The Expressive Instinct: How Imagination and Creative Works Help Us Survive and Thrive Girija Kaimal

The Expressive Instinct: How Imagination and Creative Works Help Us Survive and Thrive Girija Kaimal – Ebook Instant Download/Delivery ISBN(s): 9780197646229,0197646220, 9780197646236, 0197646239

Product details:

• ISBN 10: 0197646239
• ISBN 13: 9780197646236
• Author:  Girija Kaimal

Self-expression is a fundamental human drive. The need for self-expression can occur through many means both creative and mundane. The Expressive Instinct explains how the complexity of human experiences and the need to express them manifests more profoundly when distilled into artforms and dispels the idea that creativity is the domain of a select gifted few. The book explores the questions: What is the purpose of art in our lives? Could the desire for beauty, to be surrounded by elements of nature, be an innate need? Are art and creative expression essential for a good life? In this book, Dr. Kaimal links over 10 years of research, theories of evolutionary biology, brain sciences, as well as her own lifelong journey as an artist, scholar and educator in many personal and professional roles (textile designer, art therapist, researcher and educator).This book makes the case for why we as human beings need to stay creative and not lose our abilities to channel our inner lives in adaptive expressive ways. The arts, the book argues, are a container for the range of human experiences. Creative expression helps us practice and externalize imagination which in turn helps build resilience for dealing with uncertainty and change.

Table contents:

1. Why does creative self-​expression matter?
2. Philosophical perspectives and theories about creative self-​expression and well-​being
3. What our ancestors knew: Indigenous and traditional arts practices and health
Part II Embodied Expression
4. Receptive and expressive experiences: How we see, create, and make narrative sense of it all
5. Evoking the protector within: Neurobiological indicators and creative self-​expression
6. Tracking creative self-​expression through imaging tools
Part III Weathering Storms
7. Creative self-​expression by ourselves and with others
8. When words are not enough: Creative self-​expression and adversity in the developing years of
9. Navigating adversity in adulthood through creative self-​expression
Part IV Preparedness
10. The prepared warrior: Creative expression, health, and well-​being in modern society
11. What lies ahead? Research and practices for the future

People also search:

the expressive instinct

the expressive body in life art and therapy

imagination instinctual

instinctual emotions

the expressive therapies continuum