Ep 11 - Part 1: Drawing as a Stillness Practice with Amy Linville

Host and PLA Director of Alumni Programming Dr. Stephanie Costa speaks with Amy Linville, an aesthetician who also incorporates biodynamic craniosacral therapy, about building a creative life through drawing.

In Part 1 of their conversation, they discuss approachable practices such as 10-minute drawing challenges focused on process over product, noticing nervous system regulation and body awareness, and using constraints like time to reduce perfectionism. 
 
Learn more about Amy on her website: https://www.amylinville.com/ 

Try Amy's drawing game here: https://bit.ly/4cmu6ct

Registration is open for the next class of the Physicians Leadership Academy at the Columbus Medical Association. Designed FOR physicians BY physicians and led by globally recognized faculty and coaches, PLA is a transformational, research-backed program to help you build the skills to thrive in today’s ever-evolving healthcare landscape. Learn more at physiciansleadershipacademy.org.

Produced by the Columbus Medical Association

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Transcript

This transcript was automatically generated.

[00:00:00] This podcast was created to help graduates of the Physician's Leadership Academy at the Columbus Medical Association stay connected to the PLA Teachings, mindset and community. If you're not familiar with the Physicians Leadership Academy, welcome.

Thank you for your curiosity and enjoy our learning today. I'm Stephanie Costa, director of Alumni Programming at the PLA, and today I'm excited to have a conversation with Amy Linville. As I introduce Amy, you might be thinking this topic's a little bit different for PLA. Because Amy is an aesthetician.

As an aesthetician. She also incorporates. Biodynamic craniosacral therapy. She's registered in this and she combines her knowledge to create incredibly unique services [00:01:00] in the PLA, we have heard faculty member Jim Marsden, refer to the work that is ours to do and how that comes from who we are and the life experiences we have had.

Amy is such a great example of this. Professionally, Amy looks for the easiest way to connect with and create safety for clients. For some, it is biodynamic, craniosacral therapy. For others, this relationship begins with a facial, and this is done without aggressive skin barrier disrupting trends. But Amy is also an artist, and that's what we're going to focus on in this podcast.

She likes to draw and paint, cook, and go on walks. Amy tries to model the importance of having a creative life by letting go of concerns about audience art with a capital A and the wonkiness of lines. [00:02:00] Amy feels art or something else. If it's important to you, just keep showing up. The improvements will come in spite of yourself.

I love that philosophy. It is in keeping with the PLA and Amy, welcome to the PLA podcast. Thank you. Happy to be here. Yeah. So Amy, could you share your story and how it led to a return to drawing after you had put your pencil down for a number of years? Sure. So I. Did major in art, but I went to a small university here, capital University did not plan to major in art, had a scholarship.

I think really in what was happening is I found that my anxiety was soothed even then. And my whispering counselor kept saying, you're really good at this. You should take another class. You should take another class. And so I did. [00:03:00] But it was a awkward time to graduate just because of what was going on with computers and graphic arts and stuff.

So I just let it all sit for a very long time. And I did of course influence creativity in the, the colors I picked for my house or the fabrics I picked for things, but. It wasn't until probably 2014 around when I was going through menopause that I decided to drop in on the Columbus Urban Sketchers, and I also started going to a figure, a live figure drawing class or it wasn't a class, it was just a group with a model.

And it was then that I realized that even though I was having all these symptoms of kind of brain fog, that there was something about the memories of knowing how to draw. And of using my brain in that way that was implicit and was still very much intact. And it was so refreshing because I had been [00:04:00] feeling like my brain was, not what it could be or something.

And yeah, the experience of oh yeah, I have a very distinct memory of my professors talking about perspective in this way, or I have a distinct memory of talking about value. And it was just really so whole and as if it had sat on a shelf waiting for me to return. Yeah, I can so relate to that concept of it sitting on a shelf.

And I am someone who yearns to be very creative and I am moved by art. And as I work with physicians, I am also reminded of how our training and the demands of our work can really squash. Our creative outlets. Our work requires us to be solution oriented and analytical. And sometimes we're working inside a building for really long hours with not enough time spent in or even just seeing nature.

And I don't [00:05:00] think I'm alone when I say that I crave exposure to any form of art or nature. So it was not surprising when recently you and I were having a conversation and I became excited when you told me that you participated in a 30 day art challenge drawing. And I immediately made some assumptions about what that was about.

And as you talked to me about it, I became super curious and then realized the many ways that something like this could not only be a benefit, but also how approachable it was. So could you tell us a little bit about this challenge you participated in? Of course, that is just the most recent challenge I've participated in.

There are many 30 day challenges, a hundred day challenges out there. So there's one for everyone. I can tell you that. But what was special about this one was the, was that, it was like a mini art [00:06:00] lesson with imagery of things you might see in a museum. And she tied those little art lessons into what she was going to challenge us with.

And she only wanted us to spend 10 minutes, and she felt in that it was more important to, to show up for the 10 minutes than it was to have something of quality. And sometimes when you give too much time to a drawing, your inner critic can come in and break the whole thing down and. You're left not feeling very successful.

So she would have a set a timer for 10 minutes and she would also, because she's into the connection about slowing down and nervous system health and things like that, she really would try to get us to tune into how we were feeling as we were doing the challenge. What we noticed, so for example, one day she had us draw a [00:07:00] spiral and set the timer or play a song that's 10 minutes long, whatever you like.

And then you try starting in the center and creating a spiral where the line is about equal distance from the last circle. So you get this very meditative, slow 'cause you can't do it fast. Experience. And then once we've done one in that direction, she said, start on the outside now for your next spiral and spiral inward.

So you reach the center and notice. The two different experiences. And did you prefer one to another and just, be more curious about the process than the product. Love the curiosity that she brought in. And it sounds like she made drawing easy and fun. I think you had talked about our inner critic and most of us say I'm terrible at drawing, and we think about we just revert to stick figure drawings.

We don't think we're capable of anything else, when you say, oh my gosh, I just had to draw a [00:08:00] spiral. I can do that. Yeah. And so I'm curious, you had said that she asked you to just pay attention to how you were feeling when you were drawing. So what did you notice in yourself both while you were drawing and beyond the drawing as the month went on?

I would often save the 10 minute challenge for the end of the day, which at first I was thinking, I'm really tired. This is probably not ideal, but my husband was meditating in the same room in a chair across the room, and I, I had my timer silenced and everything, but I found that there was some co-regulation happening, which was a bonus for both of us.

So he, he came to enjoy me doing the 10 minute thing while he was meditating, and it worked really nicely. But yeah, sometimes I didn't wanna do it. And I, and then I just remembered, you know what, this is not about the result. This is about you taking [00:09:00] 10 minutes to, to experience whatever is in this moment, and it's okay.

And she, she's so good. In fact all of her assignments, somewhere within the description she says, you do you. And there are no rules in art. Like she really believes that. And it's just one of those things that you cannot be reminded too much about to hear it over and over again. So I really came to just trust it.

And one of my favorite challenges she had us do was to draw the same subject first, just using our fingers and some wrist motion, and then draw it again with more emotion all the way up to your elbow and then draw it a third time. And in that case, I stood up and became conscious of the motion in my shoulder and how much that changed the drawing, how much looser it became.

So that was another interesting one. That's [00:10:00] fascinating. Talk about we're talking about this being a bit of a mindfulness practice, but also creating such awareness in your body and how, it's almost playful because what happens if I try to draw and I really loosen up my whole arm?

Gosh, just the freedom that would come with that. Sounds really wonderful. You had said you took courses in college. I think most physicians, we probably weren't able to take any courses in college that were art related because we were too busy taking all of our pre-med courses and trying to get into med school.

But you sure don't have to have a background in any kind of art training to do something like this. I would think. Definitely not. And that is her whole premise. She started during lockdown with an online program for children who were at home from school to give them an opportunity and to help the parents to have an opportunity for them to do something like this.

[00:11:00] And it was so positive and so beloved that she decided to do it for grownups. And she calls it gut, which stands for Grownup table. The grownups table. And I think that's really a cool one. So this challenge grew up out of that gut grownups table concept. And her one thing she says, which I believe is absolutely true, she said, if you look more, you love more so by slowing down to observe something and really for what it is, just.

It could be your pet, it could be a, your cup that you drink your coffee out of every day. It doesn't really matter what the subject is. But by slowing down and looking, you are finding a way to love and especially when you are drawing someone else. And she has a whole nother thing she does called Draw together Strangers, which I have facilitated a [00:12:00] couple times at the Columbus Museum of Art.

And that's when you sit down and do a blind contour drawing of a stranger. And that's a really powerful 60 seconds of just staring into the face of someone you don't know at all. It's really powerful. Wow. Wow. That sounds awesome. So her name is Wendy McNaughton. I just wanna say that. So she's the grownups table and she's drawn together.

No, she's not. She's the Bay Area in California, but she's on substack and very accessible. Great. And you also mentioned to me that you use, like dice to, to help get the process going or to make it less intimidating. Can you speak to that? Because for people who just wanna give it a whirl at home, how might they grab some dice and get started?

Okay, so that was something I designed also during lockdown. At that time I was an administrator for Columbus Urban Sketchers, or Urban s Sketchers Columbus, I believe is how they say [00:13:00] it. And I, we were no longer meeting for a period of time and, but we were pretty connected 'cause we were used to sharing our sketches of things we had done.

And I decided to create this dice game just to help us get unstuck because there was nothing like lockdown to make you feel locked in your body. You felt like there was nothing you could do. We weren't, you remember how it was? Yeah. And so I created a list of, I think it was six topics and six challenges, or maybe it was six materials and six challenges, I'm not sure.

But anyway, with two dice, you rolled one, it determined one thing, and you rolled the other and it determined the other. So for example one of 'em was draw with a material that you might not think is an art material. So you have a lipstick you don't like anymore, it's a terrible color on you. What could you do with it?

You could [00:14:00] draw with it. Or something like a highlighter. Like you can do really fun things with just highlighters and a black pen. So it was just the idea that don't get hung up on what to draw or having a perfect result. Just roll this dice, it's gonna make the choices for you and then just try it and see where you land.

Yeah, another bit of playfulness with the drawing. Playfulness. Yeah. You had used the word perfect and I think a lot of physicians have some perfectionistic tendencies and some of those can make us really great physicians, but it's. It helps us be excellent at what we do, but perfectionism can come at a cost if it is taken too far.

And perfectionism and self-judgment can be a tremendous obstacle when we're trying to experiment with our creative sides. And I'm recollecting a few years back, I hosted a group of physicians [00:15:00] at an artist co-op in Cleveland, and we were taking a glass slumping class. And, the docs were a little bit paralyzed standing at this table because they wanted to know how to do it right.

They were hesitant at taking the first step for fear of doing it wrong. And in that moment I remembered, we are accustomed to this concept of C one, do one, teach one. And so I asked the glass artist, could you just show us an example? And then told the group, there's nothing to get right here.

It's art. No one's judging it. Nothing bad is gonna happen. Just see what could happen if you just remove the need to create something. Great. And with that, people then started to work. They were watching what each other was doing in a spirit of learning and not comparison. And then they just started teaching each other how to do something that they had learned.

And it was just a really cool thing to observe. And everyone was so excited and so proud of [00:16:00] their work at the end. And I would think that drawing might be a really nice, easy and available way to experiment with our creativity, cut ourselves some slack, and just really embrace that perfection is not the goal.

It absolutely is. And one of my favorite limiting factors I like to bring into drawing. Again, because when you have a limiting factor there you have seem to have less anxiety about a product. I like to challenge myself when I'm waiting for something. So waiting in a doctor's office, waiting at a restaurant, I have smaller sketchbooks that I carry just for that purpose that I can slip into a bag or a purse.

And so instead of sitting there and in your paper gown or whatever you're doing, and wishing that time would move faster, I found myself drawing a sink a [00:17:00] sink faucet or something that was in the room. And then when the doctor walked in, I was like, oh, darn. I didn't get the other handle done. It was a complete flip.

And so that. Having time as a constraint could be really very freeing because no one could blame you that you ran out of time, you ran out of time, you're drawing the salt and pepper shakers on the table and your lunch arrives and it's time to start, eating or being a little more present with the person you're with or something like that.

So I find that can be a really helpful hack. So I have to know what do you do with the drawing where the other handle is on? Ah, yes. This is why I think a sketchbook practice is so meaningful. It's like a private journal, but instead of writing you're drawing so your mark making anyway, you're just, and some people like to merge the two.

They do some writing of words, of phrases or poetry. And some people just wanna do words and some people do both. But I think a sketchbook. [00:18:00] Is not only a nice private thing that, that no one's very few people are gonna expect you to tear something out of your book. Although I've had people ask me before, and I did it, I think for my son, I think it was the only time I've been willing to tear something outta my sketchbook.

But it, to me, I like it. It's a journey and it's, and it moves with time, and so you, part of the reward is you go back and then if you really do it on a regular basis, and again, just short drawings if you go back, you start flipping backwards, you're like, Hey, so I'm seeing some changes here.

I'm seeing some, like in spite of myself, in spite of my critics, and in spite of my imperfections, things are happening in this book. And I'm, and the other thing I will say about a sketchbook too is when you draw. The memory of the experience you have of where you are, whether you're traveling or it's a meal you're eating, is so much more embedded in the memory than if you take a [00:19:00] photo.

I can't really tell you the brain reason why, but I know this from talking to artists all over the place that this has been their experience as well. So it's encoded like the weather is encoded because you're just working with what you have, you're working with ever changing light conditions and distractions of all kinds.

And it's all there when you go back to it. It's really magical. Okay. I not say that I am thinking so fondly of Jim Drescher right now. And Amy, you've not had the privilege of meeting Jim, but Jim is a friend and faculty member for the PLA and I'm gonna send him this podcast. But, I'm also thinking, his words and just talking about mindfulness and how it's this quiet alertness.

And yes, you can sit in meditation and have an awareness of your surroundings, [00:20:00] but, journaling can sometimes take that mindfulness to another level. And now I'm hearing you talking about just simply drawing. Something in your surroundings and how beautifully you can be connected to all that's around you and remember it so much better.

Yeah, it's true. So thank you. Thank you for that. Why in particular should physicians consider drawing,

drawing? Like you were saying you may have missed out on some opportunities. You your demands might be higher than average. The stress might be higher than average. So I can, yeah, I can't see how it could not benefit. Yeah, I would think just processing the emotions or, just thinking about the cognitive load on physicians all day long, like what they're, expecting their brains [00:21:00] to do and to be able to just use a different part of the brain and give analytical side a little bit of a break.

I can't imagine how restorative it could be if you were not putting pressure on you to create something great. And you've used the word playful or playfulness. I personally believe that when you start to spend time drawing, there is a deep part of you that remembers a earlier time in your life before, before judgment of teachers, before judgment of other artists.

When. You never thought about having permission or worrying about whether your drawings were good enough. Most children will just draw. And I remember watching my children going through that phase where they were super free to draw [00:22:00] and then they went to school. And then you started to see this other thing emerge as they started to observe what other children were doing.

And they were having maybe lessons from an art teacher. And it's a, it, I'm not saying that art teachers are doing the wrong thing. I'm just saying that inherently we know how to express ourselves this way. So when we go back to it is more of a return than a learning something new and that feels different.

That's such an interesting perspective. So I, I have to know you, you talk about. How you pull out your sketchbook while you're sitting in the paper gown at the doctor's office. I realize that's just one small example, but do you carry a backpack around or is your sketchbook small? Like what is a sketchbook?

I know the listeners can't see this, but it's, I carry something like this small. Yeah, pretty small. Like the size of a maybe four by six or [00:23:00] something. Or even smaller. And I'm good at figuring out which tools. I've played a lot with which tools are gonna be my minimal pack today.

And I don't always bring the same ones because I don't wanna get bored, but, pencils or watercolor pencils or things that are water soluble can be very handy because they're not messy. They tend not to be messy like a water color set would be. And then they make these beautiful water pens, which are like a hollow bodied brush.

So you fill 'em up with water and you just can squeeze 'em a little bit and that water will come through the brush on the end and will loosen up your drawing and you'll get some flow of color, what you laid down. Or you can use the wet brush on the tip of the pencil to just get a little more pigment going.

It's the kind of thing that I do. I, again, you can't share this, but. These are the kinds of things I can do fast without very many materials. I was at an [00:24:00] event last night and I challenged myself to draw the speakers. And again, it's that same thing. The speaker's only gonna be up there for a couple minutes.

Half of her face is obscured by her hair and what am I gonna do about it? Yeah. Draw her hair. I'm gonna draw, it's gonna be hair and I see a little cheekbone emerging and a little bit of a tip of a nose is emerging there. And then there's no pressure to get the face drawn to look like her. I know, right?

Okay, good. If someone is listening and they say, you know what I think I wanna just lean into this in some small way. How could someone integrate this drawing practice into a really busy life and help that habit, that new habit stick? I think it's always helpful if you have time to get to, to dip into a group now and again, [00:25:00] none of the groups that I were in require any kind of attendance.

It's just something you come in and out of as time allows. Columbus Urban Sketchers is one of those groups. There is also a YouTube. Artist. That's, I don't wanna limit to her as calling her that, but she is present regularly on YouTube and she does something called Draw Tip Tuesday. So every Tuesday she releases a very quick video of something that is, you don't need, like any materials that you have are gonna substitute in fine if you don't have exactly what she's demonstrating.

But she is, she has spent years driving home this point of let me just give you a little tip and just try this one thing today. It's it feels very doable. Okay. Draw tip Tuesday on YouTube. On Tip Tuesday. Okay. And once you go down the rabbit hole, like you know how it is, you'll, something will lead to the next thing and the next thing and the next thing.

And you just [00:26:00] eventually will stumble on your people. And the thing that, that lights you up and the kind of instruction that makes sense for you, it's not the same for everyone. That's great, Amy. Thank you so much for sharing your perspective and your artistry. I am pretty eager to lean into drawing and scratch my creative itch, and I'll be sure to show you what I come up with.

Hopefully it'll just be someone's hair and skin and tip of their nose or something like that, but I'm gonna give it a whirl or maybe I'll take a little notebook out into nature this weekend. Oh, I really encourage you to do it. Great. Thank you. You're welcome. More information about the PLA, if you're not familiar with, it can be found on our Physicians Leadership Academy website at www.physiciansleadershipacademy.org.

Of note, we're currently accepting applications for the next [00:27:00] class beginning in September of 2026. So if you're curious about the personal transformation that can occur through the physician's Leadership Academy, do something amazing for yourself and fill out an application on the PLA website.

Thanks for joining us today, and we'll see you next time.