Therapeutic Art Coaching, Art, and Nervous System Presence

Being in the Moment

Eucalyptus trees framing a serene beach in Cyprus, with clear blue waters and sun loungers awaiting visitors.

Why I Came to Cyprus

I have been living in Cyprus for four years. I traveled back and forth for almost three and a half years, never fully landing — neither in place nor in body.

At first, I believed I came for practical reasons: the sea, the sun, the climate.

After years of suffering from Lyme disease and multiple co-infections in Latvia, my nervous system and body were deeply exhausted. There were periods when clear thinking felt impossible, and life was lived in constant survival mode.

Cyprus felt like medicine.

Over time, however, a deeper understanding emerged.

The real transformation was not only physical. I was learning how to be in the moment.

From Fight-or-Flight to Presence

Embracing the tranquility of Cyprus, a moment of carefree relaxation by the Mediterranean seaside.

I was raised in a fight-or-flight state — constant alertness, achievement, and readiness to push forward.

From a Northern perspective, the Mediterranean lifestyle initially felt unfamiliar and uncomfortable:

• slow mornings

• long coffee conversations

• late dinners with family and friends

• time that was not optimized, but experienced

At first, this rhythm felt inefficient.

With time, it revealed its intelligence.

This lifestyle is not lazy — it is nervous system regulation.

When urgency softens:

• the body begins to repair

• emotional tension releases

• physical processes slow down and reorganize

Even my Lyme symptoms gradually softened — not because I fought harder, but because my system finally experienced safety.

Therapeutic Art Coaching During Life Transitions

In the art studio, a person moves energetically among a collection of vibrant canvases, illustrating art's calming effect on the nervous system.

Alongside my personal journey, I have been working as a therapeutic art coach with:

• teenagers

• adult women

Although these groups differ in age and life stage, they often share a similar inner experience.

They are in transition.

These transitions are not only hormonal or situational. They are mental, emotional, and identity-based.

Old structures stop working. New ones have not yet formed.

During these phases, the nervous system naturally feels unsafe.

This is where therapeutic art coaching offers deep support.

Art helps the nervous system feel safe enough to change.

Through art, clients can:

• regulate emotions

• explore inner states

• gain clarity without pressure

• reconnect mind and body

Art becomes a bridge — not a solution to force.

About My Method

Therapeutic art coaching is like windsurfer learning to control wind and letting the sail lead

Losing Borders Through Therapeutic Art

One of the core elements of my therapeutic art coaching method is what I call losing borders.

This does not mean losing oneself.

It means softening rigid inner boundaries that limit perception.

When people are caught in fear, stress, or old survival patterns:

• perspective narrows

• reactions become automatic

• clarity feels unreachable

Therapeutic art allows the nervous system to relax.

From this relaxed state, it becomes possible to:

• step slightly behind fear

• see situations from different angles

• respond instead of react

This shift does not happen through thinking.

It happens through embodied experience.

Learning From the Wind

An Embodied Metaphor

Get active on an island - Cyprus

This process can be compared to windsurfing.

You cannot control the wind. Technique alone is not enough.

Instead, you learn to:

• feel the wind

• sense its direction and rhythm

• adjust the sail instinctively

Not rigidly. Not mechanically. But responsively.

Life works the same way.

When we try to control life from fear, we exhaust ourselves. When we listen and respond, movement becomes fluid.

Therapeutic art coaching trains this embodied intelligence — the ability to feel first, then act.

Repetition, Clarity, and Growth

Presence is not passive. It is an active state of awareness.

Nature of Cyprus is the key of slow living atmosphere on the island

Art teaches presence through repetition:

• returning to the same gesture

• repeating movement and rhythm

• staying with sensation

Not to perfect it — but to inhabit it fully.

Over time, repetition creates clarity.

Repetition → Clarity → Growth

This is how the nervous system learns safety. This is how sustainable change becomes possible.

Closing Reflection

Cyprus did not only offer me a supportive climate.

It offered:

• a new relationship with time

• a new relationship with presence

• a new way of listening to life

Being in the moment is not a mental decision. It is a state the nervous system remembers — once it feels safe enough to be here.

Behind the scene

Truly yours,

Ance