Defining Creative Embodiment Education

Creative embodiment is about connecting to your highest intelligence (creativity) through the arts, so you can access embodiment. When you are embodied, you not only have access to the wisdom of your bodies, but you move beyond simply existing in a physical form - you become more integrated, aligned, and present in your mind-body-spirit. This alignment has profound ripple effects on well-being, influencing everything from emotional resilience to intuitive awareness.

Yet, in our culture, art is often seen as a luxury—something to indulge in only if we have extra time or resources.

Art education is typically approached as a way to master a skill—whether it’s oil painting, woodworking, or ceramics. And while learning the techniques to master a craft is a deeply fulfilling practice, the arts hold so much more potential than just technical expertise. The creative process itself is transformative, offering us a direct path to greater self-awareness and deeper healing.

Despite this, many people hold onto the belief that they must be a certain “type” of person—a creative, artsy type—to truly benefit from the arts.

This is not true.

Creativity is innate and accessible to all. Creativity just is. It is all around us, within us and is life itself. It is not just about the development of skill or even an identity. Your physiological systems are designed for art-making and they respond positively when you exercise art-making. You can use the arts as a portal to expanded consciousness, healing, and self-connection.

"Luminous Wholeness"

Connecting Inward and Trusting

When I was little, I was obsessed with art-making. Many of my childhood memories are of various projects I was working on. At the basement workbench, I tucked myself away with a medley of art supplies, and entered another dimension through color and imagination.

I spent many years learning various techniques and art mediums. I gobbled up art classes; egg tempera, black and white film development, ceramics, figure drawing, batik, multi-media, etc. I loved understanding the process of making art, and how to use various materials. Somewhere along the way, I became focused on my art looking a certain way. I was getting feedback from art teachers on how to draw more realistically, how to hold my tools, and build a more effective composition. I was focused on figuring out how to have my art look the image in my mind and receiving the "right" feedback from my teachers and peers.

While I learned many skills and techniques, this way of working tightened something in me. I couldn't create and explore as freely as I once did. I became focused on the product - the end result - of my art. I lost the joy of creating and my art suffered because of it.

It took me many years to undo this. Even though I studied art therapy and philosophically was aligned with the belief that it was about expression and not perfection, the rigidity and societal messages still plagued me. My new focus became understanding the why and how of art. What was it was happening in my brain and body when I was making art? Was there some way I could release myself from the limiting beliefs that constrained me? How could I be free to create art that was meaningful to me - for me?

Somewhere along the path, cognitive understanding met intuitive knowings and new ways of being were able to click into place. I wish I could say it was some event that changed things for me, but it wasn't. It was self-education, exploration, and a continued commitment to know myself through the arts. I began to be surprised by what I would see in my art - insights magically appeared, solutions presented themselves, I was soothed, I was seen. There was now a channel to some of the deepest parts of myself, which at times, felt larger than myself.

Accessing Creative Embodiment:

Art-making is an embodied activity. We are engaging our whole system, in the here-and-now, in creating new connections and strengthening your wholeness. Creating art changes you.

I've created my Creative Embodiment virtual school to share these insights with you, and to remind you of your own inner pharmacy—the vast well of healing and insights that you can access through your own creative practice. This compliments traditional art education by offering you other ways to be, see, and connect to yourself through art-making.

But its about more than just learning cognitive insights and techniques, you can gain access to resources and guidance to help you explore your creative process on your own terms. And together we will create a new space where we can be in relationship with each other in these colorful embodied ways. Join us to:

• Learn what’s happening behind the scenes when you engage in art, from a somatic and psychological perspective.

• Discover approaches to art-making that help you see yourself more clearly and listen to yourself more deeply.

• Be a part of a growing community of individuals using art for emotional wellness and spiritual growth.

  
  

Whether you’re painting, moving, writing, or shaping clay, engaging in the arts is a way to connect with yourself, regulate your nervous system, and explore new layers of awareness. When you give yourself permission to create, you are also giving yourself permission to heal.

Join me at Create Art & Wellness' online healing art school and discover the potential of the arts in your life.

Warmly, Emily