Notice…Mindful/Creative Prompt!

Hey Beautiful Souls!

It’s so easy to go on automatic these days, zipping through our days, hours, weeks, etc… That we often don’t even notice so many things going on in our lives,bodies, relationships etc..

Something that will help in the shifting of that to being mindful and on purpose is to Notice… Notice what lights you up, what makes you mad, what makes you feel good and what makes you feel not so good (activities, people, food etc..) Notice the messages that life is constantly giving you.

Some ways to starting Noticing more mindfully are:

-Gather words, images, ideas etc and put them in a journal

-Start a pinterest board or 20

-Grab a journal (or a document on your phone/computer) and start capturing some of these things that you  notice.

-Slow down long enough to check in with yourself, with your mind and body notice what the message may be

-Use your camera (any camera including phone cameras)  to take notice of the inspiration and things around you.

Take Notice of: 

-Notice what words you are always drawn to

-Notice what things you hear that you think oooh that would be amazing or I would love to..

-Notice what foods make you feel good, nourished really fed and on the flip side notice the ones that make you feel heavy, yucky, guilty etc.

-Notice what people make you feel lifted up, good, comforted, listened to, empowered – Notice what people make you feel frustrated, annoyed, drained, badly

-Notice where the disconnect between what you say you want and the actions you take (or don’t take) are.

-Notice what inspires you

-Noitce what makes you laugh

-What makes you mad

Notice how amazing life is in so many ways, even through the challenges

For me lately I have been noticing more and more things including: A shift (this one is hard to explain but I can totally feel it, in a good way!), I notice how my body is used to having a certain (at least) amount of water and when I neglect to do that for a few days I can feel it, I notice how I am not feeling as great lately as I would like, I notice more moments of bravery, I notice lingering issues from things I thought I had moved on from, I notice that I am constantly drawn to certain images (Including, meditation, Buddha, flowers) I notice that I am coming up with more and more ideas and am tired of just sitting on them, I notice the books I have been reading lately that I am really soaking bits of them in..

Those are some of mine, what do you notice?

Here is to living Inspired, Creative and Empowered

Heather

What you want most…

Hey beautiful Souls!

I saw this saying on pinterest and decided to add the saying to one of my photos. I really love it!

These 12 words pack a huge and important message that I believe apply to many areas of our lives.

I would say I have often, really really often given into instant gratification and not really looked at the big picture. Really as a result of this I am in a place in my life in several ways that I am really  not thrilled about. There is not one to blame but myself. This is not to complain or to feel sorry for myself (much ) but to remind myself and inspire you to think of where you may be giving up what you want most for what you want now.

It can apply to our

-Health

-Finances

-Relationships

-Time

-Dreams

and so much more… I printed out the above picture and have it posted above my desk.

I do feel like part of the problem is so many of us don’t really know, or can not or are not willing to really speak it out loud to even ourselves.

So it’s my intention to do the very best I can to not fall into that instant gratification trap, to be as mindful as I can and make the choices that really are in line with what I want to create and experience in my life. Even if at first this only comes in the form of one little step at a time.. you have to start somewhere.

Maybe it’s time to ask ourselves what we want most, what we truly want. Not what we think we can have or should want but what do our souls say? I think this year I am pretty clear on it, but I know there are more layers of the true message to be uncovered and discovered.

Here is to living Inspired, Creative and Empowered

Heather

Mindfulness = Connection part 1

Hey Inspiring Souls!

Lately connection and mindfulness has been on my mind, when I had a recent Ah-Ha moment about how I feel mindfulness= Connection for some this may be a well duh moment of course it does. For me though it was a ah ha moment.. I label this post part 1 as for me there is a lot to say about this subject.

I know that it sounds sort of simplistic that Mindfulness =Connection and I suppose it is a simple idea, but not easy in action.  When we are mindful of what is going on in our lives and bodies, souls etc.. we are connected to those things to our life and soul on a different level. When we are mindful we can connect to the healing we need in our lives and so much more.

So many of us are on Auto Pilot we just go through the motions, feeling like we are in survival mode or just trying to get through the day. We are so busy and fill our life with stuff, activities etc that are not really in line with what fills us up, fills our time up but not our sense of purpose or our souls..

When I am mindful of the fact that I need certain things in my life (Creativity being one of them!) , or certain things drain  me then I am connected to my life on a more authentic level.

I hope that I am getting across the point I am trying to make, sometimes we have in our heads or hearts what we mean but it’s hard to express in a way that makes sense, maybe it’s because I am still exploring this ah-ha..

If Mindfulness=Connection then it could be said that Mindlessness = Disconnect, we will explore that in part 2 and also ways to put mindfulness into action.

Here is to living Inspired, Creative and Empowered

Heather

Mindfulness Practice.. Choosing Books

Hey wonderful souls!

I have been engaging in something that I consider a small practice in mindfulness.

First let me say I love books, I have what could be considered an addiction to books, I love reading!  Up until this year I just sort of read what I wanted to sort of randomly, though that did not stop me from buying new books! This year I made a list of the books I want to read.  At the end of each month I choose the book(s) I want to read for that next month.  I have been mindfully choosing what books I want to read, I have been intentional about keeping reading a regular part of my life. Otherwise what can happen is we keep stock piling books,but are overwhelmed by how many we have and never get to actually reading them!

My current books for June are : Callings by Levoy , My so called freelance life by Michelle Goodman , while slowly working on The Not So Big Life, by Sara Susanka

How about you, reading any good books lately?

Here is to living Inspired,Creative and Empowered

Heather

Details.. Creative Prompt

Hey Creative Souls!

This creative prompt can be done any of several ways. Lets take some time to notice the details in our lives.

Ways to Capture the details:

-Drawing out some details of something, someone around you

-With words, describe something, someone in as much detail as possible

-With photography, get in close to the details of something, maybe it’s the shoes, toes, hands of someone you love, the curves in an object , you can do all sorts of things with this one!

Ideas of details to capture:

-Feet, hands , a scarf/ring/necklace, buttons, patterns, clouds the list could go on and on..

Don’t overthink the ways to do this, just choose something or someone or both and experiment with noticing and capturing the details! This is a creative prompt but it’s also an exercise in being mindful!

Here is to capturing details in our lives! And of course to Living Inspired, Creative and Empowered

Heather

Mindfulness Check-up

Hey Creative Souls…

I think like with our health we need to do check ups on our mindsets, motivation, goals and journey to mindfulness ( among others). That has really been on my mind lately. My journey towards mindfulness, where am I on it? What am I doing to set myself up for success with that journey, where I am doing well on that journey? Where am I mindlessly plugging along, on Auto Pilot? Why did I want to really intentionally embark on this journey in the first place?

Several of these are questions I really want to sit down with and mindfully reflect and respond to. I don’t want to keep putting it off, I want to jump back fully into this journey again.. I have seen how “spacing out” or outright avoiding my mindfulness journey has had negative effects on my life. On the flip side of that, I have seen and felt the effects of how those times or in certain areas when I am being mindful of my journey, how it’s brought a certain joy and peace to my life.

So for me I need to do that check up, but in the midst of that not forget to mindfully acknowledge the ways I am “on track” with this journey..

One thing I will commit to is to do a post on my mindfulness journey at least 1x a month.. That will help keep me accountable, I will also put up a visual and or word reminder of what mindfulness is to me.

How about you? Is there a place in your life that needs a bit of a check up?

Here is to living Inspired, Creative and Empowered

Heather

Ideas and Importance about Self Care

Hey Inspiring Souls!

At this time of year it’s hard to remember to take care of ourselves, well actually it seems like that is a challenge for many of us at any time of year!

I have talked a little bit about self care before, but I think it’s a subject that is worth repeating.

When we don’t engage in self care we:

-Feel drained

-Feel resentful

-Overwhelmed

-Overworked

-Under appreciated (even if by our own selves!)

-Don’t have the physical,spiritual or mental energy to be the best we can be and give back to those around us

It is often that we don’t schedule it in as important, we fell like it’s selfish but it is actually the opposite of that. I use the example if you were on an airplane and the oxygen masks came down they always tell you put it on yourself first that way you can help those around you. It’s the same thing.

It’s up to you to define what self care looks and feels like for you, but I will give you some examples. I also think that self care comes in 3 sort of categories Mind-Body-Soul they are connected but some areas may need a little more TLC, take a few minutes to slow down and just see what message your life is giving you about those areas. Where is your attention being pulled towards?

Here are some examples of what you can do to engage in self care, if I have not touched upon any that speak to you, make your own list (and feel free to share!) of at least a few things that you can do to engage in self care.

-Take time to read, even if you only have 15-20 minutes ( or less) find something uplifting, inspiring or comforting to read

-Take  a bath

-Do a mask on your face, hands or feet ( or all 3)

-Do a collage, paint a page, get crafty and messy, do it with no expectations just play

-Watch a movie that you love or have wanted to see, in the theatre or on DVD

-Sit down with a cup of Tea, or hot chocolate and just sink into that moment , savor it don’t suck it down as you are doing 5 other things..

-Journal

-Meditate

-Have a 15 minute +   photo hunt , just take your camera ( the one on your phone counts) and look for things to photograph don’t overthink it just play

-Read a magazine cover to cover, with no guilt or shoulds

those are just some to get you started, I would love if you added ones that you engage in or would like to

Here is to living Inspired, Creative and Empowered

Heather

Surrendering to here and now…

Hey Inspiring Souls..

Lately surrendering to here and now has been on my mind.. I am working on trying to be more mindful of my life and I have noticed something. I am constantly in the future of what is to come, what I want to create and what is not right here right now.. For example much of what is on my mind lately is 2011 what I want to do, create, explore , let go of etc.. Now please don’t get me wrong, I am a list maker and a planner.. There is nothing wrong with that, and I do need and want to take some time to reflect and plan and dream about what is to come. But when that is at the constant cost of what is right now, there is a problem.. at least for me..

This season in general has a reputation of being full  chaos.. So do our lives, our health our schedules.. So I am simply suggesting for us to slow down, surrender to what is.. Not give up, but surrender into it… Notice …

Surrender into the process  and moments of

Healing

Laughter

Connection

Sounds

Tastes

Textures

Just allow yourself even a minute to take any of that in.. and surrender to it.. you just might be surprised..

Here is to living Inspired, Creative and Empowered

Heather

ps: the image above on this post was one of those times where I was noticing I was in the moment of what was around me and noticed for the first time a little patch of green on top of a bus stop!

Noticing.. Mindfulness

Hey Inspiring Souls!

I meant to write this post last week, but I did not , it was still brewing..  So I will spew it out as best I can today, migraine and all!

I love music I find it really powerful and I am fairly mindful of what type of music, well the messages the music I listen to has.  Seeking out some new songs lead me to a few songs that I had a strong reaction to one particular song..( and I will share it with you.. )

That got me thinking more about mindfulness and  how that ties into noticing… As some of you may know my word and goal for this year is to listen ( to my life, my body, those around me, inner guidance etc) Sort of along the same lines I am starting to notice more things. Notice my reaction to things, emotions, good and bad.

I am not suggesting you analyze everything to death, I am saying that just take some time to notice your reactions and emotions to things. And jot it down in your journal, just even a note or two. Think about why you are reacting in that way.  This will make you more mindful in general but it will also help you tap into the messages your life is giving you.

So that is what I am doing.. Here is the song that brought that to the surface more, it made me get emotional, teary eyed. And I realized that I want to be able to think of some of these words as true for me. I want to dream bigger and not play it so safe anymore.( more on that in another post)

How about you, do you notice your reactions to certain, music, people, foods?

Here is to living Inspired, Creative and Empowered

Heather

Back to you.. Follow up..

This post started only as a bit of a foolow up on Back to You journal prompt, but I realized it was also in line with mindfulness, realizing that many things I am doing now in my life are in line with wanting to be more mindful.

In general I do know that  part of the process of getting back to me is to unplug a bit, to engage in some major self care. Just looking at myself and my apartment I can tell that I have gotten away from me, so to speak. I look a bit tired, my skin is acting up , there is more clutter then I like around me. So while it does mean engaging in self care, unplugging from the computer a bit more, at times just vegging with no real agenda ( something I am not that great at!)

Getting back to me all really comes down to a few core things right now, the big one being my word focus for this year… Listen .. To my body, my life .. To be mindful of what I really need and want and not just what is easy, comfortable ( and that does not always mean good btw) or just out of habit.

So for this week, a focus on mine is going to be noticing how my skin , body and mind react when I eat and drink certain things, putting  some time into a little extra face care, and slowing down to just stop and notice some of the seemingly unexciting things around me and trying to see them a bit different.. ( for example my photo hunt on my walk I took with hubby this AM- see above image)

Your turn, how have you been or do you feel you could get back to you, even just a little?

Here is to living Inspired, Creative and Empowered

Heather