How to Practice Gratitude Using the Five Senses: A Creative and Mindful Exercise

How to Practice Gratitude Using the Five Senses: A Creative and Mindful Exercise

by | Nov 4, 2024 | Doodle Art Therapy Blog, Gratitude

Embrace Gratitude with Creative Mindfulness

Discover the Joy of Sensory Gratitude

Practicing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful ways to bring joy and calm into our lives. Engaging our five senses makes it easy to savor life’s details, helping us to feel more grounded and present. This Five Senses Gratitude Practice allows us to pause and appreciate the small, beautiful things we often overlook. Through Doodle Therapy, we blend creativity with mindfulness, making gratitude a fun, simple part of each day. Here’s how to engage each sense in your gratitude practice, plus a Thanksgiving-inspired doodle exercise to bring it all together and I have a free download to get your started.

Free Gratitude Journal
joy
Doodle-Therapy-Gratitude Journal

The Power of Gratitude in Doodle Therapy

I know from personal experience that gratitude is a powerful tool for enhancing well-being and resilience. By integrating creativity with mindfulness, Doodle Therapy offers a unique approach to experiencing gratitude. My mission is to help you connect with yourself and the world around you through simple, joyful practices like this five senses gratitude practice that celebrates what we see, smell, taste, touch, and smell. Join me in exploring how gratitude can transform your life, by starting a daily gratitude practice. Download the Free Gratitude Journal to get you started. 

Free Gratitude Journal Download!

Engage Your Senses in Gratitude

The Five Senses of Gratitude

Doodle Your Five Senses

Sight: Discover Visual Beauty

Gratitude through sight means slowing down to notice the visual beauty around you. Think of colors, shapes, and details that often go unnoticed.

Sound: Tune into the Present

Whether it’s birds chirping, music playing, or even the comforting hum of your home, sound is a beautiful way to ground yourself in the present.

Smell: Relish Comforting Aromas

Embrace the scents that evoke happiness and memories. Each aroma is a gateway to gratitude and mindfulness.

Taste: Savor Life's Flavors

Enjoy the tastes that delight your palate. Let each bite remind you of life’s simple pleasures and the joy of being present.

Taste: Savor Life's Flavors

Touch grounds us more than any other sense, connecting us physically to the world. Whether it’s soft fabric, a cozy sweater, or even the texture of a pen, touch offers a quick, easy way to experience gratitude.

Engaging Your Senses in Gratitude

Step 1: Visual Appreciation

Pause and ask yourself, “What small visual detail brought a smile to my face today?” Documenting these little moments helps us realize that joy is always around, waiting to be noticed.

Step 2: Listen with Intention

Close your eyes, tune in, and take a deep breath, thinking, “How do these sounds make me feel grateful?” Gratitude for sound connects us to our environment, adding richness to each moment.

Step 3: Savor Scents

Pause, breathe in, and think, “What does this scent remind me of?” You’ll be surprised how many wonderful associations come with each smell!

Step 4: Enjoy the Flavor

Ask yourself, “What is it about this flavor that I enjoy?” This question helps bring awareness to our eating, making every bite a moment of mindful gratitude.

Step 5: Feel the Textures

Think about “What touch makes me feel comforted?” Grounding in touch provides a sense of safety and connection, perfect for gratitude.

Get Your Free Gratitude Journal

Create Your Gratitude Turkey Doodle

Bringing It All Together with the Gratitude Turkey Doodle

5 Senses Gratitude Turkey

To make this five senses gratitude practice even more fun, try this simple doodle exercise! Bring back the joy of childhood Thanksgiving turkey handprints, with each “feather” representing a different sense of gratitude.

Doodle Exercise: Create Your Gratitude Turkey

  1. Trace Your Hand: Start by placing your hand on a piece of paper and tracing around it to create an outline. This will form the base of your turkey.
  2. Label Each Finger: Each finger will represent one of the five senses:
      • Pinky (Sight): Write something beautiful you saw today, like the colors in the sky or a loved one’s smile.
      • Ring Finger (Sound): Think of a sound that lifted your spirits, like laughter or a favorite song, and write it here.
      • Middle Finger (Smell): Choose a comforting aroma, like fresh coffee or a favorite candle.
      • Index Finger (Taste): Note a flavor you enjoyed, like a warm meal or a refreshing drink.
      • Thumb (Touch): Write down something that brought comfort through touch, like cozy blankets or the warmth of a pet’s fur.
  3. Add Your Turkey’s Details: Draw an eye, beak, and feathers on your turkey to bring it to life! Let each feather remind you of the joys your senses bring.
  4. Reflect: Take a moment to appreciate each “feather” and how each sense adds richness to your life.
YouTube doodle lesson

Embracing vulnerability transformed my life

Embracing vulnerability transformed my life

by | May 9, 2023 | Doodle Art Therapy Blog, Self-compassion

Embracing vulnerability through doodles

For the better part of my adult life, I embarked on a relentless quest to find something that could “fix” me. I invested energy in losing weight, going back to school, attending self-improvement classes, and devouring self-help books. Yet, despite my efforts, I felt stuck, useless, and hopeless. Little did I know that the answer I sought was right at my fingertips. It was through the simple act of doodling that I discovered the power to change my life. In embracing vulnerability through doodles, I found the courage and resilience to rewrite my narrative. This blog post invites you to embark on the journey of a doodle warrior, where vulnerability becomes a catalyst for joy, love, purpose, and creativity.

The Courage to Doodle

Boxing Glove doodle representing our inner criticBefore my encounter with doodling, I found myself trapped in a cycle of endless self-improvement, never embracing my vulnerability. Fearful of making mistakes, looking foolish, or being seen, I hesitated to make meaningful marks in my life. However, it was in the vulnerability of those simple doodles that I discovered a profound transformation. Doodling allowed me to shed my armor of fear and insecurity.

From Victim to Doodle Warrior

A doodle of a girl embracing vulnerability by being half beat up and half happy.

Through the twelve transformative tools of Doodle Therapy, I witnessed a metamorphosis in my life, marriage, and future. Armed with my pen, paper, mind, and heart, I transitioned from a victim to a doodle warrior. Embracing my vulnerability and standing in my power, I cultivated the ability to create and express myself authentically. Doodling became the vehicle through which I reclaimed my sense of worth, voice, and belonging.

Unearthing Your Inner Doodle Warrior

Each chapter of Doodle Therapy invites you to embark on a profound journey of self-discovery. As you engage with the tools provided, you will unveil the unique person you are, tapping into the wisdom of your thoughts, emotions, and actions. Doodling becomes an interactive and transformative experience, unearthing the gold within you. This creative and purpose-filled process will surpass any previous attempts at self-improvement, offering a path that is both effective and enjoyable.

Embrace the Power of Doodle Therapy

Are you prepared to embark on a journey of vulnerability and self-discovery? Doodle Therapy offers a safe, playful, and powerful space for personal transformation. It is time to release the shackles of fruitless endeavors and embrace the power of doodling. As you pick up your pen and embrace vulnerability, you will unleash your potential, resilience, and creative spirit. Doodle Therapy is not just a claim—it is a tangible, life-altering reality awaiting your embrace.

Conclusion

A doodle of a flower in a pot labeled success.In my own journey, I have witnessed the profound impact that doodling can have on our lives. After years of searching for answers, it was in the vulnerability of those doodles that I found the missing piece. Through Doodle Therapy, I tapped into a wellspring of courage, confidence, and authenticity. Today, I invite you to join me on this transformative adventure. Let us grab our pens and paper, open our minds and hearts, and discover the power of vulnerability through doodling. Doodle Therapy has the potential to revolutionize your life, offering a pathway to joy, love, purpose, and creativity. Learn more about Doodle Therapy here and how it can help you!

Are you ready to embrace vulnerability and unleash your inner doodle warrior? Let’s embark on this transformative journey and celebrate our uniqueness. Click here to download a free chapter of Doodle Therapy!

 

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Empowering Affirmations for Women Over 50: Free Download Included!

Empowering Affirmations for Women Over 50: Free Download Included!

by | Apr 23, 2023 | Doodle Art Therapy Blog, Thoughts

Empowering Affirmations for Women Over 50

In this post, I write about a using empowering affirmations in our lives. Life is a journey of ups and downs isn’t it? It takes courage to embrace our inner strength, celebrate our accomplishments, and step into the next chapter of our lives with confidence and grace. We also need reminding.

Affirmations can uplift and inspire us. I have included a free download of daily empowering affirmations for women over fifty. These affirmations are designed to reinforce our self-worth, encourage self-care, and ignite a sense of purpose as we navigate this exciting phase of life. So, let’s dive in and discover the power affirmations have to encourage us to embrace our true potential!

Download your affirmations here!

The Science Behind Affirmations

I used to think affirmations were stupid. Believing that saying something over and over again wouldn’t change reality. Affirmations for me, were a waste of time and breath.

However, as I researched affirmations, it turns out that their effectiveness are supported by science. When we repeat affirmations, our brains create new connections and release feel-good chemicals. This rewiring process helps replace negative thoughts with positive beliefs. Scientific studies show that affirmations can boost self-esteem, reduce stress, improve problem-solving skills, and increase resilience. When we start to understand the science behind affirmations, it empowers us to use their transformative power.

I love brain science!! Learn more about Doodle Therapy and how it helps us rewire our brains here!

As I started incorporating affirmations into my own life, I started to see huge shifts in how I saw myself and the world.

The process that I used was to stand in front of my mirror and repeat the affirmation of the day. Then I would smile at myself and tell myself good job!

I challenge you to try one of the affirmations below using this technique for 30 days and let me know how it changes the way you think, feel, and believe.

Download your affirmations here!

Gratitude and Self-Acceptance

Let’s start with feeling gratitude for all the experiences that have shaped us and led us to this moment. We can start embracing self-acceptance and acknowledging our worthiness by repeating these affirmations:

“I am grateful for all the experiences that have brought me to this point in my life.”

“I am confident in my abilities and trust myself to make good decisions.”

“I embrace the wisdom and knowledge that comes with age.”

Download your affirmations here!

Inner Strength and Resilience

Then we can become aware of the strength we have within us and trust our ability to overcome any challenge by repeating one these:

“I am strong and resilient.”

“I am capable of achieving my goals and dreams.”

“I am deserving of happiness and joy.”

Self-Love and Empowerment

By nurturing a positive self-image, we can celebrate our unique qualities, and empower ourselves to live our best life. Here are a few self-love and empowerment affirmations we can repeat”

“I am beautiful both inside and out.”

“I love who I am.”

“I am always growing and learning.”

Openness and Abundance

Lastly, we can embrace the abundance of life and open ourselves up to new experiences and opportunities with these:

“I am open to new experiences and opportunities.”

“I am empowered to change my life.”

“I am worthy of success and abundance.”

Download your affirmations here!

Conclusion

Affirmations are a powerful tool for women over 50 to affirm their worth, tap into their inner strength, and embrace the limitless possibilities that lie ahead. By incorporating these positive affirmations into our daily routine, we can cultivate a mindset of self-love, empowerment, and gratitude.

Don’t forget to download our free affirmation guide, print it out, and keep it in a place where you can refer to it regularly. Let these affirmations serve as a reminder of your limitless potential and guide you towards a life filled with joy, fulfillment, and purpose.

Every week a beautiful new affirmation is uploaded into my story highlight on Instagram.  A great way to remind yourself of your new affirmation is to go to Doodle Therapy Instagram and take a screen shot of the affirmation in the Doodle Therapy Instagram story highlight. Then, you can use the affirmation as your phones screen saver.

Download your affirmations here!

Don’t forget you are strong, wise, and deserving of all the happiness and success that comes your way. Embrace your journey, celebrate your achievements, and continue to blossom into the amazing woman you are.

Here’s to an empowered and fulfilling life over 50!

*Note: This blog post is intended for informational purposes only. Please consult a healthcare professional or therapist for personalized guidance and support.

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What is Doodle Therapy?

What is Doodle Therapy?

by | Mar 3, 2023 | Doodle Art Therapy Blog, Doodle Therapy

What is Doodle Therapy?

Written by

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A brain with half of it colorful and the other half grey.
For most of my life, I never felt good enough. I was always looking for way to “fix” me. I lost weight, went back to school, took self-improvement classes, and read self-help books. But none of those “fixed” me.

I jumped from one tool to the next but nothing was ever quite right. Then I found doodling. Doodling was the missing piece. Doodles created results where before I was running in circles, afraid of making mistakes, looking stupid, and being seen. By making simple doodles, I gained courage and confidence.

I went from victim to doodle warrior. The twelve doodles in my  book, “Doodle Therapy” saved my life, my marriage, and my future. You can be a doodle warrior too. All you need is your mind, heart, pen, and paper.

Doodling can change your life too! You can create an inspired life of joy, love, purpose, and creativity. I know because I did.

In every post you will come closer to seeing your value. You will gain tools to live a creative, purpose filled, and joyful life. These are the tools I used to change my life. A life that is unrecognizable from my former life.

Doodle Therapy is interactive, transformative, and unlike anything you have experienced before! Doodle along with me and uncover the gold in your thoughts, feelings, and actions. Doodling is fun, easy, & effective personal growth. Doodle therapy works faster and more effectively than anything I have ever seen.

Are you ready to try something fun, easy, and effective?

Let’s get started!

 

What you will need:

The basics:  paper and any writing utensil. 

Yep! That’s it. 

If you want to add color, bring your crayons, watercolors, any kind of paints, markers, dry erase markers, or colored pencils. It doesn’t matter.

I use watercolors. You can see the list of my favorite supplies here.

Throughout this blog, you will see a pen like this Doodle YOU pen . This is your que to start doodling. Don’t stress, just follow the instructions and let your mind be free.

8 Keys Doodle Therapy Will Change Your Life!

 

Doodle YOU Flower

Cognitive Behavior Tools or CBT

CBT is a common therapy tool. This tool helps us to reframe our thoughts. Cognitive means what our brain focuses on. Behavior refers to the actions or inactions we take. Our thoughts create feelings, which create actions, which create results. We have more power over our results than we believe we do. Doodling helps teach our brains to knew ways to think, feel, and act.

Doodle love and acceptanceCompassionate Change vs Beating Ourselves Up

We can beat ourselves up or we can use compassion to create change. It’s time to treat ourselves differently. Doodling gives us the opportunity to see ourselves as beautifully human. How would it feel to stop yourself up and start loving ourselves instead? No “fixing” required.

Radical Questioning

Stop deleting your negative thoughts and start questioning them instead. Asking ourselves “Why me?” has no good answers. But asking powerful questions, such as “Would everyone think this is true?” We gain a different perspective. With a new perspective, we see how our thoughts create our reality.

Doodle Compassionate WitnessCompassionate Witness

Using the power of creativity, we give ourselves the gift of being compassionate witnesses to our pain. We may yearn for someone to see, hear, and understand our pain. We are uniquely qualified to understand our own pain and to help ourselves heal.

Doodle Scientist Divine Scientist

Doodling allows us to experiment with new thoughts, feelings, and actions without believing we are inherently broken when they go wrong. Divine scientists look at everything as just data. Our emotions are no longer tied to the outcome. We are just scientists trying to see what will happen with the next experiment.

Doodle BrainDaily Mental And Emotional Health

We have neglected our emotional and mental hygiene for far too long. Doodling gives us ownership of cleaning out our brain and choosing our thoughts and emotions on purpose. Daily mental and emotional cleaning is the key to lifelong mental and emotional health.

Gain a New Perspective

When we doodle our experiences, we can gain a new perspective on ourselves, others, and the circumstances. Through doodles, we see things in entirely new ways. Giving us the ability to reframe experiences into empowering and healing doodles.

Download my free Doodle Therapy chapter!

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Personality isn’t permanent | Ben Hardy Book review

Personality isn’t permanent | Ben Hardy Book review

by | Jun 16, 2020 | Book Review, Doodle Art Therapy Blog

What Is Personality?

When I got the email with the opportunity to review Benjamin Hardy’s book “Personality isn’t permanent” I jumped at the chance. I love Ben’s down-to-earth style of writing and how he uses great stories to illustrate his points. I love his work is based in science.

As I read this book, I learned that I get to choose who we want to be, regardless of who we’ve been. It teaches why I get stuck in unhealthy patterns and how to overcome what I believe is true about me.

Personality Isn’t Permanent

Personality isn't permanent
Benjamin Hardy explains contrary to popular belief personality is forever changing. We are not the same person we were yesterday or will be tomorrow. However, many of us believe “That is just who I am” and “I was born this way” or “It is in my genes” as if we have no control over who we are.

Personality Tests And Other Myths

I love taking a good personality test. Don’t you? I thought it helped me figure out who I am. The problem with personality test is I decide the test is who I am now and will be in the future. In his book, Ben explains these tests keep us from moving forward and changing our habits because we believe it’s just who we are.  So, we choose careers based on random personality tests. How scientific is that? I learned about all of the myths we believe about personality. One of the myths is our personality is unchanging. However, Ben says, we are not the same person we were yesterday and we will be different people tomorrow.

Worth Its Weight

Personality isn't permanentDoodle Therapy and Personality Isn’t Permanent are much the same. Both are about hope and change and becoming who we are meant to be. I have waited for things to change instead of being the change. But when we change ourselves everything changes around us. I loved reading this book and will read it again and again. It is filled with practical advice and awesome action steps to help us get where we want to go.

What I learned from Personality Isn’t Permanent

The Gold Nuggets I found in “Personality Isn’t Permanent include how we can:

  • Reframe our trauma to make it work for us instead of against us.
  • Choose our own future despite our past.
  • Become more confident and define our life’s purpose.
  • Enhance our subconscious so we can overcome addictions and limiting beliefs.
  • Learn better ways of journaling to improve our chances of reaching our goals.
  • Create an environment that encourages us to become the future us we envision.
  • Set goals that will propel us into the future that we desire.
  • Change our thoughts so we can change our future.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Author Ben HardyDr. Benjamin Hardy is an organizational psychologist and bestselling author of Willpower Doesn’t Work. His blogs have been read by over 100 million people and are featured on Forbes, Fortune, CNBC, Cheddar, Big Think, and many others. He is a regular contributor to Inc. and Psychology Today and from 2015-2018, he was the #1 writer, in the world, on Medium.com. He and his wife Lauren adopted three children through the foster system in February 2018 and, one month later, Lauren became pregnant with twins, who were born in December of 2018. They live in Orlando.

ABOUT Personality Isn’t Permanent

In Personality Isn’t Permanent, Dr. Benjamin Hardy draws on psychological research to demolish the popular misconception that personality—a person’s consistent attitudes and behaviors—is innate and unchanging. Hardy liberates us from the limiting belief that our “true selves” are to be discovered, and shows how we can intentionally create our best selves and achieve big goals instead. 

He offers practical, science-based advice to for self-reinvention, including:

  • Why we should never be the “former” anything—defining ourself by our past successes can be just as damaging to our potential to grow as being haunted by past failures
  • How to design a desired vision of our future self and make decisions based on what the future you would want.
  • Why personality tests such as Myers-Briggs and Enneagram are not only psychologically destructive but are no more scientific than horoscopes.
  • How to tap into what psychologists call “pull motivation” by narrowing your focus on a single, definable, and compelling outcome.

Pick up a copy today and let go of who you thought you were so you can become who you were always meant to be.

Thoughts are powerful | Change your thoughts, Change your life

Thoughts are powerful | Change your thoughts, Change your life

by | May 18, 2020 | Doodle Art Therapy Blog, Goals, Self care

Thoughts Are Powerful

Your thoughts are so powerful they have created your life. And your thoughts will create your future!

The good news is you can change your thoughts. You hold your future in your mind!

Recently, I realized I was waking up every morning thinking “I am struggling”. Upon further observation, I realized I was using the words “I am struggling”: throughout my day. I said it ALL. Of. THE. TIME.  As if it were an excuse. “I am struggling to get out of bed”,” I am struggling to eat right.”  “I am struggling to get everything done.” “I am struggling to….”  And on and on it went.

So why does this even matter? It’s just a thought after all!

Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life

It turns out, our thoughts control what we do. I knew this theoretically but I didn’t believe it in my soul. It feels woo-woo to me. There is nothing concrete about changing your thoughts.

I have often heard the quote:

Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny. by Lao Tzu

But I have always thought about this in correlation with being a good person. Don’t think bad thoughts so you don’t do bad things mentality. Every time it is referred to in church it is about committing sin and pornography.

In Proverbs 23:7 is says:

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

Thoughts are powerful

So if you think good thoughts, do you do good things?

When I think “I am struggling”,  I imagine I am in the middle of a big ocean treading-water with the waves splashing in my face. Survival is my only thought. I am not trying to get to shore because I will die if I try. So, I just continue treading water in the middle of the ocean. There are waves crashing into me constantly, big ones, medium ones, and small ones. Every time I catch my breath another one hits.

No rest for the drowning

When the water calms, I lay on my back and float. I can rest. But, there is no way I could save or help someone else. Because we would both drowned. I am just barely able to keep myself alive at the moment. I see no hope that I can move out of this mess and get myself to shore. So I mindlessly tread water, in the middle of the ocean, with waves hitting me in the face, fighting for my life. Every day. Because I think “I am struggling”. A thought I repeat to myself over and over again, multiple times a day.

Because of this, my day looks like this:

  1. Wake up: think “I am struggling.”
  2. Drag myself out of bed.
  3. Pray.
    • Plead with God about my struggles.
    • Pray and ask who I can help.
    • Think “there is no way I can help anyone”.
  4. Struggle through work.
  5. Eat whatever I find.
  6. Do what is urgent.
  7. Collapse into bed.
  8. Repeat.

Have you thought this?

  • That was dumb.
  • Why are you so stupid?
  • I am soooo awkward.
  • There is no way I could ever do that.
  • Nobody likes me.
  • I have no friends.
  • So and so does it way better than me.
  • I don’t feel loved. Go here to read how to feel more love. Hint: it has to do with your thoughts.

And on and on we go.

What if there were a different way? What if you could start moving toward the distant shore? What would that look like?

Changing your thoughts is simple and hard

thoughts are powerful

Could it be that simple? I change my thoughts and everything changes?

Yes! It is that simple. But unfortunately, it is hard to do. Some of the thoughts we think have been around for a long time. Most of our thoughts we believe to be true. It would feel strange to stop believing what you believe is true, wouldn’t it?

How to change your thoughts

Step 1:

The first step is to get all of your thoughts out on paper. Just start writing. I find it easiest to choose a subject or an emotion but the goal is to just get it all out of your head.  Brain dump all of your thoughts out on paper.

Step 2:

Take a look at all of those thoughts that are swirling around in your head. Crashing like waves into you, circling like sharks around you, looming on the horizon as a storm about to burst over you.

Step 3:

Now, destroy that paper! Rip it up, burn it, whatever it takes to get rid of it. While at the same time saying that these things are not true.

Thoughts are powerful

Step 4:

It’s time to open up your journal and write down some things that you are grateful for. Fill yourself up with positive affirmations. And say at least one of those things to yourself for the rest of the day.

Step 4:

Rinse and repeat.

This is what it looked like when I changed my thoughts:

Before:

  • Thought: I am struggling
  • Feeling: Desperation
  • Action: I stay where I am and keep working to survive.
  • Result: I keep struggling and I make no progress toward not struggling.

Thoughts are powerful

After:

  • Thought: You’ve got this!
  • Feeling: Confident
  • Action: I take action.
  • Result: I begin to make progress every single day.

What?????  Yep. It’s simply that hard.

 

 

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