Thanks to those potent pregnancy hormones, life can be like a rollercoaster. Yesterday you wanted to cry all day, last night you couldn’t sleep because you were so excited, and today you got angry with your partner because he forgot to shut the front door. As strange as it sounds, a creative outlet like drawing or painting can help with this rollercoaster ride.
More often than not, we do not give ourselves the proper space to experience our emotions. Instead, we often just try to act normal and polite. But it is much more useful and healthy to allow yourself to experience your emotions, rather than suppress them — it can significantly reduce your stress levels [1, 2, 3].
Drawing… really?
On paper, you can sketch out what you feel. For example, when you are angry, try drawing black clouds and lightning bolts, a snarling dog, a rocket blasting off — or whatever comes to mind as you sit with your angry feelings. Drawing takes the emotions you are feeling and passes them onto the paper — now you can literally touch and see your emotions.
I can’t draw. What to do then?
Try coloring books. This is also a good way to express your unspoken feelings and share your worries. Press your colored pencils to the pages in different ways that align with your emotions — press hard or lightly to convey in different colors your different feelings. You can combine colors, don't be afraid to try new or unusual combinations, trust your intuition, and notice how you feel as you color the different shapes and colors.
Coloring in the lines feels restrictive. What else can I do?
You can paint, work with clay, or try other art forms that are new to you. Don’t judge yourself on how talented you are or aren’t. The point isn’t to learn a new skill, but rather to make space for reflection on your feelings and a way to express them externally.
