CREATIVE MINDFULNESS
School of Modern Psychology Issue 3, December 2014 AU $7.95
Inside this issue: Creative Mindfulness Courses Articles & More
CREATIVE CONTENTS Page 3 A Colourful Perception Page 5
The Roots of Creativity
Page 7 Inspirational Colour Page 9 Finding Purpose Page 11
Five Ways to Open Creative Thinking
Page 13
Reaching Your Truth
Page 15
Imagine, Your Very Own Magic Wand
Page 17 (article continued) Page 19
The Art of Flourishing
Page 21
Become a Creative Minds Member
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MINDFULNESS EDITORIAL Welcome to our third edition of Creative Mindfulness. This month we’ve been exploring the power of colour to influence anything from mood to people’s perceptions. It’s an area that still needs a lot of research before anything scientific can be claimed, yet by investigating our own responses to colour - whether that’s in a gallery or in our own wardrobe, we can learn much. For me, colour is about inspiration - particularly when I’m painting or drawing. At times I deliberately choose a colour associated with a particular emotional reaction (based on marketing theory), yet it’s when I reach for a colour that resonates with where I am at that particular point that my work has a more natural vibration to it. I’m sure you know what I mean - watch a child joyfully play with colours until they smooch them altogether - it’s the fun of the exploration, it’s the delight of discovery. I hope you enjoy this month’s edition of Creative Mindfulness and thank our fabulous contributors for their inspiring artwork – Sharon Edinborough, Di Esbensen and Suzanne Hamlyn-Harris – your contributions to our community, and this publication, enrich all our lives. If you’ve enjoyed the magazine and would like to send me a message, or make a comment/ suggestion, then I’d love to hear from you! my email is below.
Barbara Grace Director, School of Modern Psychology barbara@schoolofmodernpsychology.com.au
A Colourful Perception
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Colour can be a powerful symbol, influencing mood, expressing emotions and communica subtle ways. Few of us are unaffected by the brazen boldness that red can communicate or of soft neutrals or the quiet assuredness that comes with dark navy.
If you’re looking for evidence of this, find a politician who doesn’t appear on television wea or grey suit – these colours are widely interpreted as sending messages of trust and reliabili
Research into how colour affects not only our mood but also our performance continues, w fascinating studies into the power of colour to influence sportspeople, medical outcomes a workplace.
Researchers have studied the phenomenon of ‘warm-coloured’ placebo pills over ‘cool-colo the former being thought more effective by subjects. Sports teams wearing mostly black un found to receive more penalties; athletes wearing red appear to outperform other competit with calming effects and green often associated with creative thinking.
The thinking behind this is quite logical when you consider it. Green is usually associated w growth; pink with femininity, newborn babies and beautiful flowers. Red is used universall danger, poison or to ‘stop’. Black is often associated with power, mystery or evil. Blue is the the sky and water – both of which are calming to our senses.
Advertisers aren’t immune to using this knowledge, aligning products with shoppers’ value alluring warmth, sincerity, value for money, luxury, fun or freshness with a designer’s swatc So how can you use this to improve your day?
Think about the colours that you’re naturally drawn to – what do they symbolise for you? D either as base colours or accent colours in your home? How do you feel in an environment colour scheme? What colour clothing helps you feel good and on top of your game? What of your shoes or briefcase/handbag – is it time to express yourself beyond the serviceable b
So when you’re next reaching for a piece of clothing, consider its impact on yourself and on you – this could be a subtle way to improve your mood and your day.
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ating messages in the soothing feel
aring a dark navy ity.
with some and safety in the
oured’ ones – with niforms have been tors, pink is linked
with nature and ly to represent natural colour of
es to provide ch.
Do you have them t with a neutral about the colour black or brown?
n those around
This work was an exercise in the Applied Creativity Course and is an example based on the style of Mark Rothko, who sought to encourage an emotional response from viewers through his exploration of colour, shape and form. www.schoolofmodernpsychology.com.au
The Root
Recently we had a post on our School’s that they wanted to build a life they wou from – not a bad wish – it got me think achieve this?
As most reading this will live in a beaut where freedom of choice is possible, the among us who feel we already have that
Yet while this may be true for some, how break not from where we live, but from
While we take holidays to rest and recu for some escape from routine, stress or problem is that we also take our never-r us – which are usually still packed with chattering junk that we may find hard t
How tricky is it to give ourselves a brea used to pushing boundaries, managing putting the needs of those around us fir
Well, I for one can find it a challenge to active mind and slow down unless I’m m time into my day to do this.
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Driving has become one of those spaces, especially if I have a long trip ahead of me – it’s time to reconnect with what’s important to me and let thoughts drift in and out without that endless inner-voice ranting its schedule of ‘must-isms’.
tiful environment ere would be a few t life – and I’d agree.
It’s this time where most of my creative thinking comes together – where disparate links merge and discover new ways to express themselves.
ow many of us want a m ourselves.
uperate, we also look busy lifestyles, yet the resting minds with h the endless stream of to ditch.
k mentally when we’re the daily to-do list, or rst?
o shut down my supermindfully planning
And this is what creativity is. It’s not necessarily the Eureka moment – it may be – but more often than not it’s the musings that arise from allowing our mind time to rest without pressure, without outcomes, without the ‘must-haveit-done-by-five’ lives we lead. Mindfulness is about mental focus in a calm yet purposeful way, Creative Mindfulness is about mentally ‘massaging your mind’ to give it space to connect the important ideas that may just keep on spinning endlessly without this precious time. Practicing Creative Mindfulness by gifting myself time to reflect, to draw, to create, to play with colour is one of the easiest and most accessible ways for us to connect with our values and what is important in living wholeheartedly.
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Facebook page saying uldn’t need a vacation king: How many of us
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ts of Creativity
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Inspirational Colou
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ur
MINDFULNESS "I painted this landscape for the Applied Creativity course, when we were exploring colour. It’s based on a photo my grand daughter Amy took on her recent school trip to Kakadu. I aimed to catch the richness of the scene and so limited the colour palette to blue/green/yellow and then added in some red. This was so enjoyable!" Suzanne Hamlyn-Harris.
Suzanne developed a striking landscape through careful colour selection and an eye for balance. It’s often in limiting the colours available to us that we can create a more powerful and dynamic composition. From a different perspective, when exploring how you experience your environment and in gaining an understanding of how to ‘see’ what is really there, you gain the skills to both dynamically make greater use of your resources and achieve inspiring results in doing so.
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Ha
Perhaps a new Min Applied Creativity student, Sharon Edinborough, created evocative images that beautifully describe character, gentility and strength.
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ave you found your life purpose yet? s it’s time to embrace career as a Creative ndfulness Coach. The School’s Creative Mindfulness Coach program commences in February 2015. Discover how to use Modern Psychology, Creativity, Mindfulness and Coaching to not only discover more about yourself, but to also help others live life wholeheartedly. “If not now, when ... If not you - then who.” Receive more information about this life-changing program by emailing barbara@schoolofmodernpsychology.com.au
Five Ways to Open Creative Thinking With researchers claiming that creativity training can enhance intelligence through generating novel approaches to solving problems with more creative solutions, here are five ways you can get your creative thinking flowing: 1. Embrace Creative Failure Many people won’t promote their ideas for fear of what others will say or think. Yet failure is just one step towards a solution – it’s never the end unless you choose it to be. By exercising your creative brain you learn how to adapt to change more readily and think more flexibly. 2. Make Time to Think Creativity isn’t like a tap that’s turned on and off at will. To reach a state of ‘creative flow’ requires uninterrupted time and energy. Think of your brain like the engine in a steam train that needs its fuel stoked before reaching top speed. Minimise interruptions by scheduling time to indulge your creative mind.
4. Creative Insight
Creative opportunities surround us daily – ye ignore them. It’s in pausing to ask the ‘why’ an that allows our creative mind to view problem perspectives and explore new options.
Make a habit of being mindfully aware of you and look for problems that if you applied crea could improve the way you live and work. 5. Creative Exposure
Creativity is more about adaptability than orig reading a novel, watching a movie, wandering gallery, absorbing a museum’s history or listen improvisations your creativity receives an intr of joy and energy. It’s about opening your men and drip-feeding a constant supply of inspirat mind’s steam train is primed to go.
3. Take Small Steps Creative thinking doesn’t always result in immediate outcomes or ‘a-ha’ moments – if it did everyone would be discovering the ‘next big thing’. Instead, it’s the small steps that often ‘piggy back’ on other creative developments that pave the way for new ideas.
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n
et mostly we nd ‘how’ questions ms from different
ur environment ative thinking
ginality. By g through a ning to musical ravenous injection ntal wormholes tion so your
The image above is one of the colour exercises in the Applied Creativity course.
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Reaching Your Tru When we’re bringing about change, we reach a ‘Choice Point’ – a certain place where we decide whether we’re going to continue being hooked by our thoughts, feelings, cravings, urges and memories or choose to embrace our values and make the choice to change. It’s when we reach that ‘Choice Point’ and build the internal strengths and resilience to break through old patterns that we can move towards the life goals we want. Acting effectively by behaving congruently with our higher selves allows us to move towards our goals. If you’re like me, you can look back over your life and see many ‘Choice Points’ – some of them built up by frustration, others by finally realising that continuing down this path means more pain, more negative self-talk and ultimately more of the same. There’s an activity that asks you to imagine yourself as a 90 year-old sitting in a favourite chair and casting your mind back over the years. What regrets would you have and what delights will you recall? Who do you want to be remembered as – a person who made the most of their time, lived life fully and embraced possibility wholeheartedly – or someone who lived in the shadow of guilt, of doubt, of resentment or anxiety? This can be a big call to make – to change what may have been old patterns of behaviour for decades.
Yet, if not now – when? If not you – then who? Changing old patterns of behaviour start with a decision – yet as we all know the best laid plans go astray unless you have a plan to reach there. Initially, it’s about learning how to mindfully Page 13
‘unhook’ from those old cycles that have kept us in a looping pattern and away from the person we want to be. Below is a four-step plan to help you move towards the person you want to be: When faced with a challenge or difficult decision (eating the wrong food, recalling a memory, blaming yourself, wanting to be more loved etc) that triggers negative thoughts and unwanted emotions: SLOW DOWN – by breathing more slowly, pressing your feet more firmly into the floor – or slowly stretching your body. TAKE NOTE of what you’re feeling and thinking – begin to notice more of the world around you – look for five things in your environment, hear three sounds near you, feel the beat of your heart in your chest. OPEN UP by making space for your thoughts and feelings – allow them to freely flow through you. Be aware of them, observe them – and notice that while they are there, they are not you – you are not the sum of your emotions. Now watch them pass, their intensity lowering with every breath you take. Show yourself compassion and kindness. PURSUE VALUES – Remember what you stand for – your core values – and find at least one small way that you can act on them mindfully now. This process is adapted from Russ Harris, author of numerous books on Mindfulness and Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT), which the School uses in its programs.
uth
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Imagine, Your Ver Magic Wand I recently asked people if they could wave a magic wand and as a result receive anything they wanted – what would be that one thing they most desire in the world?
Before reacting to this statem of feeling they didn’t do enou may be dishonouring the me
For some, this question took them by surprise – “I’ve never had anyone ask me that!” was one response. And this got me thinking – when we were children we dreamed and gazed and enjoyed times of make-believe, yet as adults we often forget the joy of ‘wishing upon a star’ and guiding our imagination into ‘possibility’ and ‘what-if ’ – yet this is the birth of ideas where we can begin dreaming the seemingly impossible.
For others, it’s never really kn answer, they place ‘blame’ fir this doesn’t relieve the pain, beat you up once again.
For those who stopped and thought about the question asked, I received the most heart-felt responses describing past events that hadn’t yet been mindfully processed. The pain of regret, the agony of loss, the loneliness of not having anyone to share their lives with, the disappointment of another’s actions, the burden of debt, the hollowness of sleepless nights re-living a traumatic event, the despair of weight problems and the soul-sapping tiredness of placing one step in front of another – day after day. We all know these moments, the times when nothing seems to relieve the emotional pain or the relentless thoughts that niggle away undermining even those times when we would normally feel joyful. Sometimes it can feel as if we’re dragging heavy weights with us wherever we go. Yet, it’s only ourselves that can change this. While we may not be able to go back and change the past, we can manage how we choose to respond to it. There’s is a catch though … To gain something, we often have to give up something else to make room for the new. And sometimes – if we did a reality check on ourselves – holding onto the emotional pain has a secondary gain, a pay-off for us.
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There comes a day when you takes: anger, resentment, jeal it to grow any more so that h emotional instability) – it’s re
Self-compassion is the startin self-forgiveness.
When we reach this place we article in this journal said – a towards the life we want to h to be, and realise that it’s up t been carrying so we can brea dishonouring past memories emotions while respecting th
In my late 20s I was travellin All of the carefully selected it much, all the just-in-case item notebooks and reading mate hybrid French, so communic Thankfully I still had my pas It only took one shop to buy
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ment, think about it. For some it may be the guilt ugh. And that if they let go of their pain, they emory.
nowing what went wrong – so in gaining an rmly on themselves like a badge of honour. Yet all it succeeds in doing is allowing your mind to
u have to face the beast – in whatever form it lousy, sadness or grief and choose to not allow however it’s manifesting (depression, anxiety, eleased.
ng point – and the road that leads ultimately to
e’ve arrived at a cross-roads – or as an earlier a ‘Choice Point’ – where we choose to move have and finally embrace the person we want to us to put down the heavy weights we’ve athe more freely. By doing this we are not s, we are releasing the painful thoughts and heir integrity.
ng in Europe when I lost my luggage in France. items that weren’t supposed to weigh too ms I packed to keep me independent, all the erial – all gone. I was travelling alone with my cating the loss to police or anyone was difficult. ssport and money. toiletries, underwear and a change of clothing In one of our introductory courses we created a ‘mobius’ to remind us that sometimes we need to ‘flip’ how we do things.
CREATIVE Continued ... and I was ready to move on. One plastic bag didn’t weight too much, it was surprisingly easy to carry and gave me a sense of freedom that I hadn’t experienced when trying to sit on my travelling bag to coax the zipper into closing. While this analogy is obvious – it’s when we choose to stop carrying around emotional baggage that we can see clearly how losing it offers more freedom, rather than (in my case) believing the false ‘choice’ of clothing and shoes I needed for each day’s travelling allowed self-expression. We can live life simply with self-compassion, or we can choose to weigh ourselves down. Ultimately the decision is ours to make.
Step 2: Slow your breathing, min until you reach ten breaths – be your nostrils, the feeling of it tra slowly begin looking around the five things – take note of their co what you are hearing, and recog this helps us focus beyond ourse emotional ooping pattern that c
Step 3: Now relax your hands an breath you feel more calm, more locate where the pain may be sh I’m not suggesting this is simple – if it was, you would have already chest, your stomach, your shoul done what was needed. The loss of a child, the pain of trauma, the it and understand that it’s the ph emotions and thoughts – show i emotional displacement of losing your partner or the rejection of hands on the part of your body t friends can bite into us, nibbling away at our energy and nerves. you would a child. Speak to it w And sometimes, the pain may feel so close that we feel we’ll never need to hear. release it. But when it stops us moving forward and taking action to be the person we want to embrace fully again, then we need to Step 4: Check-in with yourself – consider how we can become more ‘psychologically flexible’ – by already easing – if not passed alt seeing the painful emotions and thoughts and accepting that to re-do steps 1–4 again. some extent they may always be part of your life, yet also knowing Step 5: Take out your journal an it’s possible to learn the tools to manage the pain in ways that importance of taking a moment allow us to move on. awareness. Express this with col While the following is in no way a simple five-step plan with a miracle at the end, it is a five-step plan to embracing a more resilient, self-compassionate way of acknowledging and managing emotions and thoughts. This is a solid procedure to do whenever your emotions or thoughts feel overwhelming.
Step 1: Ground yourself by sitting towards the front of a chair, place your feet firmly on the floor, bring your hands together and press them together firmly. Feel the muscles in your arms flex, feel your feet pressing into the floor. Focus on this energy.
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words, poetic lyrics – whatever c
If you found a sense of peace wi gratitude and of thankfulness fo
Perhaps you’re considering joini Program – if you are, take the m time and space to explore your p mindfully. When will it be time more wholehearted life?
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ndfully counting each breath aware of the air flowing into avelling towards your lungs. Now e room where you are and notice olour, position, movement. Hear gnise three of the sounds. Doing elves and begins breaking the can catch us unawares.
nd shoulders so that with each e at ease. Scan your body and howing up – perhaps it’s in your lders or your neck. Be aware of hysical representation of your it compassion by placing your that feels the pain. Embrace it as with kindness. Listen to what you
– you may notice that the pain is together. If it still feels high, then
nd reinforce to yourself the t for self-compassion and mindful lourful swirls, symbols, patterns, comes to mind.
ith this exercise, take a moment of or all that you have in your life now.
ing our Creative Mindfulness moment now to gift yourself the potential more creatively and for you to live a richer, fuller and
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The Art of Flouris
The gentle presence of image and words says it all, image by Di Esbensen.
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shing
There are times in our lives that we realise we’re on a journey. Sometimes we know where we’re headed, and at other times not. It’s at these times that we take a leap of faith, trusting in the process, being mindful of our own personal needs and believing that we have the power within us to achieve the outcomes we want. Sometimes the opportunity arrives as an invitation, at others as a calling – a desire to experience more and expand what could be possible. And we all know that before the leap comes the fear. This is normal. Our older brain which has helped us survive for millions of years has a way of keeping us stuck and sometimes fearful of anything new. If this resonates with you, and the ruminating and worrying seems overpowering at times – deep inside you know that it doesn’t have to be this way. The only way to break a pattern is to be aware of it. Then, when you see it for what it is, you can engage with greater purpose, strength and resilience to make the changes necessary. Having someone to guide you, who knows the path, who can be a mentor to you on your journey can be what’s needed. Some of our programs you can start at any time you want – others we do within an online group environment all travelling the same road together. One of these is starting in February and runs for 10–12 months. It’s our Creative Mindfulness Coach Program. It’ll be the journey of a lifetime, and a direction-setting opportunity to embrace your potential. Why not find out more today. Email barbara@schoolofmodernpsychology.com.au for more details.
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Creative Minds Membership If you’d like to remain connected with the School and receive great activities and reflections each week, including a monthly webinar – we offer a value-packed bundle where you can become a Member of our Creative Minds group and be part of our wonderful community. That way, you’ll never miss receiving a copy of this journal. Copy and paste the link below to check it out. http://bit.ly/1vSAZWb
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