Stressed out artists - by Quovada Bass – qbass@edesigned.net

If you are an artist flowing in the world of computer graphics, you will quickly realize the stress that goes along with heavy deadlines, browser bugs, and picky clients. Little sleep paired with many cups of coffee play in a never-ending tennis match. The up and down energy levels throw the body off balance. A hectic lifestyle like this will put you pretty close to the edge if you are not past it already. One of the most important elements involved in your fast paced life is you. Artists quickly place their work before themselves. For the best creative work it may take hundreds of hours, several months, or years. Taking time away from such a paternal process is hard to do. It’s hard enough to remember car keys, let alone time to relax and to center oneself. But in order to advance in your work, you will have to have a recharge session to return to center. The best way to get in tune with your body is through meditation, deep breathing, minimal exercise, and a good diet.

Meditation is a great way to minimize the stress accumulated during the course of the day. If you are new to the exercise, think of it as rest and reflection. Try to pick the best time for you, but for many artists, practicing an hour or two after work is good. The hard part here is realizing that you are starving on the way home from work. So move your meditation session closer to bedtime. If this is difficult because of dinner falling close to bedtime, move it to morning. You can view it as a mental cup of coffee. The key is not to have the body interfere with the mediation process as it tries to digest.

When meditating wear loose fitting close and choose a quiet setting. There are many forms of mediation. Some focus on imagery. Some focus solely on breathing. It is most likely that artist’s will shy away from the visual forms because their eyes have been straining for many hours on various projects. The most important thing is good breathing and a clear mind.

When you are breathing use deep breaths. You want to imagine that you are a singer. Your voice or breath has to carry to the other side of a large hall. Deep breath in for a few seconds, deep breath out for a few seconds. Your deep breath in should expand the lower belly or diaphragm. Your belly should poke out on the in breath and collapse on the out breath or exhale. Again, there are many variations to breathing. Some do it with sound, some use visual or mental pictures of blowing trees with branches moving with the breeze. Some use hot and cold, positive energy and negative. Visualize positive air in, negative air out or blue air in, red air out to create a stronger visual process. Deep breathing exercises may help with those cranky bosses and clients, as you try to move past harsh comments and unsubstantiated criticism. The deep breathing exercises can be coupled with any part of your day and is good practice for your mediation sessions at home. It is also a great way to rejuvenate the body mid day or relax before sleep.

Other ways to take advantage of creating good energy for the body is minimal exercise. Yes, I said minimal. Of course it is always good to have a regular exercise schedule. But I do not know many artists with regular schedules. So it is best to apply smaller moving session along with the deep breathing and meditation exercises. What is nice about this, is that it can be coupled with meditation, placing it closer to martial arts such as Tai Chi or Qigong.

The breathing coupled with body movements circulate the blood. The new oxygen in the blood can help with numbness and tingling that is usually associated with graphic designers that sit all day. Advanced practitioners can add small amount of weight to this type of exercise for better physical results.

We cannot forget diet when dealing with stressful days. It is real easy to make way toward the snack food machine for candy bars and chips. Even if it is the only thing you eat all day. If your are an artist with a tight deadline, food is of little priority. Don't even mention cooking. That will involve more work. Besides, you have already convinced yourself that you do not have the energy to do it. Trick yourself and cook in bulk. Pick one off day, preferably early mornings or afternoons and cook a few meals at a time or cook one meal that you can eat for a few days without boredom. Store it in the fridge and heat it up when you return home. Or take it to lunch. You decide. Nothing will beat a complete meal with a mix or carbohydrates and protein. These nutrients feed the brain and body. If you decide to keep meals to a lower number because of stricter dieting, use a multi vitamin to supplement what is lost with a minimal diet.

There is so much more you can do to release the tension acquired in your day as an artist. The true secret is knowing how to bounce back for tomorrow. Finding a place to heal your mind and body is a great start. It will take some research though. The techniques written in this article should be used as a jumpstart. You should recognize that everyone needs time to regroup. Meditation, deep breathing, exercise and good diet aid in getting back to normal after crazy days and nights that come from demanding projects. It also aids in developing creative problem solving because your mind is not trying to wade through tons of stress. Don't stop here with this article, research more stress reducing methods that work best for you.

If you do want to research, try these links.

http://www.learningmeditation.com/

http://www.qi.org/

http://www.taoist.org/english/

http://www.lifepositive.com/Body/holistic-recipes/recipes/macrobiotics.asp

I will expand more on this topic in the months to come.