Mindfulness: Attained & Sustained
Mindfulness: Attained & Sustained
I hear this comment a lot, “You are so creative!”
I consider it a HUGE compliment because in part, it’s not completely a natural talent of mine. Yes, I have elements of my “creative identity” that come fairly natural. My creativity behind the camera lens is, in some ways, natural. But the reality is, even our natural talents have to be practiced in order to sustain them. AND, we also have to discover them. What if nobody had ever given me a camera. I would have no idea that a creative eye for photography lives inside.
The same is true for my mindfulness practice and the creative pages that fill my sketchbooks. This is definitely not a natural talent of mine by “traditional” means. I can’t draw. Really, I can’t. Sit me in front of a bowl of fruit and ask me to draw it and it won’t end well. On the page or in my body. I’ll be full of anxiety, doubt and judgement. Feelings I consistently work to remove from my life through mindfulness practices. After spending many years developing a mindful coloring practice, sit me in front of a sketchbook in a quiet, reflective environment and give me something to draw with and a whole different scenario plays out.
My body relaxes and feels soothed.
I effortlessly let color and expression flow onto the page in creative ways.
I end with a feeling of accomplishment, wonder and peace.
Seriously, if you’d told me that I’d be saying those 3 sentences above 7 years ago I would have laughed at you. The first time I tried to color it felt nothing like that. I didn’t even want to try it! Sound familiar? But I took a chance on it. I overcame my fears and insecurities and I discovered that it is the most empowering and healing activity I do in this life. Even more so than time with my camera!
To date, I’ve filled over 10 journals and sketchbooks with colorful expressions. Sometimes they are artistic…sometimes they are not. But I keep at it. I keep stretching and experimenting and enjoying the physical impact and the mental joy and feelings of success. Yes, even the not artistic drawings feel like success. The success measure is in my ability to accept them and come back the next day to indulge again. It’s part of a mindfulness program, focus and awareness. It’s a perfect “treatment” plan for the perfectionist syndrome!
This week marks the end of my Creative Meditation workshop. We’ve spent 4 weeks being mindful on the page. It has inspired me to watch all the participants stretch past their comfort zones. To see people slow down, focus, get quiet and trust their inner guide enough to start drawings with their eyes closed.
Yes, we do that.
They’ve also connected to personal awareness over the last 4 weeks, a key component of any mindfulness program.
I wanted to share some of my own Creative Meditation journal pages today because sharing our expressions and inspiring others is a major component to the program. I realized this week that I share my pages in our workshop group but I stopped sharing here. This is my attempt to jump back on that horse!
I hope you enjoy the colors. Maybe it will inspire you to find quiet time today and pick up something colorful to express with. I hope so!
All of the drawings above were created with my eyes closed and few simple lines on a page. Some are more detailed than others. All are fun and freeing! On a 6″x6″ journal page, they didn’t take long to create and are easy to fit into my day. Some days I was quiet for 5 minutes and done! AND, they prove that you don’t have to be an artist to have a mindful coloring practice. Probably even more important, they are a window into how I deal with daily life. How I express what’s inside. Each one came with a little nugget of learning; about myself, others or situations. They make me a better person on the inside…and outside.
Mindfulness: Attained & Sustained
If you want to experience the power of a mindfulness practice through color you can join my next workshop, A Retrograde Retreat. We’ll be using the astrological principles of the Mercury Retrograde to get mindfully aware of our communication habits and patterns. During a planetary retrograde, a planet reverses course for a period of time before returning to its original forward movement. We are going to do that too! For 5 weeks, we will take some time to “retreat”, step back, slow down and explore our communications. We’ll have fun adventures with color as we go on a journey of exploration and mindfulness. This is going to be a powerful online workshop and growth opportunity you don’t want to miss!
