Anxiety: Mindfulness & Art
The American Psychological Association 's definition:
Anxiety is an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts and physical changes like increased blood pressure.
People with anxiety disorders usually have recurring intrusive thoughts or concerns. They may avoid certain situations out of worry. They may also have physical symptoms such as sweating, trembling, dizziness or a rapid heartbeat. This page features resources to help improve your understanding and strategies for teaching art to children with anxiety. This page also includes universal implications such as mindfulness that can be incorporated into our classroom environments.
http://www.apa.org/topics/anxiety/
Anxiety is an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts and physical changes like increased blood pressure.
People with anxiety disorders usually have recurring intrusive thoughts or concerns. They may avoid certain situations out of worry. They may also have physical symptoms such as sweating, trembling, dizziness or a rapid heartbeat. This page features resources to help improve your understanding and strategies for teaching art to children with anxiety. This page also includes universal implications such as mindfulness that can be incorporated into our classroom environments.
http://www.apa.org/topics/anxiety/
Common Traits of Anxiety
- Persistent feeling of fear, panic, and uneasiness
- Problem sleeping
- Shortness of breath
- Sweating
- An inability to be still or calm
- Accelerated heart rate
- Dry mouth
- Nausea or dizziness
- Muscle tensions/aches
- Fatigue
- Children with Anxiety tend to avoid places because of fears and may appear upset when they are separated from close family or friends.
What is Mindfulness?
www.mindfulnet.org
Mindfulness is a particular state of consciousness that involves paying attention and accepting the present moment in a non-judgemental way. Mindfulness was invented by Jon-Kabat Zinn during the 1970s at the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Today over thousands of people have completed the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program to help with anxiety, sleep problems, depression, attention, and many other disorders.
How is Mindfulness Practiced: Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is normally taught over a duration of 8 weeks with participants meeting 2-3 times as a group and home practice. There are a number of specific mediation practices that participants can learn over the course of 8 weeks and continue to practice after completing a program.
Mindfulness is for everyone and it is not a religion even though its origins developed in the east. Mindfulness is based on neuroscience and psychology - it examines the way we think and why we think the way we do. It helps us to become more aware of our own thoughts and how we responds to situations.
The Benefits of Mindfulness:
* Recognize, slow down or stop automatic and habitual responses
* Respond more effectively to complex or difficult situations
* See more situations clearly
* Become more creative
* Achieve Balance and Resilience at work and at home
There are also many publications documenting medical and psychological research on mindfulness which demonstrate the validity of application.
Mindfulness is a particular state of consciousness that involves paying attention and accepting the present moment in a non-judgemental way. Mindfulness was invented by Jon-Kabat Zinn during the 1970s at the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Today over thousands of people have completed the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program to help with anxiety, sleep problems, depression, attention, and many other disorders.
How is Mindfulness Practiced: Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is normally taught over a duration of 8 weeks with participants meeting 2-3 times as a group and home practice. There are a number of specific mediation practices that participants can learn over the course of 8 weeks and continue to practice after completing a program.
Mindfulness is for everyone and it is not a religion even though its origins developed in the east. Mindfulness is based on neuroscience and psychology - it examines the way we think and why we think the way we do. It helps us to become more aware of our own thoughts and how we responds to situations.
The Benefits of Mindfulness:
* Recognize, slow down or stop automatic and habitual responses
* Respond more effectively to complex or difficult situations
* See more situations clearly
* Become more creative
* Achieve Balance and Resilience at work and at home
There are also many publications documenting medical and psychological research on mindfulness which demonstrate the validity of application.
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Mindfulness for Teachers
"Throughout history, the role of education has been to prepare children for adulthood. Today our world is changing so rapidly that it's difficult to know what it will be like even from a decade from now. While we cannot predict the features of the world that our children will inherit, we do know that the pace of change will most likely continue to accelerate. Therefore, we can be certain that our students will need to be adaptable, creative, resilient, courageous, innovative, open-hearted, and open-minded" (Jennings, 2015, p.185).
Mindfulness for Teachers: Simple Skills for Peace and Productivity in the Classroom by Patricia A. Jennings (February, 2015).
Social and Emotional Learning:
Many want young people to learn to succeed academically, but we should also want them to learn to manage relationships in skilled and respectful ways - to make ethical and responsible contributions to their peers, family, school, and community. As teachers, we set the tone of the classroom by developing supportive and encouraging relationships with our students. We should also be good role models for our students, but to do this we need to have a high degree of social awareness so we can understand how our behaviour and expressions of emotion affect our interactions with students. Our goal as teachers should be to recognize and understand our students' emotions, build supportive relationships through mutual understanding and cooperation, and effectively negotiate solutions to conflict.
We feel fear because we perceive threat of harm, either physical or psychological. Fear reactions depend on the following three factors: intensity , timing, and coping. If the attention of a student is clearly focused on protecting themselves from a threat, they are not likely to be attending to your teaching lesson.
Building Good Relationships: It is our job to teach our students, and we want them to succeed. However, not all students are high academic achievers , and we need to mindful to also communicate that we value other attributes that our students exhibit, such as helpfulness, friendliness, creativity, problem-solving, and conflict resolution.
Motivation: emotions play a critical role in motivation. Effective teachers encourage engaged student learning by generating enthusiasm and passion for the curriculum. Rather than simply creating rules and responding to offences with punishment, we must establish a strong, cohesive community that allows student autonomy and cooperative learning that promotes the joy of discovery and learning for its own sake.
Understanding our emotions:
Emotional Journal: When you spend time reflecting on an emotional experience, you learn more about your emotional landscape and the best way to navigate its ups and downs. The key is just write down the facts of what happened in a situation and the emotions felt during the situation.
Teacher Burnout: Approximately 50% of new teachers leave the profession after 5 years and this number is particularly higher in schools that serve a large number of children at risk. There are many factors that lead to teacher burnout: increasing a number of children who come to school unprepared, and some may have serious behavior problems as early as preschool. When teachers are faced with situations that provoke emotions that are difficult to manage, classroom management efforts lack effectiveness. Emotional exhaustion is a state of emotional and physical depletion that results in the inability to cope with stress and emotional demands. When teachers feel this way, they may develop a cynical attitude towards students, parents, and colleagues.
Conflict Resolution: "We all want out students to learn to get along with one another. However, this can be easier said than done. As kids are learning relationship skills, they can sometimes have difficultly resolving conflicts with others. Often the easiest response is to solve the problem for them by separating them or making an executive decision about the situation. While such solutions may be expedient, they don't teach conflict resolution and relationship skills" (Jennings, 2015, p.152). When students have a conflict, other students can act as peer meditators (if the students are trained in simple mediation skills). Teaching Students to be Peacemakers is a curriculum that provides opportunities for students to practice role plays and specific procedures for negotiation and mediation until they can learn to manage their own conflicts routinely. The teacher can also choose different students to be mediators to help their peers resolve conflict peacefully.
Social and Emotional Learning:
Many want young people to learn to succeed academically, but we should also want them to learn to manage relationships in skilled and respectful ways - to make ethical and responsible contributions to their peers, family, school, and community. As teachers, we set the tone of the classroom by developing supportive and encouraging relationships with our students. We should also be good role models for our students, but to do this we need to have a high degree of social awareness so we can understand how our behaviour and expressions of emotion affect our interactions with students. Our goal as teachers should be to recognize and understand our students' emotions, build supportive relationships through mutual understanding and cooperation, and effectively negotiate solutions to conflict.
We feel fear because we perceive threat of harm, either physical or psychological. Fear reactions depend on the following three factors: intensity , timing, and coping. If the attention of a student is clearly focused on protecting themselves from a threat, they are not likely to be attending to your teaching lesson.
Building Good Relationships: It is our job to teach our students, and we want them to succeed. However, not all students are high academic achievers , and we need to mindful to also communicate that we value other attributes that our students exhibit, such as helpfulness, friendliness, creativity, problem-solving, and conflict resolution.
Motivation: emotions play a critical role in motivation. Effective teachers encourage engaged student learning by generating enthusiasm and passion for the curriculum. Rather than simply creating rules and responding to offences with punishment, we must establish a strong, cohesive community that allows student autonomy and cooperative learning that promotes the joy of discovery and learning for its own sake.
Understanding our emotions:
Emotional Journal: When you spend time reflecting on an emotional experience, you learn more about your emotional landscape and the best way to navigate its ups and downs. The key is just write down the facts of what happened in a situation and the emotions felt during the situation.
Teacher Burnout: Approximately 50% of new teachers leave the profession after 5 years and this number is particularly higher in schools that serve a large number of children at risk. There are many factors that lead to teacher burnout: increasing a number of children who come to school unprepared, and some may have serious behavior problems as early as preschool. When teachers are faced with situations that provoke emotions that are difficult to manage, classroom management efforts lack effectiveness. Emotional exhaustion is a state of emotional and physical depletion that results in the inability to cope with stress and emotional demands. When teachers feel this way, they may develop a cynical attitude towards students, parents, and colleagues.
Conflict Resolution: "We all want out students to learn to get along with one another. However, this can be easier said than done. As kids are learning relationship skills, they can sometimes have difficultly resolving conflicts with others. Often the easiest response is to solve the problem for them by separating them or making an executive decision about the situation. While such solutions may be expedient, they don't teach conflict resolution and relationship skills" (Jennings, 2015, p.152). When students have a conflict, other students can act as peer meditators (if the students are trained in simple mediation skills). Teaching Students to be Peacemakers is a curriculum that provides opportunities for students to practice role plays and specific procedures for negotiation and mediation until they can learn to manage their own conflicts routinely. The teacher can also choose different students to be mediators to help their peers resolve conflict peacefully.
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Mindfulness-Based Evidence
Article: Mindfulness Mediates Associations between Attachment and Anxiety Sensitivity (February, 2015) by Christianne B. Macaulay, Margo C. Watt, Kim MacLean, Angela Weaver
Mindfulness is a way of adapting and responding. This article examines emotion regulation strategies and the relation between mindfulness and anxiety. It explores the different dimensions of anxiety (physical, social, and cognitive concerns). Findings suggest the importance of incoperating mindfulness as an intervention to reduce anxiety. Anxiety three dimensions - Physical: harm or illness, Cognitive
Concerns: the belief the anxiety symptoms portend loss of cognitive control ("going crazy"), Social Concern: the belief that anxiety symptoms will cause social embarrassment and rejection. This study aims to explain relations between mindfulness and anxiety in young adults by measuring four facets of mindfulness: tendencies to observe inner experiences, describe experience with words, act with awareness, and accept experience without judgement.
Method: 505 undergrads participated from a small university in Canada in the study (mean age range: 18.7 years old).
Mesures:
Data Analyses: Multiple mediation analyses were conducted to test the hypothesis that multiple mindfulness facets mediated between attachment and anxiety sensitivity dimensions. Mediation analyses generally tested variables both direct and indirect and their combined effect.
Results:
Correlational Analyses: attachment anxiety corresponded positively to with all three anxiety dimensions. However, attachment avoidance corresponded with cognitive concerns. Attachment anxiety was negatively related to awareness and acceptance while attachmetn avoidance was negatively related to correlations between describe only. Both anxiety sensitivity, physical concerns and cognitive concerns correlated positively with observe.
Mediation Analyses: There was a significant indirect effect of the mindfulness dimensions on the associations of attachment avoidance with anxiety sensitivity, physical concerns and cognitive concerns.
Discussion:
The results provide evidence for the role of mindfulness in accounting for relations between the dimensions of adult attachment (anxiety and avoidance) and raranxiety sensitivity (physical and cognitive concerns) in young adults. (reminder to add more here).
Results revealed that the mindfulness facets most relevent for understanding anxiety sensitivity were observe and accept.
Mindfulness is a way of adapting and responding. This article examines emotion regulation strategies and the relation between mindfulness and anxiety. It explores the different dimensions of anxiety (physical, social, and cognitive concerns). Findings suggest the importance of incoperating mindfulness as an intervention to reduce anxiety. Anxiety three dimensions - Physical: harm or illness, Cognitive
Concerns: the belief the anxiety symptoms portend loss of cognitive control ("going crazy"), Social Concern: the belief that anxiety symptoms will cause social embarrassment and rejection. This study aims to explain relations between mindfulness and anxiety in young adults by measuring four facets of mindfulness: tendencies to observe inner experiences, describe experience with words, act with awareness, and accept experience without judgement.
Method: 505 undergrads participated from a small university in Canada in the study (mean age range: 18.7 years old).
Mesures:
- Experiences in close Relationships Questionnaire (Revised) measuring anxiety and avoidance. Participants responded to a 7-point scale and ECR-R showed good-test reliability (86% shared variance over 6 weeks).
- Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 is an 18item questionnaire scored using scale from 0 to 4 that measures a score for each anxiety dimension.
- Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills is a 39-item self-report measure. Participants indicated from a scale of 1 to 5 their agreements to statements covering different aspects of mindful behaviour.
Data Analyses: Multiple mediation analyses were conducted to test the hypothesis that multiple mindfulness facets mediated between attachment and anxiety sensitivity dimensions. Mediation analyses generally tested variables both direct and indirect and their combined effect.
Results:
Correlational Analyses: attachment anxiety corresponded positively to with all three anxiety dimensions. However, attachment avoidance corresponded with cognitive concerns. Attachment anxiety was negatively related to awareness and acceptance while attachmetn avoidance was negatively related to correlations between describe only. Both anxiety sensitivity, physical concerns and cognitive concerns correlated positively with observe.
Mediation Analyses: There was a significant indirect effect of the mindfulness dimensions on the associations of attachment avoidance with anxiety sensitivity, physical concerns and cognitive concerns.
Discussion:
The results provide evidence for the role of mindfulness in accounting for relations between the dimensions of adult attachment (anxiety and avoidance) and raranxiety sensitivity (physical and cognitive concerns) in young adults. (reminder to add more here).
Results revealed that the mindfulness facets most relevent for understanding anxiety sensitivity were observe and accept.
Art Therapy and Anxiety
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Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy
Mindfulness and the arts therapies : theory and practice (2014) Rappaport, Laury
Cultivating Mindful Awareness through the Arts:
Art making and reflecting on the resulting expressions can be a way of becoming more aware of our experience in the present moment. This approach emerged to response to the needs of chronic psychiatric patients who were generally withdrawn, unmotivated,
Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy Tips for art activities:
Pleasant and unpleasant event pictures:
* The key to training in mindfulness is the practice of bringing awareness to pleasant and unpleasant feelings, or the movement from toward or away from an external or internal experience. For an exercise participants can use art materials to work from their observations of the pleasant and unpleasant events to create an image to covey the feeling.
* Sharing, Reflecting, and Listening: After the art process, participants share their images and engage in reflective dialogue. The reflection helps to deepen awareness within oneself, with others, learning mindfulness and experiencing the benefits of being expressive.
A Randomized, Controlled Trail of Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy Curriculum Link
Cultivating Mindful Awareness through the Arts:
Art making and reflecting on the resulting expressions can be a way of becoming more aware of our experience in the present moment. This approach emerged to response to the needs of chronic psychiatric patients who were generally withdrawn, unmotivated,
Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy Tips for art activities:
Pleasant and unpleasant event pictures:
* The key to training in mindfulness is the practice of bringing awareness to pleasant and unpleasant feelings, or the movement from toward or away from an external or internal experience. For an exercise participants can use art materials to work from their observations of the pleasant and unpleasant events to create an image to covey the feeling.
* Sharing, Reflecting, and Listening: After the art process, participants share their images and engage in reflective dialogue. The reflection helps to deepen awareness within oneself, with others, learning mindfulness and experiencing the benefits of being expressive.
A Randomized, Controlled Trail of Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy Curriculum Link
Artists and Anxiety
Anxiety Arts Festival : This festival explores anxiety, looking at its causes, how it affects all our lives, and how it can act as creative force.
This art programmes focuses on challenging engrained stereotypes that lead to mental health stigma and discrimination. By looking at the social and cultural anxieties associated with those boundaries and other ways of classifying individual and collective experiences, it aims to shed light on the complexity and prevalence of anxiety in contemporary society.
This art programmes focuses on challenging engrained stereotypes that lead to mental health stigma and discrimination. By looking at the social and cultural anxieties associated with those boundaries and other ways of classifying individual and collective experiences, it aims to shed light on the complexity and prevalence of anxiety in contemporary society.
Parent Resources
Article: Mindfulness Training Effects for Parents and Educators of Children with Special Needs (2012) by Ria Benn, Tom Akiva, Sari Arel, Robert W. Rosser.
Some concerns parents of children with exceptionalities may fear and question: What is going to happen to my child? Will they ever live independently?
Simple Ways that Art can bring Parents Closer Together through Making Art
PBS Parents Link
Talk with Kids about their Creations : They key is to describe what you see in their work and ask open-ended questions
Make Art Together - at Home and in the Classroom: If you are able, volunteer to help provide art lessons and provide some basic art supplies. Create artwork with your child as art activities help us to focus on the art material and project at hand, as well as the person we're doing it with.
Visit Art Museums/Galleries: Visit galleries as this can also provide learning experiences for young visitors. It gives them a chance to examine how an art piece is made and to understand the meaning behind the artwork. It also allows visitors to engage with one another by having conversations about/ describing what they see.
Turn to the Arts to Boost Self-Esteem:
There are many ways the arts help your child to develop a better self-esteem:
Art is critical to building a child's self-esteem in a studio, classroom, or playground.
Some concerns parents of children with exceptionalities may fear and question: What is going to happen to my child? Will they ever live independently?
- Parents face many social and emotional challenges in carrying out their caregiving roles. Stress associated with these roles impacts both educators and parents health and well-being, as well as the quality of their parenting and teaching. This article includes a randomized controlled study assessed the efficacy of a 5-week MT program for parents and educators of children with special needs. Participants receiving MT showed significant reductions in stress and anxiety and increased mindfulness, self-compassion, and personal growth at program completion and at 2 months follow-up in contrast to waiting-list controls.
- Method: This study was completed measuring many factors: Mindfulness, Anxiety, Stress, Depression, Personal growth, Self-compassion, Forgiveness, Empathic concerns, and more. There was also a Program Intervention to provide Stress Management and Relaxation Techniques.
- Relational competence also showed significant positive changes, with medium-to-large effect sizes noted on measures of empathic concern and forgiveness. MT significantly influenced caregiving competence specific to teaching. Mindfulness changes at program completion mediated outcomes at follow-up, suggesting its importance in maintaining emotional balance and facilitating well-being in parents and teachers of children with developmental challenges. Interventions to help both parents and educators reduce stress and maintain well-being are needed so they can better fulfill their respective caregiving roles and maximize the educational skills of this high-need population.
Simple Ways that Art can bring Parents Closer Together through Making Art
PBS Parents Link
Talk with Kids about their Creations : They key is to describe what you see in their work and ask open-ended questions
Make Art Together - at Home and in the Classroom: If you are able, volunteer to help provide art lessons and provide some basic art supplies. Create artwork with your child as art activities help us to focus on the art material and project at hand, as well as the person we're doing it with.
Visit Art Museums/Galleries: Visit galleries as this can also provide learning experiences for young visitors. It gives them a chance to examine how an art piece is made and to understand the meaning behind the artwork. It also allows visitors to engage with one another by having conversations about/ describing what they see.
Turn to the Arts to Boost Self-Esteem:
There are many ways the arts help your child to develop a better self-esteem:
- The Arts install ride: When a child spends their heart and soul and spends a lot of time making art, and cultivating it, They feel an enormous sense of accomplishment when it is completed.
- The Arts helps your child develop real-life skills: Children learn critical-thinking and creativity thinking, hand-eye coordination, motor skills, and social skills,.
- The Arts lead to higher test scores in the classroom. Skills learned from making art include concentration and dedication, affects test values and scores.
- The Arts increase opportunities for self- expression: Art education gives children an opportunity to express themselves, especially in a classroom setting. Children learn to find their "voice" and appreciate the work of others. Doing this helps to create a sense of acceptance that is critical to their self-esteem.
Art is critical to building a child's self-esteem in a studio, classroom, or playground.
www. Anxietybc.com
Parents: What you need to know (and your child) about Anxiety
1. Physical - what we feel in our body
2. Mentally - what goes through our mind like worrisome thoughts
3. Behaviourally - what we do or our actions, such as avoid or seek-reassurance.
Parents: What you need to know (and your child) about Anxiety
- Anxiety is normal: Everyone experiences anxiety at some point in their life. Example: It is normal to feel anxious before an exam.
- Anxiety is not dangerous: Although it feels uncomfortable, it is usually temporary and can be managed
- Anxiety is adaptive: It helps us prepare for real danger, to motivate us to study, and it can help us to do our best. It triggers our "Fight-flight-freeze" response, and prepares our bodies to react.
1. Physical - what we feel in our body
2. Mentally - what goes through our mind like worrisome thoughts
3. Behaviourally - what we do or our actions, such as avoid or seek-reassurance.
