Me | Here | Now

This activity is called 'me - here - now' and it is an activity that is often utilised in Transpersonal Art Therapy to simply get an idea of 'where we are at'. 

Generally when the here-and-now approach is used in any form of psychotherapy, the emphasis is placed on understanding present feelings and interpersonal reactions as they happen, with little or no emphasis on or exploration of past experience or underlying reasons for our thoughts, emotions, or behaviour. It is simply a snapshot of the present state of our being. 

It is also a great tool to be used over time, and to observe how your 'present moment' changes over time. 

Materials needed: 

- Something to draw with. Pencils, oil crayons or pastels are all fine. 

- Journal or paper

Get your materials ready in front of you. You might like to close your eyes for a moment, or lower your gaze to a spot nearby. The point of this is not so much to 'meditate' or 'calm down' but much more to simply connect, and come back to yourself - take a deep breath in through your nose, hold for 3 seconds, then breathe out. Do this 2 or 3 times. 

Pick up your materials and draw a rough outline of a circle on your page. Next, draw out 'me - here - now'. This can be within the circle, or incorporating the whole page. Let your feelings guide you. 

Note that we're not asking you to draw out a literal representation of yourself, and the chair you're possibly sitting in ;) This is much more about a feeling state, or a state of being.

Your image may look like patterns, scratches, lines, shapes, and colours on your page. 

When you are ready, reflect. Some good questions to ask yourself:

- Are you surprised by anything you see?
- Does your drawing look different from how you intended it to be?
- Is there anything you would like to change or adjust? 

You can create these every few months, or years and it will be interesting to see your growth and changes.