How to Use Simple Mark Making to Relax Your Mind & Body

One of the things I love about mark making is that it takes me out of my head and connects me back to my body. There are no drawing skills required or needed. 

For this exercise I recommend watercolor paints and brush but if you don’t have those – use whatever materials you have – pen, pencil, notepaper, or even your finger on a digital tablet. The benefits of this mindful mark making are the same.  

Try this now:  

• Fill your page with 50 lines – dotted lines, solid lines, angular lines, curvy lines. 
• Then on a new sheet of paper, make 50 circles – big ones, small ones, wobbly ones. 
• Now, on another sheet, try 50 squares and rectangles. 

As you make these lines, shapes, marks, let them overlap – or keep them separate.

Breathe deeply as you move your brush or pen and just enjoy the marks that appear on the page. If you find yourself thinking about your day, it’s ok, just gently notice what’s arising and then move your attention to the paper and the paint.

If you’re using a pen, get curious about the space between your marks, turn the page and see where you want to make the next mark and how it relates to the ones already on the page. 

If you are painting, notice how the paint moves across the pages, and get curious about how the paper – whether it’s coarse paper, rough paper, smooth paper, responds to the paint. Does it absorb the paint quickly, or let the paint move out across it? There’s something so peaceful about the witnessing of the paint and its flow. 

Just allowing the flow of the paint creates space in your mind so that questions can form, insights can arise. 

When I’ve had a long day, yet I can’t seem to relax, to let go of the day, I find this process of simply making marks on the page while enjoying the colors of the paint, to be a window into both relaxation and creativity. 

Are you wondering what to do with all of these doodle paintings? One thing I like to do is cut the pages up into squares or rectangles – 2 ½ inches by 3 inches, for example, and then use them as collage fodder or paste them on handmade cards. 

But no practical use is required. This simple exercise is full of it’s own rewards. Take a few minutes for mark-making this week and try it out.