Episode 41: The Art Within
“Once I started dipping my toes into teaching more, that’s when everything opened up and unlocked for me and was like, ‘I love teaching’. Teaching is something that I feel is for sure my purpose,” shares Jenna Rainey. Jenna is a watercolor artist, surface pattern designer, and illustrator. She has created best-selling watercolor how-to books alongside teaching online art courses and running her Youtube channel to help show others how to use art to reduce stress. Jenna grew up in a family that was very creative and always had art supplies around the house. She and her mother both were diagnosed with Hashimoto’s and one of the fundamental pieces of advice across the board from their doctors was to minimize as much stress as possible.
When Jenna and her husband moved to California in 2012, they happened upon an unmarked box of art supplies that the moving company did not claim. Jenna opened it up and began creating, and ultimately found her calling in teaching art.
The ability to be creative lies within everyone.
Whether creativity comes in the form of writing, painting, music, cooking, or even problem solving, there are so many ways to tap into that side of your brain. When stress builds up, it takes a large toll on physical and mental health and can lead to full on burnout in addition to an unending list of medical problems like insomnia, digestive health issues, and weight gain. Taking time out of your day to do something creative can help reduce stress by putting your body into a flow state. And once you learn how to tap into that flow state, you can do it anytime your mind and body need a break from stress.
Trying to reduce stress sometimes feels like an impossible task. But by doing a repetitive, basic action like coloring or drawing, you can put your body into a natural flow state and give your mind a much needed breather from the stress of everyday life.
About Jenna Rainey:
Jenna Rainey is a watercolor artist, surface pattern designer, and illustrator, born-and-raised in Southern California. What started as a stress-relieving activity from a desk job in finance, quickly turned into the creative business of her dreams. Art unlocked something in her that changed every aspect of her life. She now inspires hundreds of thousands of people to find and express their own creative voice through her YouTube Channel, best-selling watercolor how-to books, art retreats, and online courses.
Jenna’s work is mostly inspired by nature, travel photos, architecture, and textiles. Her signature vibrant loose-style florals, landscapes, and geometric designs are found in collaborations with brands like Blue Sky for Staples, Crate & Kids, Pixar, Lovevery, Toki Mats, Zola and more.
In This Episode We're Talking About:
- How art should be an imperative part of everyone’s life
- Ways to drop into flow state in 20 seconds or less with a flow state doodle exercise
- Why using art to increase a parasympathetic state is a must
Quotes:
- “The common denominator of the advice that I got from all the medical professionals that I went and saw was stress. You need to somehow minimize as much stress as you can.” (13:50-14:11 | Jenna)
- “Once I started dipping my toes into teaching more, that’s when everything opened up and unlocked for me and was like, ‘I love teaching’. Teaching is something that I feel is for sure my purpose.” (16:33-16:45 | Jenna)
- “Health is a huge priority for me, and I feel like when I have that as my North Star, everything starts to just trickle into place.” (21:16-21:22 | Jenna)
- “My mission in life is to show people that if you can draw a circle, you can draw a flower. If you have the patience and the desire to want to learn how to draw, you will be able to learn how to draw. It’s just like going to the gym and developing muscles.” (24:44-25:01 | Jenna)
- “Doing something that is maybe basic, and seems so simple, but doing it repetitively and doing it over and over again, within five minutes, you can drop into flow state.” (27:05-27:15 | Jenna)
Links for this Episode:
Connect with Jenna Rainey:
Website: www.jennarainey.com
Instagram: @jennarainey
Connect with Dr. Lara Salyer:
Website: https://drlarasalyer.com
Catalyst Kit: https://rightbrainrescue.com/p/catalyst_kit
Instagram: @drlarasalyer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drlarasalyer
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlarasalyer/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DrLaraSalyer
TikTok: @Creativity.Doctor
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About The Catalyst Host, Dr. Lara Salyer:
I worked as a family physician for 15 years until burnout changed the trajectory of my career. I realized I wanted to start a holistic functional medicine practice in my rural hometown and made it happen. In addition to practicing functional medicine, I now mentor practitioners who are looking to change their paths in healthcare by using what I refer to as the “Catalyst Roadmap”. I share each step of this framework with listeners so that they may apply it to their careers, relationships, personal goals, and projects.
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