Meditative Journaling

Dedicated to Our Wonderful Participants at the June Women's Retreat...

At a weekend retreat I co-facilitated a few weeks ago, we experimented with doing some very unstructured journaling immediately after the meditative experience of completing an 11-circuit finger labyrinth. I'd like to share my results with you, followed by some more meditative activities that can enhance your journaling.

Upon completion of the labyrinth, my mind presented me with an image of a piece of loosely woven cloth. I drew the image, and these are the words that followed, unedited:

I am a weaver of life's threads...even the ones that some may think are too short to save. Every piece contributes to the holistic life. A glint of gold here, a splash of silver there. Quiet colors, lively textures...whispers and nubs. Thick pieces and thin pieces, inviting us to touch its amazing geography. Life's bumps and windy spots. So windy, we can't always see too far ahead. But we don't need to. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other...follow your nose. And trust.

You'll be surprised at what's rumbling around in your mind! In addition to using labyrinths, other activities to try just before journaling are:
~exercise
~sleep
~Reiki
~bathing
~relax in nature
~sitting meditation
~receive a massage

Experiment with these, and please let my readers and me know what you experience!

My best to you,
Susan

P.S. Contact me at scleaver@dejazzd.com to set up a discounted introductory session of Coaching or Reiki! Coaching can be done by phone or in person.

***All of Susan's creative4life posts are copyright of Susan Cleaver.***

***Member of the TriCounty Community Network, a local collaborative for the betterment of health, social, and environmental factors.***

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Give Your Ego a Clear Job Description

Here's mine:

TO: My Ego
FROM: Susan
RE: Your Job Description

Position: Reality Coordinator; Your job responsibilities fall into three categories to ensure your successful collaboration with my creative side:

1. Support my creativity by collaborating with it on:

-my self-care.
-my marketing plans.


2. Back off and defer to my creativity while it's:

-brainstorming.
-daydreaming.
-interpreting dreams.
-cross-training in other artistic areas.
-journaling.
-working on projects in the early stages of development.


3. Take the wheel in your areas of expertise, including:

-logistics and technical considerations.
-handling rejection.
-pricing and other financial matters.


In Summary: Please hang this prayer over your desk.

The Ego's Effectiveness Prayer

Please help me to enhance Susan's creativity where I can,

Back off where I can't,

And have the discernment to know the difference.

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Readers,

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Please comment on the role of your ego in your creative work so we all can compare notes!

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A complimentary trial coaching tele-session is available to you on this topic or most others. Set yours up by emailing me at scleaver@dejazzd.com. With the holidays coming, you may also want to inquire about my gift-boxed set of inspirational quote cards on the Law of Attraction ($10 US plus tax and shipping that will depend on where you live).

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Sample Quote:

"What we need is more people who specialize in the impossible."

--Theodore Roethke

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Happy Halloween,

Susan

Tune Into Your Muse

Have you ever felt that you and your muse are on different wavelengths, resulting in a frustrating creative block? From a metaphysical perspective, that's exactly what happens.

The conditions in and around us during a creative breakthrough are those that foster a higher vibration that closely matches what we call the muse...that special blend of creativity and intuition that we've been wanting to tap into. So here are some ways to raise your vibration and that of your environment to reduce the mind static between you and your muse.

• Apply basic Feng Shui principles to your work area and to the area between your ears. Clear out physical, mental, and emotional clutter. If you can do this on your own, great! Go for it. If not, get a friend, coach, or personal organizer to help you with the physical clutter. For the mental clutter (long to-do lists, too much debt, etc.), set aside time to attend to each item, ditch it, or delegate it, as appropriate. If the issue or item looms large, you may need to put a system in place for step-by-step progress. For emotional clutter, try journaling or writing an imagined dialog between you and the issue. If you need help, do yourself a huge favor and find a good therapist to help you sort things out.
• Hug a tree! Communing with nature raises our vibration gently and pleasantly.
• Listen to energizing music. If your energy is really down, start with music that is slightly livelier, then move to progressively more energizing pieces.
• Clear out internal energy bottlenecks with Reiki and/or massage.
• Eat light meals consisting of fresh foods that haven't had the life force energy processed out of them. Bless the meal and express gratitude for it.

If you'd like to explore this idea of rising to meet the muse's frequency further, email me at scleaver@dejazzd.com to set up a complimentary trial coaching tele-session.

As you experiment with these ideas, please post your experiences in the comments section!

Thanks,

Susan

Multi-Tasker's Delight!

Greetings!

Are you a multi-tasker? Here's a buffet of practices and healing modalities that double as jump-starts for your creativity and intuition!

Hydrotherapy
Let's start with a very easy and accessible one that you do already every time you take a shower! Your mind wanders and leaves space for the ideas to come through. A bath is great, too, and a whirlpool is even better! What a great invitation for your right brain to kick into gear!

Journaling
Journaling expert Kathleen Adams calls her journal her "79-cent therapist," because it's always ready to listen without judgement. Julia Cameron, best-selling author of The Artist's Way, has an exercise in that book called "Blasting Through Blocks" that I use a lot in my journaling.

The guided journal I've written, The Whispering Heart, contains fifty quotes and accompanying questions to get your thoughts moving. It's available through me for $10 US. Please email me for more information at scleaver@dejazzd.com. Tax and shipping will depend on where you live.
Or you can ask for a free 5-page sample!

Meditation
Meditation is also great for getting out of your own way to let the ideas and intuitions come through. Meditating with a group is even more powerful. If you have trouble with sitting meditation, try walking meditation. The rhythm of the movement is a plus.

Reiki
Intuitive pops are common during Reiki treatments for both the giver and the receiver. Reiki practitioners generally see this get stronger over time in themselves. Level One practitioners can give Reiki to others and to themselves.

If you'd like to know more about Reiki, you can send me your questions anytime at scleaver@dejazzd.com. I've been at the Master-Teacher Level of Reiki for about a year, and I've noticed some interesting ways that is has affected my outlook (and therefore my output.)

Massage
Again, this is a way to open the door and let the "still, small voice" be heard. I particularly love Shiatsu massage, which works by stimulating the accupressure points along the body's meridians.

However, as long as the method you choose is gentle enough to be relaxing, I believe it can double as a welcome mat for creative ideas and intuition.

Dream Study
You can do this on your own, or better yet, with a therapist who is experienced in working with dreams. Dreams are loaded with creative and intuitive messages! A good therapist will know what questions to ask to help you make connections between your waking life and your dream life. Keep a notebook and pen by your bed so the dreams don't slip away. The symbols and metaphors will amaze you!

Labyrinth Walks
This ancient form of meditation takes you on a meandering path to the center of the Labyrinth, where you can sit and meditate for a while and then meander back out. It produces a similar quieting of the mind as I have discussed above, and again, it invites your creativity and intuition to come out of hiding.

There are indoor Labyrinths, outdoor Labyrinths, and even finger Labyrinths that I've seen carried in catalogs. Give it a try!

Life Coaching
Coaches are trained to ask expansive questions, to be thoughtful listeners, and to be effective brainstorming partners. We also encourage you and hold you accountable during that bumpy stretch between your "ah-ha!" and your finished product.

Please contact me for a free trial phone session at scleaver@dejazzd.com!

Gestalt Therapy
This is an interesting and revealing ride, and your imagination is in the driver's seat! The therapist will guide you as you act out dialogues between one part of yourself and another or between you and another person, object, animal, dream figure or creative project! And because you are doing this without forethought, you get to the heart of the issue quickly. Your left brain doesn't have time to interfer or object!

Please post your comments about your experiences with these practices!

Thanks,
Susan