Awareness through Creativity

Creative self-exploration is an amazingly insightful experience, which can help you get in touch with your subconscious and bring clarity into feelings and thoughts that may be holding you back.

Many people walk into my painting workshops wondering what they are getting themselves into. Yet they arrive open and ready for the experience. We begin painting with the opposing hand, paper, and anything but a paintbrush. To allow the right side of the brain to play more freely, our first paintings are done without the use of words or intentional symbols.

After we finish each painting, I ask them How do you feel? What feelings came up for you as you were doing this?

By the fourth painting some of the students are in tears of release. Others have discovered the freedom of exploring their inner world without being hindered by their left brained judgemental side.

In the final painting we set an intent, whether it is a happy moment or a painful time in their lives. They continue applying paint with their opposing hand, exploring further into themselves. After half an hour we talk about their experiences. My students are always amazed at where the workshop has taken them. Some of them work through their grief for deceased loved ones. Others are able to let go of a fear that plagued them for many years. Others discover new joy and appreciation for themselves.

Kate attended a one-on-one healing session. She was feeling frustrated with her inner critic. As I guided her through the process she began to see something she hadnt seen before. The face of her critic had appeared in the tree of her painting.

As we explored this further, Kate was able to see how she gave her power to her inner critic. As she continued to paint through her feelings of powerlessness, she was able to see how powerful she really was. Kate walked out of her session with a healthier understanding of her critic; she felt such a sense of joy and freedom. I have been in contact with Kate since her session and I am happy to say she has found a sense of freedom within her she had never experienced before.

Some people ask, How can creativity get me in touch with my feelings? Using the opposing hand calls upon the right brainthe feeling intuitive side, not the more linear left side. The creative experience opens us up, allowing our unconscious thoughts and feelings to unfold through the act of painting. Imagine your mind is like an ice burg; consciously, only 15% is visible above the water. Creative exploration taps into the hidden 85% and helps us bring more awareness into our lives.

A gentle exercise

You will need:

Paper
Medium of your choice (pastels, pencils, paint).

Create a space where you are not going to be disturbed for an hour or so if you like you could light a candle make a pot of tea and light some incense.

Take 3 deep breaths. As you inhale, feel the breath move down all the way to your toes. As you breathe out, release any tension.

Now focus on something that is bothering yourwork, relationships or health. Before you begin painting set an intent such as: My intent is to explore and gain clarity on my health issues.

Now, using your opposing hand, allow yourself to just make marks and let the feelings out onto your paper. When you feel you are finished, ask yourself. How do I feel? What do the colours represent? Are the marks heavy or light?

For instance: Sometimes when I paint I may see a lot of anger around health issues. In the next painting I will ask for clarity with the anger and what it is doing to me. If I still need more clarity, I go into left and right hand writing, asking a question with my normal writing hand and responding with my opposing hand.

Example:

Normal hand: I am really feeling angry and I am having trouble finding out why can you assist me?

Opposing hand: I have had enough of how you are treating me. You always sit around and put horrible food in me and I have had enough.

Normal hand: Im sorry. I didnt know you felt this way. What can I do to help you?

Opposing hand: I need more water, more life force food; more walking; more love.

Continue painting and writing as long as you feel the need to explore this issue to gain more clarity. Journaling about your explorations and the paintings themselves will also give you further insights.

Creative exploration is such a gentle way of healing, just remember to be open and let go allowing the process to guide you. I have healed my migraines and still work on my anxiety issues using creative exploration.

CREATIVITY WORKSHOPS: HEART ART - Emelisa Mudle offers a variety of workshops that assist you to get more in touch with your creative and intuitive feeling side. "One of the biggest keys to Creativity is love, the love of self. They (creativity and love) walk hand in hand. The courage to let go of the walls and rules that we carry, the perfectionist side that we tend to grip so tightly. It is amazing what we find underneath. There is gentleness. A peace." Please visit her website http://www.emelisahealingarts.com

The Creativity Creed
I believe that creativity is a natural order of life itselfand it provides my life with the purest of energies.I believe there is an underlying creative force infusingthroughout my life.I believe that when I open my creativity, I am opening theCreators creativity.I believe creativity is part of my destiny and just asimportant as all living things.I...

Creativity Killers - 7 Sure-Fire Ways to Kill Your Creativity - And How to Avoid Them
There are many ways we can kill our creativity and severely limit our ability to naturally create the projects we have the talent and desire for. Here, in no particular order, are 7 of the most common Creativity Killers, and how we can avoid and overcome them:Creativity Killer No 1 - Expect too much from yourself. Berate yourself for not creating a...

Use Your Creativity In Your Home Based Business
Creativity is the ability to think in unhabitual ways William James.Creativity finds its roots in each and every one of us. Creativity is an expression of every human being. You have the ability to be creative whether you are a plumber, a doctor, a factory worker or a writer.Many people do not see themselves as creative because they are not ...

Creativity And The Truth- Are You Having A Love Affair With An Imaginary Mistress?
Creativity is for life, not just for a mistress. Is that true for you?Many of us tell ourselves we live a life of great creativity, and are actively creative each and every day. But how honest are we being? Who are we trying to impress?Think about your creative life for a moment. Which of these two descriptions best describes your relationship with...

Creative Sensuality - Get The Most From Your 5 Senses To Enrich Your Creative Work
Think of a scent that sends you back to your childhood in an instant, like the smell of boot polish your dad used to clean his shoes each morning, your mothers best special night out perfume, or the warm fragrance of tomato plants in your grandfathers greenhouse.We experience the world through our 5 senses, theyre the channels through which we rece...

Increase Creativity A-Z - Y Is For YES! How To Give Your Creativity Permission To Be Amazing
If I were to ask you: Whats the biggest obstacle stopping you from being as creative, as often, as you could be?, how would you respond?Maybe youd say you dont have enough time? Maybe youd say you find it hard to focus on one creative project? Maybe youd say because you get sucked into procrastinating too often?All of these are factors that limit o...

Creativity - From Purpose to Significance
One of my life research (and meditation) tasks has always been to align or find coherence in the variety of expressions of inner and outward creativity. On the one hand there is a creative search for identity and meaning. Most people call this purpose (I know why I do what I do and it reflects who I am). On the other hand is the original and useful...