Our subconscious is a very powerful part of our brain, It holds lots of beliefs about ourselves that were created when we were very young. belief such as I can’t do it, It’s too difficult, I’m not good enough, etc..

The thing most people don’t realize is that our subconscious “speaks” in the language of symbols and images and we can use this language in order to re-program our minds and change these limiting beliefs.

one of the most powerful tools is creating mindful art inside a visual art diary or a visual journal.

Mindful art is any art practice that is based on mindfulness, meditation, or visualization to spark a creative practice. Our mind is more relaxed and open after we meditate and we can create more open and honest work of art.

When we work in a visual journal we can let our subconscious “choose” special images that we can dialogue with and discover important insights about ourselves.

One of the techniques that I teach in my courses is dialoguing with an image.

We start with picking a random image and we ask the image certain introductory questions:

Who are you?

Can you tell me about yourself?

why did you come today?

Do you have a message for me?

What part of me needs your help?

After you finish the dialogue you can create an environment for your image, an environment where it feels safe and protected.

You can start an art therapy journal even if you are not working with a certified therapist.

In the SoulPages method, I use mindful art techniques that are very therapeutic and can help us overcome some of our childhood wounds.

Art therapy is a modality of healing that was developed originally by artists that knew how much working with materials in a loose, nonjudgmental way- can be healing to your soul.

I started to developpe the SoulPages method when I was in my last year of art therapy certificate. I was looking for a way to heal my inner wounds and my connection with my parents.

I started working on an altered book that I made from scratch, I only used the cover of the book and saw in new pages… I wrote on one side all my feelings and on the other side I allow myself to paint, glue, draw and basically just play with materials..

 It took a few months until I realise how strong this work was.

I started to feel compassion for my mother, I started to feel that I have more power and energy to do the daily activities.

I can truly say that this practice changed my life and helped me heal some deep inner wounds in a fun creative way and without the need to go to a certified therapist.

If you want to try one session for free you can check out this link

https://soul-pages.com/the-transformative-book-the-dreaming-child/

In one of the most difficult periods of my life, I found the visual journal and it helped me find my own inner guidance. It was after my mother died and I dealt with grief and shame.

In the beginning, I called my journal- an artistic Journal because it was all about expressing my feeling in an artistic way… I just enjoyed the visual effect of playing with different mixed media techniques.

But after a few months, I started to feel that what I create in my journal can be described as meditation art.

I would meditate on a subject, visualize it and then I would start work in my visual journal. I felt that the meditation continued even when I opened my eyes and started to create.

Every week I felt better, I felt that I can heal myself.

But… the most amazing healing started when I started to teach others.

I knew that I discovered something special and I decided to try and create lessons for others.

I developed SoulPages method I thought it for a few years. My student wanted more and more lessons and I started to feel that when I’m teaching others- I’m also healing myself.

Very soon I noticed that all my students also wanted to teach others..

This was the time when I developed the Mentor program- I understood that collective healing is so important!

I started to teach the Mentor course 8 years ago and since then I feel that when I create lessons that are coming from my inner soul, lessons that are created with my knowledge- I managed to help others and heal them-and the fact that I’m an agent of healing- help me maintain my mental health.

So if you want to heal yourself through healing others you should consider the SoulPages Mentor program. You can read more here:

https://soul-pages.com/courses/soulpages-facilitator-training-22-23/

The art journaling world is full of possibilities and sometimes you can feel overwhelmed “how can I start?”

In this article I want to suggest 3 simple activities that can kickstart your artistic practice:

Meditation art– you can start by simply listening to meditation or visualizations by different teachers and then letting your hands and heart create what you felt/ saw in your meditation. give it 20-30 minutes and remember that there is no place for the inner critic in this activity!

You can start by listening to one of my visualizations here:

https://soul-pages.com/junes-offering-connect-with-your-magic-fairy/

The 7 elements of visual journaling

In my book “Layers of meaning” you can learn all about the 7 elements of creating, This is a very simple way to start working in a journal. the 7 elements are Intention, magical coincidence, background, Image, color, line, and text.

you can start working with one element a day and create intuitive art only with that element.

you can read about the elements here:

https://soul-pages.com/the-book-layers-of-meaning-is-released/

A visual poem

choose a poem you like and create a work of art that is a visual translation of the poem. You can print the poem and cut out the lines and glue them over your art.

This piece of art journaling spread I did after a poem that my mother wrote.

Keeping a journal is one of the strongest tools to improve and transform your life.

One day, more than 10 years ago, I met with one of my colleagues and she showed me this artistic journal… inside I saw amazing simple collage work.

I was hooked and I ran home and started my own collage journal.

In the beginning, I mostly worked with images from magazines and old scraps but after a while, I started to collect my own collages materials, images that spoke to my heart.

Let me share with you one practice that if you do daily-you will start feeling great changes in your life.

• Create a background from one or more of the primary colors
• Glue 3-5 images on different parts of the page
• connect the images with lines
• Add more colors to connect the images
• Look at what you created and give it a “name”, a text that summarizes what you created.
• Additional idea: ask the picture you created as if it was your inner guide: what is the message that I need to know today?

Working with collage images can help you connect with inner parts or inner archetypes that are hidden from your daily conscious. These parts can be positive important powers that you can activate within yourself.