Mark & Movement: Mindful Strength-Based Movement as a Tool to Overcome Creative Blocks

This paper reflects on an experiential workshop which had the intention of exploring movement as a modality and tool to help connect to one’s inner creative flow. It explores the human experience of creative blocks and connects to the foundational theories that support movement as an embodied modality to art making. The researcher offered several similar online workshops during the months leading up to the workshop which were taken into consideration for the research, as they enabled her to get a sense of how various elements may land in participants, and what may need adjustment. There was a form sent to participants both ahead of and directly after the workshop, which provided insights and experiences of those participants, as they were asked to comment on their relationship to mindfulness, creativity, and physical movement. The participants’ art, which was reflected on through a phenomenological exercise, and words from individual participants’ experiences are presented and discussed. The workshop was a one-time event hosted locally and in person with the hopes of offering more in the future. The roots of this project are embedded in curiosity and the findings help to support the researcher’s lifelong relationship with movement and creativity. The purpose of this project is to help enable the researcher to share these learnings and curiosities with others and help support the future growth of the art therapy field.