What is Creative Mindfulness?
by: Wendy Ann Greenhalgh; Originally posted at https://www.artofmindfulness.org.uk/
Mindful Art
Most of us have had an experience at some point in our lives of being so immersed in art making that we lost track of time. This happens because creative activities ease us into a process of focus, concentration, absorption and flow, which is the same process we experience when we’re meditating.
This is why drawing, painting, coloring, photography, art journaling and writing are naturally mindful. If you’ve no meditation experience or find it hard to calm your mind or sit still and meditate, then creative activities are a wonderful way to enhance your capacity for focus, concentration, inner peace and calm through this natural mindfulness.
The Art of Mindfulness
In traditional mindfulness meditation we develop awareness of the breath, the body, thoughts and emotions, making them our focus. We become aware of what our experience is right in the very moment we’re experiencing it.
When we combine this steady, kindly, embodied awareness with naturally mindful creating then we are practicing creative mindfulness.
Creative Mindfulness
Adding moment by moment mindfulness to our creativity helps us to just enjoy the process rather than focusing on end results, which means we draw, color, write, journal or paint more freely and more joyfully.
When we practice mindfulness whilst we’re actually in the process of creating we are also able to befriend and gradually change the habits of negative self-talk, inner criticism, perfectionism and self-doubt that often cause us to feel creatively blocked.
By bringing first a curious, lively awareness, and then a kindly, gentle attitude to what we’re making, we can change how we relate to ourselves, our creativity, and the world around us forever.
Creative Mindfulness is for Everyone
Creative mindfulness is for everyone – absolute beginners who’ve never meditated or who’ve not created a thing since school, as well as experienced meditators and professional artists.
for a pdf version click here: Photos for Healing Newsletter #125- July. ’18