Meet Bilateral Drawing: A Simple Practice to Calm Your Mind and Reconnect With Yourself

There’s something quietly powerful about making marks on a page — especially when you use both hands at the same time.

It may sound simple, even a little silly at first. But bilateral drawing is one of the most effective and accessible tools I’ve found for nervous system regulation, emotional processing, and creative self-connection. It’s a technique rooted in both neuroscience and intuition — and it doesn’t require any art experience at all.

💡 What Is Bilateral Drawing?

Bilateral drawing is the practice of drawing with both hands at once, often mirroring your movements across the center of the page. You're not trying to make something that looks good — you’re simply engaging your brain and body in a way that helps you feel more grounded, more focused, and more in tune with what’s going on inside.

This technique activates both hemispheres of the brain and engages the corpus callosum, which supports integration between your logical, verbal left brain and your emotional, visual right brain. It can help you feel calmer, more regulated, and even access insights you didn’t realize were waiting beneath the surface.

🧠 Why It Works (A Little Neuroscience)

When we use both hands in a rhythmic, repetitive, and intentional way, we activate the bilateral stimulation response in the brain — similar to what happens in EMDR therapy or rhythmic movement practices. This can:

• Reduce stress and anxiety

• Improve emotional regulation

• Help process difficult feelings

• Support creative flow and focus

• Calm the fight/flight/freeze response

It’s especially helpful if you’re feeling overwhelmed, perfectionistic, or stuck in your head — because bilateral drawing gets you out of your head and into your body without needing to talk everything through.

🎨 Try It: A Gentle Bilateral Drawing Prompt

You’ll need:

• Two pens, pencils, markers, or oil pastels (the smoother they glide, the better)

• A large piece of paper or two pages side-by-side

• A few quiet minutes just for you

Prompt:
With one drawing tool in each hand, begin making mirrored lines across the page. You might try circles, spirals, waves, or zig-zags. Let your breath slow. Let your hands move together. Let yourself release the pressure to “do it right.” You’re just noticing. Feeling. Moving.

When you’re done, pause. Look at what you created.
How do you feel now, compared to when you started?

🌿 Final Thoughts

Bilateral drawing is one of those practices that feels like magic — but it’s deeply rooted in how our brains and bodies are wired. It’s a way to return to yourself when things feel scattered, too much, or hard to put into words.

If you’re curious to go deeper, I’ve created a whole ebook and workshop experience around bilateral drawing — including science-backed insights, creative prompts, and space to explore your own process. Because the truth is: your hands already know the way.

🖤 You can learn more about bilateral drawing by grabbing your copy of the best selling ebook.