change processes, to connect with their inner strength to develop skills such as intuition and to express emotions and feelings that usually are not able to be expressed with words. Art is a way of opening new doors towards our inside and connecting with our deepest self
Through art therapy with painting we express what we keep inside. Our conflicts, fears, anguish, needs, frustrations, desires and dreams, surface when we let ourselves be carried away by the work that we are representing.
When observing the creation and reflecting on it, both the therapist and the “artist” see the internal world reflected and we can establish where the imbalance lies. It is then, by becoming aware, that we can begin to work. As in all therapies, commitment is very important, since each person must take responsibility for their healing process.
It is not necessary to know how to paint, you just have to look into your interior and leave your comfort area
There are many people who do not choose this therapy because according to what they say: «I don’t know how to paint» … «Painting is difficult for me» … «I am very clumsy» … «Painting stresses them»…
May I tell you a secret?
This was what I used to say, until one day (when I was looking for a special painting to decorate a wall in our house) my brother told me:
Stop looking outside, you can make that picture.
At that crucial moment (in which I was experiencing a small personal crisis), I decided to listen to his words and to start searching within myself. I left my comfort area and faced all those limiting beliefs about my relationship with painting, which has led me to live the most transformative process of my entire life. YOU CAN ALSO LIVE this if you wish.
Perhaps you are in a moment in which you are looking for a change in your life, you want to move forward and your fears and insecurities prevent you or you notice that you have disconnected from your essence and your life is “losing its colour”…
Art therapy and self-knowledge can also be for you, it is a vehicle to connect with your inner strength and to help you to achieve everything you are looking for outside.
Now you know that it is not necessary to know how to paint, nor that the result of the work has a great artistic value. The work is always valuable because it has been born from your authenticity. This is the reason why it is essential that the work is done spontaneously, responsibly, conscientiously and sincerely.
It is important not to get attached and to release the result of the work, only to flow, to let yourself go. Pay attention to the feelings and emotions you are having while painting, looking inside yourself, connecting with the deepest self and above all getting out of your mind. That is the moment when clues appear and when you realize many things that your rational mind does not allow you to see.
The unconscious begins to work and then magic is done. Something wakes up inside, the pieces of a puzzle we tried to assemble for years fit and then, something clicks and we begin to understand.
It is important that the work is carried out without speaking, that there are no external interruptions that could take the “artist” out of connection with his work.
As a therapist I offer at the beginning a series of simple instructions and different materials for each one to use the one that vibrates with each self (acrylics, sand, stones, branches, flowers…). People can also bring objects of emotional value to integrate them in the work (doorknobs, beads, pushpins … whatever they can think of) and paint with brushes or with their hands, sitting on a chair and table or lying on the floor…
At the end of the workshop, the results can be shared with the group and it is only the author who interprets his or her work. In doing so, self-confidence is developed, since the group does not judge, only can contribute, support and motivate. By sharing everyone realizes that more people are going through the same situation and want to face their fears or limiting beliefs, and to reinforce their self-confidence, self-esteem and connect with that part from which you had disconnected.
In life there are many opportunities that are like opening doors
Similar things happen to all of us… We are not the only ones, what happens is that we do not dare to tell about it to others, usually out of shame or fear.
When we are sincere, especially with us, we connect with our essence and dare to leave our comfort zone, the world starts to move and doors open that we would never imagine.
Do you want me to help you to get it? I am Estíbaliz Romaña, an ICF certified art therapist and emotional coach.
Enter www.estibalizromana.com and discover the art therapy workshops that I will periodically organize on Ibiza an on Spanish mainland. I also organize online coaching and self-knowledge sessions. Contact me directly if you want me to participate on a retrieve, conference or any other event. I wait for you inside…
Hug from my soul,
Estíbaliz Romaña
hola@estibalizromana.com
www.estibalizromana.com
Fotographs by Laura P. Canive