Mumbai recently witnessed Feel & Paint, an immersive art and wellness experience organised recently by Bombay Times. The session combined blindfold painting, sound healing and meditation, encouraging participants to let go of the pressure to create good art and instead focus on how they felt in the moment.‘It was a unique experience’Artist Athira Sukumaran, joined because the concept was unfamiliar. “It was something unique, so I wanted to try it out. Just letting the brush to flow, allowing my paint to make any shapes, along with the sounds, it was really a different experience,” she said. The sounds also influenced her colour choices. “There were few sounds during the session that prompted me to use darker shades,” Sukumaran recalled, adding that her first emotions after the session were positivity and calmness.For other participants, the experience was about slowing down. Yash S described the session as “pretty calming as well as relaxing”, particularly enjoying the meditation. Fashion designer Pankhudi Jain, said she would return with her group. She also noticed a change in her artwork. She said, “Initially my painting was a little messy, but I think after the sound-healing session, I blended all the colours, and you can see that in the painting as well.”Ultimately, Feel & Paint was less about the finished canvas and more about giving participants space to pause, feel and create without pressure.‘Paint whatever you’re feeling’For Dishant Goenka & Lavanya Rastogi Cofounders of Happy Hikkups, the idea was to help participants disconnect from the noise around them. Lavanya said, “The entire idea is involving sound healing along with the blindfold, just to give them a little reset in terms of giving their nervous system a time to calm down.”The session began with a “brain dump”, where participants used colours and scribbles to put their thoughts and emotions onto the canvas before moving into the sound-healing session. Lavanya believes art can make emotional expression easier. She added, “Sometimes, putting your feelings into words can feel difficult or intimidating. But if I give you four or five colours and ask you to choose one that reflects how you’re feeling, then paint whatever comes to mind, it becomes much easier.”“The fact that I wear glasses made it so relieving to take them off and be on my own, grappling in the dark. It’s amazing how much clarity comes when there is darkness and when you close your eyes”, says Sonia Panda, a participant“The connection between sound and the mind brought out people’s creativity in different ways. I could see it influencing their movements. When I played the ocean drum, some moved their brushes from left to right, almost like waves. The sounds helped them connect with their creativity,” adds Apurva Singhal, sound healerEvent partner: Happy HikkupsVenue Partner: Houdini, Lower Parel