How to use art to take control of your emotions | Lydia Cohen | TEDxKings Park Youth

Quick Overview

Lydia Cohen argues that art, especially land art, serves as a crucial tool for young Indigenous women like Tasha to find a safe, nurturing internal space and develop self-acceptance by engaging authentically with their emotions and environment, rather than conforming to external pressures.

Key Points: Lydia Cohen founded a project empowering young First Nations women through art, helping them express their voices. Cohen attributes her own early life struggles, including an absent father and cultural differences, to a deep sense of not fitting in. She introduces a three-step process—Pause, Stop, Check In—to help individuals connect with their inner selves and manage stress/disregulation. The speaker emphasizes that art, particularly land art using natural materials, provides a practical and accessible tool for self-soothing and emotional navigation. Cohen cites the example of Tasha, a program participant, who, despite external pressures and anger, found calmness and strength through engaging with art materials found in nature. The goal of using art is not to create a perfect masterpiece for social media but to explore and express the authentic self and inner world. Cohen concludes that accessing this internal space allows individuals to navigate their emotions and build a sense of belonging.

Context: Lydia Cohen delivers a TEDx talk at TEDxKings Park Youth, sharing her personal journey and the philosophy behind her project designed to empower young First Nations women, using art as a medium for self-discovery and emotional regulation. The talk contrasts the external pressures these young women face—such as cultural differences, family dynamics, and societal expectations—with the internal sanctuary art can provide.

Detailed Analysis

Lydia Cohen presents the idea that engaging with art, particularly land art, is essential for young women, especially those from Indigenous backgrounds, to manage internal emotional states and find self-acceptance. She recounts a chaotic personal history, marked by an absent father from a different country and culture, leading to feelings of confusion and not belonging, which manifested as anger and reactive behavior in her youth. Cohen proposes a three-step process: Pause, Stop, and Check In, which involves listening to internal cues like heart rate, breathing, and physical tension. She highlights that art provides a practical tool for this internal work, enabling self-soothing and emotional navigation. She gives the example of Tasha, a young participant in her program, who used natural materials (land art) to create a sense of calm and express her innate power, overcoming behaviors like anger and impulsivity that arose from feeling disconnected. Cohen stresses that the value lies in the process of creating and connecting with materials found in nature (like the example shown of eucalyptus leaves arranged in a circle on the earth), not in producing a perfect final product for external validation. This process helps bridge the gap between external behaviors and the inner self, fostering a nurtured, calm, and supported state of being.