Mindful Calligraphy
To celebrate World Calligraphy Day, Ink & Flow London's Kirstie Bird gives us her 5 reasons why calligraphy is an excellent mindful practice that can be enjoyed by anyone.
By Kirstie Bird
Once upon a time I was an Art Editor working for a fast-paced magazine based in central London. I had been working within the publishing industry for over 10 years and although I did love it, I knew deep down that there was another path I should take. A different path that would make me happier and bring out the best in me.
During a ‘wellness week’ at work I was offered the opportunity to book a 1-hour session with a life coach to discuss anything that I felt I needed to be addressed at that point in my life. I went to the session with no expectation, but the result was more that I could ever have hoped for and one that I am truly grateful for to this day.
The life coach asked me about my work life and what my ideas were going forward. I spoke about the gut feeling I had that this wasn’t my path to take but I didn’t know the alternative. With that she asked me what I enjoyed doing in my spare time which was most definitely practicing calligraphy and yoga. She then asked me a very simple question and one that changed my future path right from that very moment, ‘why don’t you do calligraphy and yoga as your job?’
Shocked and stunned I replied with something along the lines of ‘You’ve got to be kidding, I can’t do that!’ In response she drew 2 circles on a piece of paper and inside one circle wrote Calligraphy and in the other, Yoga. She gave me a green pen and asked me to write all the pros of working as both inside the relevant circle and then with a red pen write everything that’s stopping me.
We soon saw a reoccurring theme of fear it wouldn’t work out for various reasons, so came up with a realistic plan of how I could conquer these fears and follow my heart. One of these plans being to start teaching calligraphy as soon as possible. Being a natural introvert and for someone who had never taught anything in my life, the fear was real but deep down I knew I had to go for it, fight resistance and feel the fear and do it anyway.
As I started to teach more and more calligraphy to people from all walks of life I soon started to realise the huge benefits this mindful practice had on not only my own mental health but to my students too. I was receiving numerous feedbacks saying how much their calligraphy practice had helped them battle a tough time, helped ease anxiety and left them with a sense of calm and clarity.
Modern calligraphy practice is very meditative and helps you switch off from all your worries as you are entirely in the moment creating beautiful shapes on the page. A lot of my students express their surprise as to how mindful it can be and each time I get this feedback I am more and more grateful I am able to share this passion and help others find a creative meditative escape from whatever is going on in their daily lives.
Sometimes students come to me with concerns such as ‘my handwriting is terrible, will I still be able to do calligraphy’ or ‘but I’m not arty, can I still do it?’ and the answer is always a big fat yet. It doesn’t matter if you have terrible handwriting, if you’re left or right-handed (I am a leftie myself!) or think you don’t have a creative bone in your body, calligraphy is for everyone, just like with a yoga practice.
If you want to give it a try for yourself and see how calligraphy might benefit you and add some tranquillity into your life, I would love to hear from you and meet and teach you! Connecting with and inspiring people is what drives me to spread the mindfulness joy.
Here are 5 ways calligraphy can be a mindful practice:
1. It’s creative
It is giving the mind something to do is a great workout for the brain. It’s repetitive strokes can help to combat stress and anxiety.
2. It’s an escape
It can help you escape from your busy mind and busy daily routine. Nowhere to go, nothing to do but be creative with your pen!
3. It invites a moment to slow down
Practicing calligraphy is an opportunity to find stillness and a slow down of the breath - sitting still and entering into a meditative state whilst concentrating on creating beautiful shapes on the paper.
4. It’s quite satisfying
It’s time to sit with yourself and find self-satisfaction in what we accomplish once you get the hang of it.
5. It offers routine
Our minds are naturally soothed by regular practice, which in time will have long lasting effects on your calmness.
KIRSTIE BIRD
Based in South London, Kirstie spends her days working on various modern calligraphy projects, planning and running workshops and teaching her two passions…Yoga AND Modern Calligraphy! She also runs workshops combining the two for a truly meditative afternoon of creativity.
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