What do doodles & doodling have in common?

Ever wonder what the “doodles” in “Cloud Doodles” came from? It has a double entendre:

1. meaning doodles as in any dog breed mixed with a poodle

The infamous Labradoodle— Mix between a laborador and standard poodle

2. meaning doodles as in the verb “to doodle”.

We have discussed in previous blogs the positive impacts dogs have on our mental health aka the “Doodles”, but we haven’t delved into how “Doodles” as in “doodling” can be so beneficial for us. So in this blog post I will discuss what doodling is, my background and the impact doodling has had on my health, life and career, and finally discuss research based points that reveal how doodling benefits mental health.

What is doodling?

Doodling can be any form of aimless drawing, sketching, or scribble done while focusing or thinking about something else. Doodling can be a very powerful mindfulness tool as it can help us stay in the present. It can also serve as a self-reflection tool in that your inner self/ subconscious is being expressed on paper in a concrete fashion.

My entire life I have been doodling as a way to de-stress, to unwind, to focus, and to get creativity flowing. I often doodled in class when bored. But also I found doodling helped me focus, process, and retain information being taught by teachers. Through doodles I was able to create characters and art pieces that I then expanded and developed. Going into middle school and high school I started doodling on my arms for decoration. I even doodled all over my Converse and Vans and eventually sold a few pairs I doodled for my friends.

In 2009, I entered Bard College and pursued a B.A in studio arts, specifically oil painting. My doodles took on a whole new form in the realm of fine art. I always painted big strokes of color with no rhyme or reason letting my inner world and conflicts spill all over the canvas. Sadly, the pressures of art school cultivated a perfectionist drive within me that stunted my creativity for several years afterward. Beyond doodling, art held a very special format for me to create a sphere that would incite thought about cultural and social issues. My thesis was an 8-piece oil painting series that depicted the realities of womanhood in modern society. As I reached the end of my four years at Bard, I decided to follow a different path by directly make an impact on the world through the pursuit of a social work masters degree (MSW). During my masters program, I interned at an organization whose mission was to help people with mental illness come together and socialize through art. After working a few years with the homeless population, I returned to this organization where I started to doodle again with just basic pen and paper. All of these experiences have lead up to my creation of Cloud Doodles and the doodles I make for the patterns that color our dog and human accessories in our shop. For more about Cloud Doodles read the blog post “Why cloud doodles?”

How doodling impacts mental health

Doodling is good for your mental health and there is a body of research backing it up! Here are 5 reasons how it is helpful:

1. Doodling reduces stress —

Research has shown that doodling can help you distress by calming your amygdala which is responsible for nervous system regulation.

2. Doodling can help process emotions —

Doodling can help you understand yourself and self-reflect by letting your subconscious and inner self express itself on paper. Many mental health professionals even use doodling in a therapeutic setting to help people work through their emotions.

3. Doodling can improve your memory —

Harvard Health Publishing cited a study that found that people doodling while on a telephone call recalled 29% more information that people who did not.

4. Doodling can make you a better listener —

A conclusion that can be made from the study above is that while doodling we are able to focus on what is being presented to us by another person similar to my experience of learning better in school while doodling.

5. Doodling boosts your mood.

Medical News Today cited a study that looked into how doodling affects our brain. They found that while doodling blood flow is boosted in the prefrontal cortex which is responsible for emotional regulation as well as part of our reward pathway meaning doodling can be a great activity to help boost our mood.

Get Set, Doodle, GO!

Want to know how to reap the benefits of doodling? Put on your favorite tunes, grab a piece of paper and your preferred drawing tools i.e pen, colored pencils, crayons, watercolors and start moving your hand! Enjoy!