Get deeply relaxed through painting
Have you ever experienced this weird feeling that time expands when you slow down? Shouldn't it be the opposite? The more you do, the more you experience?
I believe that if we go a little slower, we can perceive our surroundings with all our senses. Then we experience more, because we experience deeper.
It was just like that when Jonathan and I took the most beautiful train ride of our lives. It was in the Mountains of Sri Lanka, where we travelled from Ella to Nuwara Eliya by the famous blue train.
Unlike the trains I know from Europe, the blue train goes really slowly. All the doors are open, and you can open the windows as well. But that didn't even feel dangerous with the lack of speed. These 3-4 hours have engraved themselves into my brain and memory.
How to go slow
I could really take the landscape in, seeing it change over time, the higher we climbed, and the rattling was like a soothing lullaby putting Jonathan to sleep next to me soon enough. It was this mixed sensation of excitement and relaxation.
I know this feeling very well from painting. I'm so passionate about painting, but it's the most relaxing thing as well. If you're a total beginner to painting, it may take some time to adjust and some learning. But time by time, you will notice how calming it can be to hold a brush and bring some paint onto the paper.
Painting is so much more than the attempt to create something. The process alone can give you a lot. Painting can help you to wind down and relax, so you regain energy for all the demands of everyday life.
This alone would be enough for me to paint, but then you are rewarded with a beautiful painting in the end, at least most of the time.
On the train ride, I didn't even try to paint. After the experience of painting on a moving sailing boat, I knew better and just enjoyed every minute.
But I took photos, so I could paint later at home...
Even though our travels through Sri Lanka were some years ago, I took out a watercolor sketchbook lately and captured my little adventure in some paintings.
It was more fun than expected. I enjoyed the loose way of painting in a sketchbook. But I also relived the memory and was so grateful I had such a memory to paint from.
I recorded the whole painting session, so you can rewatch it in this video on my YouTube channel. It's not only the painting process, but also some video footage of our train ride in Sri Lanka. I share some more thoughts on why painting will help you slow down. So don't miss out on this one:
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