The Breathing Pattern Drawing

Breathing Pattern Drawing is a fun mindful art project to create a sense of gentle calm and inspire creativity. This activity offers great opportunities for your group to connect to their inner world and the patterns of their breathing through creativity and connection.

In advance, gather all of your art supplies and materials. Gather your group and ask them to grab their choice of craft materials.

Invite your group to sit comfortably and place the materials in front of them. Announce that you will soon lead a brief exercise to help them relax and connect to their breath.

Here’s a suggested script you can follow:

• Once you are seated comfortably, take these next few seconds to relax.
• Loosen up your shoulders and feel the tension release from your body.
• Remember to keep your spine straight.
• Now, take a deep breath in and count.
• Continue to breathe in until you feel your breath fill up your belly.
• Don’t force your breath – inhale for as long as is comfortable for you, whether that’s
  two seconds or six.
• Now, hold your breath for the same amount of time as your inhale.
• Take this time to check in with your body. Is there any tension you can let go of?
• Focus on the counts.
  • If your mind wanders, feel free to count quietly to yourself.
• When you’re ready, exhale for the same amount of time again.
• Feel your breath traveling out through your mouth. Let go of anything that you no
  longer wish to hold on to.
• Finally, hold this exhale for the same few seconds before breathing in and repeating
  this process.
• Repeat this equal breathing a few more moments, really feeling your body relax.
• If you find it difficult to hold your breath or are forcing it, try a shorter time. The
  length of time does not matter, only that it is equal throughout.
• Practice for a few more rounds at your own pace.
• When complete, bring awareness to your fingers and toes, then when you’re ready
  you can open your eyes.

As you guide your group through the script, invite them to use their creative tool of choice to draw and paint their breath on paper. For example, as they inhale they may choose to draw an upward motion on their paper and with each exhale, they may draw a downward motion.

Next, invite each person to experiment further with one or more independent rounds of breathing, each time intending to express their breathing pattern on paper. Allow up to 30 minutes for your group to complete these creations.

When ready, invite group members to share their final projects.

Moment of Reflection

• What does the cycle of your breath look and feel like?
• What colour did you pick to represent your breath and why?
• In regards to your breathing patterns, what image comes to mind that represents it?
• In one word, how would you describe your breathing patterns?
• Were you surprised at what you explored
• How do you feel about what you created?
• What sticks out to you the most about your artwork and why?
• In what ways can you connect with others’ artwork?
• What is your favourite part about your artwork?
• Did anything feel hard about creating your artwork?
• How do you think this tool can help you in the future?

The topics of this publication: health, relaxation, wellbeing, self, mindfulness