What’s so healing about expressing yourself? Why do I call myself The Therapeutic Expressionist – as if there is something inherently therapeutic about expression? That’s because expression IS inherently therapeutic!
Here’s what I’ve been learning on my human journey as a practitioner and as a person that I’d like to share about Therapeutic Expression.
It’s BOTH Humbling AND Empowering
Life is full of experiences that are scary, intimidating, and vulnerable. Life is also full of joyful, validating, and endearing moments. As a singer, I have to fight through all kinds of insecurities to get up and perform. It can also be super empowering to have done it… to sing some of those words that were also really difficult or intimidating to write… those songs that were incredibly tough to record. It’s literally impossible, in time and space, to get to any of those pivotal finish lines without going through the hardest parts. Keep in mind, the healing isn’t in the glorifying endpoint (trust me, it’s not all that glorifying, and it’s definitely not the end). The healing is in the process that unfolds through the moments where you feel most humble, the empowering times of strength, and all the reality in between.
Vulnerability Is The Game
We know that you gotta be willing to lose big if you want to win big. This is how I’m starting to understand vulnerability. You want to be accepted by others? Giving them the chance to accept you means they will have the chance to reject you. It’s more about accepting yourself, right? Well, accepting your full self means looking at your full self – even the parts you hide or hate – so you have to HUMBLE yourself so that you can be EMPOWERED by accepting yourself.
Expression Is Everything
So, how does expression play into all of this? What do I mean by expression? Think about this for a second: Google just pulled up over 8 million search results for “stress is a silent killer.” I bring this up because we can’t deny that something like stress impacts the body and our health in ways that can literally destroy us. DO you understand your stress? Can you see how life experiences and our internal realities can affect our health, and how mental/emotional health is not so separate from physical health? If you’re still with me, then maybe you’ll understand what I mean when I say that all of these things are expression and can be therapeutic: touch, hugs, laughter, writing, singing, crying. Maybe we do all of these things, but how can we be intentional about making these moments of expression in ways for our own therapeutic benefit?
Touch: It’s healing when it’s respectful of our boundaries and something we consent to.
Hugs: It’s healing when it isn’t rushed, forced, filled with millions of intimidating questions running through your mind.
Laughter: It’s healing when it’s organic and going through your body – not when you’re internalizing someone else laughing at their perception of something vulnerable about you.
Writing: It’s healing when it’s being done freely, through the fear of what you might be scared to see yourself write.
Singing: It’s healing when we dare to open up and let go of the tension.
Crying: It’s healing when we let our body release the brain chemistry freely and have someone that is protecting and affirming our natural right to process it freely.
This is just a LITTLE BIT about Therapeutic Expression. Subscribe, follow, and stay tuned for more.
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