Three Benefits of Painting with Your Non-Dominant Hand

If letting loose when you're creating with watercolors or mixed media supplies feels like a challenge, read on for my new favorite mindful art activity that will help you loosen up and have some fun.

Unleash Your Inner Artist with No Expectations

Have you ever tried painting, drawing, or writing with your non-dominant hand?

Sure, maybe you did this while playing around when you were younger.

But how about now, as an adult?

Since starting my meditative mindful art practice to cope with stress, anxiety, burnout, & negative self-talk, I didn’t even think about trying it!

Until I was studying for my mindful art and expressive arts certification course one night.

There was a brief exercise in the lesson that encouraged students to let loose and paint with their non-dominant hand.

I got curious, so I tried painting watercolors with my left hand. I was shocked at how fun it felt. I was amazed at the shapes and lines I was creating! 

If you are a perfectionist or your inner critic is a bit too chatty, I highly recommend  giving this low pressure exercise a try for a few minutes each day to see what types of insights you have over time.

Here are three ways how this practice can benefit anyone:

1. Practicing Mindfulness

Painting with your non-dominant hand can help you practice mindfulness and tap into a creative side that you may not even know existed!

When we use our non-dominant hand to paint, it forces us to slow down and pay more attention to our movements.

We can't rely on muscle memory or our usual techniques, so we have to be more intentional and present in the moment.

This can be a great way to practice mindfulness and focus on the present moment, rather than getting caught up in past regrets or future worries.

I noticed this a lot during my practice.

Painting with my non-dominant hand actually feels EASIER because I let the pressure off of myself, which I didn’t expect. It helped me learn how to give myself grace.

2. Tapping Into Your Creative Side

Painting with your non-dominant hand can also be a great way to tap into your creativity.

When we use our dominant hand, we often fall into familiar patterns and techniques.

But when we switch to our non-dominant hand, we're forced to try new things and approach our art in a different way.

This can lead to surprising and exciting results, and can help us break through creative blocks.

3. Cultivating Self-Compassion

Finally, painting with your non-dominant hand can be a great way to cultivate self-compassion.

When we try something new, we're bound to make mistakes and feel frustrated at times.

But by practicing self-compassion and treating ourselves with kindness and understanding, we can push through these challenges and learn to enjoy the process of creating.

5 Minute Mindful Art Meditation

This practice is so easy that anyone can do it if painting with your non-dominant hand is accessible to you.

• You can try this with anything that you have on hand too: paint, pencil, pen, marker, or a crayon.

• Get comfortable and take a deep breath

• Think about an intention or emotion you want to explore during your practice (if you don’t know, that’s okay, you can start and see what comes up)

• Set a timer for 5-10 minutes

• Start creating and have some fun

• After your timer goes off, take 1-2 minutes to free write about your experience.

• What came up for you? How did it feel? It’s okay if you’re not sure, more will likely emerge the more you practice, just like meditation.

It is important to keep in mind that we’re not trying to create a masterpiece in this exercise.

It’s all about the process, not the outcome.

You may be surprised at what you create, and how it helps you cultivate mindfulness, creativity, and self-compassion.