A woman who helped establish The Mindful Art Club in Plymouth has called for more research into what helps or at least can control the nation’s mental health struggles.
reports Nino Robertson for ‘Plymouth Live’ (The Herald).
We were delighted to welcome Nino to our group recently, who joined us for a mindful art session at Moments Café, with the Mayor and Consort.
At the moment I’m listening to Brene Brown’s audio book, ‘Daring Greatly.’ Brené Brown is an American research professor, lecturer, author, and podcast host, known for her research on shame, vulnerability, and leadership. She became famous in 2010 for her TED Talk, The Power of Vulnerability.
In ‘Daring Greatly’ she says that if we want to fully experience love and belonging we must believe that we are worthy of love and belonging. I thought that her definitions of connection and belonging really describe what happens at Mindful Art Club.
Connection is the energy that is created between people when they feel seen, heard and valued. When they can give and receive without judgement. Belonging is the innate human desire to be part of something larger than us. Because this yearning is so primal we often try to acquire it by fitting in and seeking approval, which are not only hollow substitutes for belonging but often barriers to it. Because true belonging only happens when we present our authentic selves to the world, our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance.
On Friday 4th March 2022 The Lord Mayor and Consort visited our weekly art group, held upstairs in Moments Cafe, in Plymouth City Centre.
It was a pleasure to meet The Lord Mayor Mrs Terri Beer, and Consort, Mr Colin Beer, who joined us for coffee and a chat, and then took part in the mindful art session, with ten other participants.
The session included a check-in, guided mindfulness, mindful art, and then a simple art project, with the opportunity to chat and relax. The Mayor and Consort engaged in the group discussions and enjoyed the activities.
Terri Beer was born and raised in Plymouth and has lived in the city all her life. She was educated at St. Maurice Primary School and Plympton Secondary Modern School (now Plympton Academy). Our very first Mindful Art Club was founded in Plympton and still takes place at The Brook Inn on Thursdays. Mindful Art Club has now grown to offer sessions in community services all over Plymouth. We also offer one day retreats, staff wellbeing sessions and evening classes.
Join our club by signing up here to find out what we offer in your area.
After winning a competition to receive a year’s business support from The Real Ideas Organisation we have now run hundreds of mindful art sessions, many of them at Ocean Studios in Royal William Yard. Watch now to find out:
Why we started this social enterprise
What happens at a typical mindful art session
See the stunning waterside venue at Ocean Studios
Hear from Lee Squires the benefits of volunteering
Are you wishing we’d offer a one-off evening session just so that you can try it?
Want to try Qi Gong and mindful art to see if you like it?
We get that.
We’re offering a one-off evening event in Plymouth city centre on 28th March 2022. We expect these places to sell out quickly, so contact us now if you would like to reserve your place.
How is this evening different to other mindfulness sessions?
The focus of our work is social connection and support, and the art and mindfulness come second to that. Quiet reflection takes place during the guided mindfulness, but for the majority of the session participants will be encouraged to talk.
We recently offered a six week course at Plympton Guildhall, called ‘Doodle Your Recovery’ – thanks to funding from Devon Recovery Learning Community.
Initial feedback indicates that one hundred percent of the participants enjoyed the course. When asked what they had learned on the course people wrote:
To relax and just let creativity flow
Mindfulness
To breathe better
Empathy
To give time to myself
Communication
How to think of myself as well as others
To not dwell on problems so much
To express feelings through art
That I am not alone and it’s OK to feel how I feel
Some suggestions to make the course better included:
Maybe more meditation
Qi Gong
Name badges
Increase it to two hours, with a break
One hundred percent of survey respondents said they would recommend the course to other people.
If you would like to try using creativity to improve your mental health we will be at The Brook Inn, 33 Longbrook Street, Plympton, PL7 1NJ from Thursday 3rd March 2022.
As a small grass roots community group, over the past two years we have consistently offered mental health support and social connection to the Plymouth community during these unprecedented challenging times.
Our Impact
69% of mindful art course participants said it had helped them with anxiety.
44% said a mindful art course helped them with depression.
40% said it helped them with another mental health issue.
59% said it helped them with loneliness or isolation.
Participants also reported being helped with physical health, low self-esteem and other issues not listed in our survey.
66% said they had increased their ability to use mindfulness.
84% said they had increased their ability to use art as a self care practice.
(Source: Collected feedback form responses, accessed 04/02/22)
I enjoy the mindfulness and art. As I do art at home it helps my acute pain. The group makes me feel rested and at ease. Emma, Lee and Peggy are wonderful.
Anonymous participant feedback.
We are grateful to our existing grant funders who share our vision of a world where peer support, mindfulness, creative activities and social connection are easily available in local communities. With their support we have helped hundreds of people since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
We have received funding and support from Devon Mind, The Sunflower Women’s Centre, Comic Relief, Shekinah, The National Lottery Community Fund, High Street Sparks Fund, Devon Recovery Learning Community and Devon Community Foundation.
We have secured media attention from The Plymouth Herald, The Plymouth Chronicle, BBC Radio Devon, many smaller local community radio stations, and BBC Spotlight News. In the Media.
Donate a gift in kind (for example room hire or art materials)
Encourage your employees to sign up to a challenge event in aid of Mindful Art Club
Organise your own fundraising event such as a bake sale, mufti day or casual Friday – tie it in with a national mental health awareness day
You Will Be Rewarded By
Enhancing your brand as socially responsible
Securing positive PR
Attracting socially conscious customers
Showing your employees you appreciate the importance of mental health
Making you look more attractive as an employer
If your business is passionate about improving mental health and reducing social isolation then contact us now to discuss a mutually beneficial partnership.
We started the New Year in a new venue: The historic Guildhall in Plympton St Maurice.
Doodle your Recovery is a six week course giving people the opportunity to share their feelings, practice mindfulness, create art, relax and chat.
This course is free to attend thanks to funding from Devon Recovery Learning Community. DRLC is a recovery college provided by Devon Partnership NHS Trust to promote mental health and wellbeing. Their students are people with lived experience of mental health difficulties, their family and friends, and the professionals who support them.
Missed enrolment for this six week course? Join our mailing list and get free colouring pages to use at home, and news of our next free mindful art events in the Plymouth area.
Have you ever attempted to create massive changes in your life at New Year, only to be left feeling disappointed by February? Here’s a simple solution. Use a habit tracker to make small, achievable tweaks to your daily routine.
Here are 5 things I love about using a habit tracker:
1) You can customise it.
You use one A4 page per month and choose your own goals or habits.
2) It’s satisfying and motivating.
You can tick off the squares or colour them in. By the end of the month you will see how many things you have achieved.
3) You can add something easy that you would do every day anyway.
This could be brushing your teeth, making a coffee or checking your emails. Adding a habit that you already have builds in some guaranteed success to your day; it’s so motivating to tick something off straight away!
4) You can add self-care reminders…
…alongside your personal, family, creative, health and career goals. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. You could choose ‘Watch a movie once a week,’ ‘Coffee with a friend’ or ‘Buy myself a treat’.
5) You can drop a habit.
If you find that you didn’t do well at maintaining one of the habits, consider just leaving it off next month. Add something else that you really do want to do! Go easy on yourself.
Get your free printable Habit Tracker when you sign up to receive our monthly newsletter. Your first email also comes with quirky colouring pages to calm your consciousness, and tickle your fancy. Sign up below to get your habit tracker now and we’ll keep you updated whenever we launch a new art group.
This offer is only open until the end of January 2022, so get your habit tracker today!
Free printable habit tracker
Please note that all freebies on this site are for personal use only, and may not be sold. Feel free to share this freebie, but please credit us and link back to this page when placing our images on your blog or social media. Thank you for your cooperation!
Now I’d like to hear from you. What ONE habit would you love to add to your day this month?
