Painting as Mindfulness Practice

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Practicing mindfulness of the moment brings me to be more conscious of what happens when I’m not in the moment. It makes me more aware of my monster-mind.

The other day, I was painting (yay!). In the moment, I am watching blobs of color interact with paper and water as I apply them to the surface. Observing mind.

Questions arise: “how has that blob of paint changed things in the composition as a whole? What do I want to do next?”

This is still observing mind, but the questions open a door for my judging mind: “That blob was a mistake. I no longer like that painting.”

Judging mind, in me, invites its bodyguard: catastrophizing mind: “I can try and fix it but if I do, I will probably make it worse. Maybe I should just stop now. In fact, why do I bother to paint? I’m not really an artist. I paint like a two-year-old. This is just junk.” [Catastrophizing mind can be quite long-winded. ]

Luckily, I know that I don’t have to believe everything I think. My monster-mind does not speak the truth.

I make the next mark.

In this way, painting is mindfulness practice as surely as sitting meditation.