December Spark
Take a Breath
The finished piece from creative example.
Take a moment for yourself with mindful breath and feel the stress melt away.
Find ways to tune back into your own needs, thoughts and emotions.
The end of the year and all its holidays can leave us feeling spent and tired. Giving and celebrations and gatherings can fill our hearts, but if we don’t keep it balanced we can end up feeling tired and bit “Grinchy”.
I have already found myself in that space of frenzied frustration and it isn’t even December. I know going into this season this year I”m going to need some extra attention to my own needs or I’m gonna lose it. The hard part is there is barely time to get everything done so how am I going to squeeze in some quality “me time” in addition?
I’ve discovered through having small children at home with me 24/7 that I can get the same benefit of a solid hour of “space” through intentional creativity. I can even feel that rejuvenating lift while my kids play and chatter (and occasionally fight) within 3 feet of me.
My trick is to calm my breath to get a soothing heart rate and brain wave going while doing super simple visual exercises. I get very clear on why I am doing it and let the what of it be so simple it can be tossed away when I’m done.
If you want to see the brain waves and heart rate reaction to mental stress followed by slow and steady breathing check out this link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_fFattg8N0 or this one https://www.davidwolfe.com/amazing-brain-waves-practice-deep-breathing/ It seems so simple and yet that is the beauty of the body. We can counteract and heal ourselves when we know what to do, and we keep learning more and more of what we ourselves are capable of doing.
This month, our final month in 2018 I’m giving you 10 creative exercises or meditations to help you tune in to yourself and de-stress. There is nothing more you need to do or be this year. You are wonderful now, in this moment. Take some time to be with your wonderful selves, even if it is only for 3 minutes while some water boils for dinner.
Set the intention of what you want to know, feel or be while you do a simple creative act and focus only on the power of your breath.
Last months painting exercise turned 90 degrees
The examples in this workbook are simple to the eye but soothing to the heart. We don’t need to always be creating something challenging or impressive. The harder it looks the more likely we are to resist doing the action and the action is what leads to the real art, the art of connecting with ourselves.
Tips for finding time to do these exercises:
When you get in the right frame of mind you are more likely to take action.
1. Value yourself and your needs.
2. Let go of the need to be producing something.
3. Hold the idea that simple actions can have big results.
4. Allow yourself to take the basic idea and do it your own way.
5. If nothing else, just breathe!
Looking for more? I've put the overall process I use with clients into a do-it-yourself workbook. You can download a PDF or get a nicely printed version from this link.
