Drawing Health

Hi everyone, just a quick note to you this week. The purpose of this podcast is to help people take care of themselves, and to invite real conversations and real community in and around that care. My commitment to myself is that I am included, because I’m people too. I don’t martyr myself for others, I walk the walk as I talk the talk. I’m in the shit with you, learning as I go.I have a body that responds loudly, with flares of pain and other symptoms, when anything in my life is twisting away from my values, my heart, what I believe in. So I’m listening to my body now, and putting this beautiful project on pause so that I am demonstrating what I teach: listening to the body. I do my best work when I don’t have to silence the parts of me crying out for attention, especially when I think I’m doing so for others’ benefit. I will return in a few weeks with some necessary changes, and this podcast will be better for it. I’ll be back soon, bringing my best, and until then I really encourage you to listen back to the episodes produced so far. There is so much to learn from attentive repetition. Details you didn’t notice before, nuances you hear differently from hour to hour, week to week. As I always say in class: listen to yourself more than you listen to me. We’re listening to ourselves, together. 

You need your arms to draw, and they need you too.Bring in all your senses, play with them. A gentle touch carries so much information that you can translate to your drawings, and your drawing practice. Listen and begin.Drawing Health is a live class every Saturday from 11am - 12pm EST. Sign up to join in, at drawinghealth.com.=About the podcastDrawing Health is a podcast about the intersection of comics and health, also called Graphic Medicine. Through community interviews and guided audio practices, we explore the worlds within ourselves and without, nurturing your creative practice, inspiration, and personal health journey. Health and creativity are not at odds, they are two expressions of you. Our musicOur spring season theme music is Piling up the stones by Del Stephen, from his independently produced record, Good Spirit Inner Station. Explore Del’s many albums at https://delstephen.bandcamp.com, and be generous with him as he is so generous with us. Thank you Del!DisclaimerThis podcast is for information and exploration purposes only and is never intended as medical advice. Every viewer and listener is encouraged to seek medical attention at their own discretion. This podcast and the guided practices are tools for listeners to support their whole health, and should be used with care.

Have you read IFS comics yet? You’re about to.Sacha Mardou has been making journal comics about the most intimate moments in her life — the inner dialogue she has with all the parts of herself while practicing Internal Family Systems. It’s a beautiful and accessible opening of the most vulnerable intimacy, shown with her robust resource of skill. Our conversation is mostly me complimenting Sacha -- I got a bit carried away with wanting to tell her all the things I loved about her book, Past Tense, and the IFS comics that touched my own heart. We still managed to discuss graphic memoir, asking permission to tell your own story, leaving a religion, deconstructing belief, inviting the internet into your therapy sessions, and so much more. Always more. Sacha offers an exercise for you to try at the end, giving you a chance to experience a touch of the grace she’s learned, to feel it for yourself.=Episode Links & ResourcesMardou’s therapy comics website: https://ifscomics.com/Past Tense: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/714479/past-tense-by-sacha-mardou/Mardou’s instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mardou_draws/=About the podcastDrawing Health is a podcast about the intersection of comics and health, also called Graphic Medicine. Through community interviews and guided audio practices, we explore the worlds within ourselves and without, nurturing your creative practice, inspiration, and personal health journey. Health and creativity are not at odds, they are two expressions of you. Our musicOur spring season theme music is Piling up the stones by Del Stephen, from his independently produced record, Good Spirit Inner Station. Explore Del’s many albums at https://delstephen.bandcamp.com, and be generous with him as he is so generous with us. Thank you Del!About the Sequential Artists Workshop (SAW)The Sequential Artists Workshop is a grassroots, non-profit comics school and creative community. At SAW, we teach people how to tell stories and make comics in Gainesville, Florida, USA, and around the world via our online courses and resources. Go to www.sequentialartistsworkshop.org or www.drawinghealth.com to join our community of learners and artists today!DisclaimerThis podcast is for information and exploration purposes only and is never intended as medical advice. Every viewer and listener is encouraged to seek medical attention at their own discretion. This podcast and the guided practices are tools for listeners to support their whole health, and should be used with care.

Do you know you’re still an animal? How do you care for your animal? Listen and settle into sensation, instinct, quiet observation. Your body knows how to be animal, just listen, and draw it out.Drawing Health is a live class every Saturday from 11am - 12pm EST. Sign up to join in, at drawinghealth.com.

For this, our last episode of the Winter 2025/26 season, we have a special one for you.I decided to share some ramblings at the start of this one, about how practice becomes skill, and skills become automatic. In this world, our burdens are enormous, and we need to find balance between effort and ease — all while living with integrity. Listen to the first 20 minutes of this episode to hear how I explain the connection between practice and skill, ease and integrity.The second half of today’s episode is a BONUS INTERVIEW with none other than Aaron Comeau, the composer of our theme music for this season: Magic Hours, from his album Fully Unformed. On the surface it seems like music and comics are very different art forms, and very different practices…but they might have more in common, and more to offer each other, than you think.Fuck AI-generated art! Every season we’re gonna meet the humans behind the theme music that carries the season, and learn more about how each artist creates.Listen to the whole first season, WINTER 2025/26 with new ears after this episode. Spark new creative channels for yourself, make new connections across artistic media and genres. We make great things together!A new season of Drawing Health starts next Sunday: Spring 2026!Episode LinksMain St. Music Library website: mainstmusiclibrary.comMain St. Music Library Bandcamp: https://acomeau.bandcamp.com/Aaron's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aaroncomeau/Music acknowledgementOur theme music is Magic Hours by Aaron Comeau made for the Main St. Music Library. The Main St. Music Library hosts instrumental music created with simple parameters, with scores and instructions for listeners to recreate the music themselves . Musicians, artists, & listeners are encouraged to borrow freely from the library and return the materials in a different form than they found them. Find out more at mainstmusiclibrary.com.DisclaimerThis podcast is for information and exploration purposes only and is never intended as medical advice. Every viewer and listener is encouraged to seek medical attention at their own discretion. This podcast and the guided practices are tools for listeners to support their whole health, and should be used with care.#drawinghealth #thememusic #fuckaimusic #supportartists #creativehealth 

Get cozy. Lie down. Softness is all around us, and still hard to find if we’re locked into tension. When I taught this practice, it was because I needed it desperately - and if you watch the video, you’ll see my curling up on the floor to lie down while I guide you through.We start with softness, and grow into acceptance, permission, and getting out of our own way. If you need to notice the softness today, this practice is for you. Get cozy, get your drawing materials, and sink in.=If you want to practice in sync with others, join my live Drawing Health class every Saturday on Zoom. Sign up at sequentialartistsworkshop.org or drawinghealth.com.Our theme music is Magic Hours by Aaron Comeau made for the Main St. Music Library. The Main St. Music Library hosts instrumental music created with simple parameters, with scores and instructions for listeners to recreate the music themselves . Musicians, artists, & listeners are encouraged to borrow freely from the library and return the materials in a different form than they found them. Find out more at mainstmusiclibrary.com.DisclaimerThis podcast is for information and exploration purposes only and is never intended as medical advice. Every viewer and listener is encouraged to seek medical attention at their own discretion. This podcast and the guided practices are tools for listeners to support their whole health, and should be used with care.

This episode brings you the one and only Kriota Willberg!Kriota’s career has been constructed of her own passions, no matter how different they may be - and as a result, she has a completely unique position as a bridge between the medical and comics communities. Our wide-ranging topics include the emotional significance of memoirs, trends in health awareness, the importance of bridging art and medicine, anatomical exploration in understanding the body, paving a new path for others to learn from, and so much more.Kriota offers instructions to explore your forearm and all it can do, so listen to the end and feel along with us to learn more about anatomy through experience!=Episode Links & ResourcesKriota’s zines for sale through Birdcage Bottom Books: https://www.birdcagebottombooks.com/collections/artist-willberg-kriotaKriota’s blogspot: https://kriotawelt.blogspot.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kriotawilberg =About the podcastDrawing Health is a podcast about the intersection of comics and health, also called Graphic Medicine. Through community interviews and guided audio practices, we explore the worlds within ourselves and without, nurturing your creative practice, inspiration, and personal health journey. Health and creativity are not at odds, they are two expressions of you. About the Sequential Artists Workshop (SAW)The Sequential Artists Workshop is a grassroots, non-profit comics school and creative community. At SAW, we teach people how to tell stories and make comics in Gainesville, Florida, USA, and around the world via our online courses and resources. Go to www.sequentialartistsworkshop.org or www.drawinghealth.com to join our community of learners and artists today!DisclaimerThis podcast is for information and exploration purposes only and is never intended as medical advice. Every viewer and listener is encouraged to seek medical attention at their own discretion. This podcast and the guided practices are tools for listeners to support their whole health, and should be used with care.

This one’s gonna hurt. And that’s okay, pain is part of life. We all feel it, so let’s give it the grace of our attention. You may have heard the phrase, “sore spot” or “trigger point” in reference to both metaphorical pain, and physical pain. Does your pain belong to a spot? Is that spot a circle, or more angular, or square? Does it have a third dimension? Is one sore spot connected to another?Pain is the impossible, words never touch what we feel, not really. By approaching pain in a new language of shape, colour, texture, dimensions, there is room for something new: curiosity. Instead of fixating on solution to the pain, or avoiding it altogether, we make a third option by offering our attention without a goal. Just to notice it with our drawing eye. =If you want to practice in sync with others, join my live Drawing Health class every Saturday on Zoom. Sign up at sequentialartistsworkshop.org or drawinghealth.com.Our theme music is Magic Hours by Aaron Comeau made for the Main St. Music Library. The Main St. Music Library hosts instrumental music created with simple parameters, with scores and instructions for listeners to recreate the music themselves . Musicians, artists, & listeners are encouraged to borrow freely from the library and return the materials in a different form than they found them. Find out more at mainstmusiclibrary.com.DisclaimerThis podcast is for information and exploration purposes only and is never intended as medical advice. Every viewer and listener is encouraged to seek medical attention at their own discretion. This podcast and the guided practices are tools for listeners to support their whole health, and should be used with care.

Zareen is relatively new to the comics scene, but her clear ambitions and community-building projects are a beacon for artists living with chronic health and disability experiences. As a person with chronic pain and disabilities myself, I was so excited to connect with Zareen, and you’ll hear me reaching with my words toward things I haven’t yet imagined, because our shared experiences allow me to try. We talk about challenges of balancing work and health while navigating chronic illness, Zareen's journey from a STEM-focused education into comics, her love of New Yorker cartoons, the shift from humor to narrative storytelling, the importance of community care, mutual aid in the context of chronic illness, and more!Zareen was one of my first interviews, and I got so carried away with our conversation I forgot to ask her for an exercise you, the listener, could try. You can always play with what makes you curious!=Episode Links & ResourcesZareen’s instagram: https://www.instagram.com/catch.some.zeesZareen’s website: https://www.zareenchoudhury.com/Crucial Comix: https://www.crucialcomix.com/product/chronic-illness-comics-club/How To Touch Grass Anthology: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/powerandmagic/how-to-touch-grass/posts=About the podcastDrawing Health is a podcast about the intersection of comics and health, also called Graphic Medicine. Through community interviews and guided audio practices, we explore the worlds within ourselves and without, nurturing your creative practice, inspiration, and personal health journey. Health and creativity are not at odds, they are two expressions of you. About the Sequential Artists Workshop (SAW)The Sequential Artists Workshop is a grassroots, non-profit comics school and creative community. At SAW, we teach people how to tell stories and make comics in Gainesville, Florida, USA, and around the world via our online courses and resources. Go to www.sequentialartistsworkshop.org or www.drawinghealth.com to join our community of learners and artists today!DisclaimerThis podcast is for information and exploration purposes only and is never intended as medical advice. Every viewer and listener is encouraged to seek medical attention at their own discretion. This podcast and the guided practices are tools for listeners to support their whole health, and should be used with care.

I’d been told I need unwinding for my drawing parts, after years of habits and strain have wound me tight. What it means may be different for each of us, and this practice is a method to find out for yourself. Unwinding, for a long and happy life in drawingDrawing Health is a weekly class to connect with your body and creativity at the same time. We draw, we talk, we move, we notice. This practice was recorded from a class, and you can join that class every week on Saturday mornings. Sign up at www.drawinghealth.com.=Our musicOur theme music is Magic Hours by Aaron Comeau made for the Main St. Music Library. The Main St. Music Library hosts instrumental music created with simple parameters, with scores and instructions for listeners to recreate the music themselves . Musicians, artists, & listeners are encouraged to borrow freely from the library and return the materials in a different form than they found them. Find out more at mainstmusiclibrary.com.DisclaimerThis podcast is for information and exploration purposes only and is never intended as medical advice. Every viewer and listener is encouraged to seek medical attention at their own discretion. This podcast and the guided practices are tools for listeners to support their whole health, and should be used with care.

Today’s guest is MK Czerwiec, one of the stewards of the Graphic Medicine International Collective (GMIC) and co-host of the Graphic Medicine Podcast that I was a guest on this month. Podcast swap!MK was the person who told me that my comic, Dumb, was actually part of a larger movement in comics, the genre and practice of Graphic Medicine. She changed the trajectory of my life with that information, and the lives of many more with her comics, nursing career, teaching, and advocacy! For this interview, I wanted to focus on MK herself, as an artist, because she spends a lot of her time talking about GMIC already. MK is so passionate about Graphic Medicine because she makes it herself, using it in her own life, teaching with it.At the end of the interview, MK offers a beautiful practice that you could try yourself to engage with Graphic Medicine in moments of high stress and pressure. Listen to learn a new tool for your self-care toolbox.=Episode Links & ResourcesMK’s website: https://comicnurse.com/GMIC: https://graphicmedicine.orgInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mkczerwiec/=About the podcastDrawing Health is a podcast about the intersection of comics and health, also called Graphic Medicine. Through community interviews and guided audio practices, we explore the worlds within ourselves and without, nurturing your creative practice, inspiration, and personal health journey. Health and creativity are not at odds, they are two expressions of you. About the Sequential Artists Workshop (SAW)The Sequential Artists Workshop is a grassroots, non-profit comics school and creative community. At SAW, we teach people how to tell stories and make comics in Gainesville, Florida, USA, and around the world via our online courses and resources. Go to www.sequentialartistsworkshop.org or www.drawinghealth.com to join our community of learners and artists today!Our musicOur theme music is Magic Hours by Aaron Comeau made for the Main St. Music Library. The Main St. Music Library hosts instrumental music created with simple parameters, with scores and instructions for listeners to recreate the music themselves . Musicians, artists, & listeners are encouraged to borrow freely from the library and return the materials in a different form than they found them. Find out more at mainstmusiclibrary.com.DisclaimerThis podcast is for information and exploration purposes only and is never intended as medical advice. Every viewer and listener is encouraged to seek medical attention at their own discretion. This podcast and the guided practices are tools for listeners to support their whole health, and should be used with care.

Where do you start, making graphic medicine about your health experiences?You start with yourself! Your own feelings, your own symptoms, your own language of comics. It can be daunting to do it with your mind, which is why I made this practice, for you to be guided without thinking too hard.Start with the body. Start by listening. Start with this episode, and discover the language you’ve already got, waiting to emerge visually.=Our musicOur theme music is Magic Hours by Aaron Comeau made for the Main St. Music Library. The Main St. Music Library hosts instrumental music created with simple parameters, with scores and instructions for listeners to recreate the music themselves . Musicians, artists, & listeners are encouraged to borrow freely from the library and return the materials in a different form than they found them. Find out more at mainstmusiclibrary.com.DisclaimerThis podcast is for information and exploration purposes only and is never intended as medical advice. Every viewer and listener is encouraged to seek medical attention at their own discretion. This podcast and the guided practices are tools for listeners to support their whole health, and should be used with care.

Today’s show features Maureen Burdock!Maureen holds a doctorate in Cultural Studies, and now teaches and creates Graphic Medicine comics. Her memoir, Queen of Snails, is incredibly lush and deep — and now she’s got a new book, Sleepless Planet, that weaves a well-informed, personally-driven sleep ecology. It’s practical, informative, beautiful, and very, very needed.We talk about Maureen’s new book, the health term “exposome,” colonial-capitalist inventions of health and disease, perimenopause mistakes, neglected powers of breathing, birthing, sleeping, and MORE. Maureen gives us a lovely exercise to try for nighttime anxiety, so you can put this episode to use right away! Just listen to the end of the interview and you’ll have a new practice to help you sleep better.=Episode Links & ResourcesMaureen’s website: www.maureenburdock.comSleepless Planet: https://www.graphicmundi.org/books/978-1-63779-093-9.htmlMaureen Burdock’s Graphic Medicine Deep Dive course: https://www.sequentialartistsworkshop.org/graphic-medicine-deep-dive-with-maureen-burdockGraphic Memoir & Medicine Working Group: https://www.sequentialartistsworkshop.org/memoir-medicine-group=About the podcastDrawing Health is a podcast about the intersection of comics and health, also called Graphic Medicine. Through community interviews and guided audio practices, we explore the worlds within ourselves and without, nurturing your creative practice, inspiration, and personal health journey. Health and creativity are not at odds, they are two expressions of you. About the Sequential Artists Workshop (SAW)The Sequential Artists Workshop is a grassroots, non-profit comics school and creative community. At SAW, we teach people how to tell stories and make comics in Gainesville, Florida, USA, and around the world via our online courses and resources. Go to www.sequentialartistsworkshop.org or www.drawinghealth.com to join our community of learners and artists today!DisclaimerThis podcast is for information and exploration purposes only and is never intended as medical advice. Every viewer and listener is encouraged to seek medical attention at their own discretion. This podcast and the guided practices are tools for listeners to support their whole health, and should be used with care.

What movements do you do every day? What shapes and motions do you NEVER make?What about when you're drawing? This practice is a gentle space to observe your movement habits in drawing, to not judge them, and to play with other possibilities of motion and feeling. This practice aims to teach your brain that moving, and drawing, can be safe from tension and pain. Let me know how it feels by leaving a review - I read them all, and I'd love to hear your experience!=Our theme music is Magic Hours by Aaron Comeau made for the Main St. Music Library. The Main St. Music Library hosts instrumental music created with simple parameters, with scores and instructions for listeners to recreate the music themselves . Musicians, artists, & listeners are encouraged to borrow freely from the library and return the materials in a different form than they found them. Find out more at mainstmusiclibrary.com.DisclaimerThis podcast is for information and exploration purposes only and is never intended as medical advice. Every viewer and listener is encouraged to seek medical attention at their own discretion. This podcast and the guided practices are tools for listeners to support their whole health, and should be used with care.

My first guest is YUMI SAKUGAWA! Yumi is a comics artist, meditator, creativity leader, and lovely human being. On my first ever podcast interview, she kept asking ME questions! Such is her curiosity and supportive nature. Our conversation roams between our (villain) origin stories, meditation, activism, personal and collective healing, and the many forms of creativity that happen in every day life. In each episode, I ask our guest if they have an offering for the listener, something to try themselves to explore and experience. Listen to the end to hear Yumi’s offering!=Episode Links & Resources:Yumi’s Website: https://www.yumisakugawa.comYumi’s Instagram: https://instagram.com/yumisakugawaYumi’s new COSMIC AFFIRMATIONS deck! https://www.yumisakugawa.com/cosmic-comfort=About the podcastDrawing Health is a podcast about the intersection of comics and health, also called Graphic Medicine. Through community interviews and guided audio practices, we explore the worlds within ourselves and without, nurturing your creative practice, inspiration, and personal health journey. Health and creativity are not at odds, they are two expressions of you. About the Sequential Artists Workshop (SAW)The Sequential Artists Workshop is a grassroots, non-profit comics school and creative community. At SAW, we teach people how to tell stories and make comics in Gainesville, Florida, USA, and around the world via our online courses and resources. Go to www.sequentialartistsworkshop.org or www.drawinghealth.com to join our community of learners and artists today!DisclaimerThis podcast is for information and exploration purposes only and is never intended as medical advice. Every viewer and listener is encouraged to seek medical attention at their own discretion. This podcast and the guided practices are tools for listeners to support their whole health, and should be used with care.

If you’re just starting to listen to your body, it’s gonna hurt. Why? Because your body has been trying to get your attention, crying out in pain or numbing out in helplessness. The first thing you’ll hear, when you start listening, might be aaaaaaaallll that pain at once. It takes strength and patience to face that pain, and hear it, and feel it, and keep coming back. So this is a practice to build your strength, to start with acknowledging the pain, and to not shame yourself for how hard it all is.Get comfortable. Really, really cozy. Don’t hold back on comfort now — it’s your first resource of strength to face the discomfort of feeling.=This is the Drawing Health podcast, a resource for your wellbeing and inspiration. I’m offering you ways to connect your creativity and your body, so that your health is never at odds with your art. Every Sunday, a new episode, alternating between graphic medicine interviews and guided audio practices. Listen, subscribe, and most of all: give feedback. Tell your stories, and experiences, by leaving a review or comment or sending an email. What I say doesn’t matter nearly as much as what you hear, feel, and learn about yourself. Your story matters, and sharing is a gift!=Music acknowledgementOur theme music is Magic Hours by Aaron Comeau made for the Main St. Music Library. The Main St. Music Library hosts instrumental music created with simple parameters, with scores and instructions for listeners to recreate the music themselves . Musicians, artists, & listeners are encouraged to borrow freely from the library and return the materials in a different form than they found them. Find out more at mainstmusiclibrary.com.DisclaimerThis podcast is for information and exploration purposes only and is never intended as medical advice. Every viewer and listener is encouraged to seek medical attention at their own discretion. This podcast and the guided practices are tools for listeners to support their whole health, and should be used with care.

Why Drawing Health, or graphic medicine? Why now?Tom Hart and I have been working together for years, and as Founder and Director at SAW, Tom is the reason this podcast exists at all. What better way to start than to hear us in conversation, as we often are but with microphones this time, discussing what Drawing Health, and our passion in graphic medicine, is all about.Topics include: Can comics heal? Do I hate making comics? What if I don't understand what's happening in my body? What if I draw the feeling? Drawing, sudden death, disability, capitalism's grind, the importance of noticing our health when it's GOOD, and more.Reflection questions:What is YOUR definition of health?What would it be like for you to draw with some simple constraints?Are you interested in learning more about graphic medicine, with support?=Episode links!SAW's website: www.sequentialartistsworkshop.orgTom's favourite book: https://bookshop.org/p/books/blossoms-and-bones-drawing-a-life-back-together-kim-kransGeorgia's book, Dumb:Living without a Voice: https://www.fantagraphics.com/products/dumbGraphic Medicine Summit 2025 Playlist: https://youtu.be/0dSWiatkUjUMaureen Burdock’s Graphic Medicine Deep Dive course: https://www.sequentialartistsworkshop.org/graphic-medicine-deep-dive-with-maureen-burdockGraphic Memoir & Medicine Working Group: https://www.sequentialartistsworkshop.org/memoir-medicine-group=Music acknowledgementOur theme music is Magic Hours by Aaron Comeau made for the Main St. Music Library. The Main St. Music Library hosts instrumental music created with simple parameters, with scores and instructions for listeners to recreate the music themselves . Musicians, artists, & listeners are encouraged to borrow freely from the library and return the materials in a different form than they found them. Find out more at mainstmusiclibrary.com.DisclaimerThis podcast is for information and exploration purposes only and is never intended as medical advice. Every viewer and listener is encouraged to seek medical attention at their own discretion. This podcast and the guided practices are tools for listeners to support their whole health, and should be used with care.

A new podcast is on the way: DRAWING HEALTHPresented by the Sequential Artists Workshop and hosted by acclaimed comics artist and teacher Georgia Webber, the Drawing Health is a podcast about the intersection of comics and health, also called Graphic Medicine. Each week, episodes alternate between community interviews and guided audio practices, with a focus on the practical. Listening to this podcast will be an active participation, to give you choices and experiences of change in your creative world.If you want to  nurture your creative practice, find inspiration, and create a kinder relationship to your health — this podcast is a resource for you. New episodes arrive weekly on Sundays, starting with the winter solstice: December 21st.Subscribe now to listen first!Health and creativity are not at odds, they are two expressions of you. www.drawinghealth.com