Trena Myers is an intuitive abstract artist and Emory University trained health and creative mindset coach. She helps busy people who are overworked to empower themselves to ease stress and anxiety, increase productivity, connect with their inner child, and make a fun mess.
What do you do and why do you do it?
It all started one spring afternoon in 2002 while riding a theme park rollercoaster ride my life changed as I knew it. I had received whiplash which spiraled my health into a downward motion without any feeling of control. There were days when my legs would give out on me and didn’t know if I could even get out of bed. A common diagnosis of fibromyalgia was what every physician I had encountered had given me for over a decade, but I hadn’t given up hope that there was more going on with my health that just had not been found yet.
In 2017, I finally had some answers! I had a gut feeling that there was more and I was right. This journey of being my own advocate and not giving up on finding the answers pushed me further towards helping others. There were stories that I had heard time and time again from others going through a similar situation but just settled for the answers that they were given instead of searching for more. However, it was all in the bloodwork that was never ran before to lead me to my diagnosis of an immune deficiency, so essentially my body doesn’t produce enough immunity to fight the common cold, flu, molds, bacteria, etc. This diagnosis gave me a sigh of relief to know that it was not all in my head! The obstacles that I had gone through can put a strain on someone’s mental health; the questioning if it were all in my head, was the pain real?
My father is an artist and my experimenting with art began as a young child, throughout my teenage years into adulthood. I worked for my family’s art business when I was in college and at one time thought about getting a master’s degree in art therapy. I found that art was a creative outlet for unwinding and destressing. I had mainly worked with photography and acrylic paint and up until recently despised working with watercolor.
I had been traveling the US giving presentations at colleges and Universities, mentoring and guiding thousands of students as they discern their next steps, from high school to college to graduate school and beyond. Having over 20 years’ experience as a professional public speaker, I have spoken to national organizations across the country to include Georgia HOSA (which is the largest organization in the World) and the Association of Family Medicine Administration. I am a 2014 Gwinnett Neighborhood Leadership Institute (GNLI) graduate; a service of the Gwinnett Coalition, my team designed a community service project to raise awareness about the mental health impact of sexting. I then served as chair on the GNLI advisory board where I was a vital part of redesigning the program.
I started teaching fun painting classes with my business, DesignsbyTrena! I traveled to the client and taught children to adults in their 90’s! This was just not enough to fill my soul. In 2017 I began working with resident physicians on their ACGME wellness initiative by providing emotional wellness painting workshops that developed into my platform. This is when I discovered my passion for emotional wellness painting. It was an abstract way of painting without restrictions or guidelines and the residents loved it!
At the beginning of April 2020 I was selected to represent the state of Georgia to compete in the Ms. Woman United States pageant with the platform of Emotional Wellness. The pageant will be held in Las Vegas, NV the week of September 6, 2020. In the meantime, I am booking virtual emotional wellness workshops and future in-person workshops. Now more than ever my platform is much needed, and “you don’t have to be an artist to express yourself, you just need a desire to bring joy into your life.” Mari Andrew.
How does what you do benefit others?
The emotional wellness classes consist of 4 different styles which could include color theory, meditation, mindfulness, and/or deconstructive art. I try to focus on the activity of being present. The essential things are the momentary and the intention of mindfulness. It is important to set aside “YOU” time, there is only 1 of you, so take the time to take the best care of YOU. “Every day is a learning experience, the moment you stop learning is the moment you stop living” DesignsbyTrena!
Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
5 years from now I see myself providing joy and happiness through my expressive arts and my work being displayed in offices and homes around the world.
If you could have one superpower to help you further your purpose, what would it be and why? How would you use it?
If I could have one superpower it would be to heal the emotional hurting. A broken bone can have a cast put on it, an open wound can have stitches but an emotional wound is harder to fix.