Meet the Artist Within - Layer One Creatively Fit Coaching Certificate

Layer One - Creatively Fit Life Coach Journey

Wow how powerful is the statement above, by Matthew Fox.  When I read this I felt as though I had always known this, that being creative is an integral part of our nature.  It doesn't matter how we choose to be creative  as long as we allow ourselves to creatively shine and let that inner voice be heard.  It's not about the end result, its about the process.  These are often hard words to hear for a creative.

My first few weeks of the Coaching program has been all about meeting the Artist Within.  Understanding more about the right brain and the role it plays and integrating it more.  Also about  listening and allowing and to a certain degree surrendering to perfection.  

At the start of my journey Whitney intuitively chose a sacred symbol for me.  My symbol was The Sphinx.  As soon as I saw this immediately I couldn't relate and kept thinking, why would I get this symbol.  However Whitney and I had a skpye chat about this very symbol and it was only after that I realised her intuitive guidance was spot on.  The Sphinx amongst many things represents time.  Time is something I have struggled with for a while, not enough of it, not being in the present, projecting into the future, wasting it, unstructured time, rushing, you name it time has definitely been an issue.

I have always felt like I have to catch up and I don't have enough time.   Whitney suggested I have a go at painting The Sphinx and meditating on what it means.  I knew that it would stretch me artistically and it did.  I googled some images and chose one I was comfortable with to base my painting on in my journal.  Not my best art but one of the things I am learning on this journey is that it is not the end product, the picture as such it's the energy that is created when I paint and the meaning behind the art, the process if you will.

Throughout layer one we really focused on using our right brain more.  Our right brain is our creative brain which is often underused whilst our logical brain, left brain runs the show.  Using our right brain more has many benefits.  It can help us to relax more, to develop our intuition to balance using both side of the brain.  A couple of the activities we did to practice this were.

Cover a page with colour.  This is so fun and easy to do.  Grab a marker, crayon, pencil which ever colour you are drawn to and the cover your page.  Just let you hand move around the page not judging what you see, not trying to draw anything in particular.  Here is my page below.  Of course I was drawn to bright pink which I seem to be drawn to a lot lately.

 

Another activity we also did, which to be honest I found challenging was to close your eyes and scribble on a page for a few seconds, then open your eyes and try to find the pictures in the scribble.  Of course this dog or teddy face jumped out at me but I kept thinking it could'nt be it.  I have done several of these this week and each time I have to look for a while before finding the picture.  Usually there is a message in the picture a subconsicous message, once again the Right brain in action.  Another facet of this activity is to write out 5 words that come to mind right away from the scribble and what you see.  Needless to say I wanted to reach out and give this cute dog a hug. 

 

Finally a couple of other exercises that we did which I'm sure you have heard of was a dream collage (otherwise known as a vision board) in our journals.  The first is a dream board and the idea was to pick images that jumped out at me.  I actually did 3 double page spreads of this I was having fun it is a great right brain activity and very relaxing.

As you can see I was drawn to lots of bright colours and being outdoors in nature, I think I am dreaming of summer already.  Whitney said she saw blooming when she saw this spread, which is another great insight.  The whole point of these exercises is to allow the right brain voice to speak to us and to become more aware of its wisdom.

Finally the other collage which we did was a torn paper face collage.  The idea was to look at anything that jumped out at us.  This one definitely didn't flow as easily as I was really trying to find pictures and images that resonated with what I was trying to represent.  I loved finding the crown and jewels, adding wings and the clock for time.  I also added the big round jewel at my neck representing the throat chakra which is blue also.  The buddha for mindfulness, the glitter heart for opening my heart, the butterfly for spreading my wings, the mask for unmasking the real me, oh and there is an owl just on the top of my head for wisdom and knowing.  Of course the background is outdoors.  I feel as though I created this more with intention of what I am wanting to attract.

So these are a few of the exercises we did.  I have found that I am now more aware of creating for my own mindfulness and wellbeing and growth.  I can see the importance of using my right brain more and this could be a blog post or a few all on its own.  

I'd love to finish with some powerful words that,  are so relevant today.  We absolutely need both sides of brain to work together in harmony, but how often do we allow and receive.

I hope you enjoyed my overview of this first month I look forward to sharing more soon.

Anna xx

Meet Your Artist Within - Part 1 - My Journey

It's been a while since I have posted something spiritual and insightful here.   To be honest it used to be a natural progression to lead into long posts on this blog of things other than craft.  Then one day I wondered whether it was really appropriate to post since it was attached to a website that sold Art and Craft Supplies.  I was torn because I had so much to share with you all but then I wondered whether what I had to share was going out to my blog readers that just wanted to see samples of cards and scrapbooking etc.  I had this desire to blend in my creativity with spirituality or self growth but wasn't sure how to do it.  In hindsight I could have just kept sharing as you the blog reader always has the power to decide whether to read on or not.

A while after I stopped posting, I started to find artists that did in fact combine creativity with spirtuality.   When I say spiritual I don't mean religous. I mean going within and getting to know myself better. Listening to my soul or higher self or whatever you choose to call it.  There is no doubt I was running around trying to be everything to everyone and not really acknowledging what I myself wanted and needed, to help myself grow and heal.   It has taken me on twists and turns and highs and lows that have left me feeling at times inadequate, stuck, scared and at other times as though I may just have found the answer.  The next healer, the next practice, the next meditation style etc etc.  When you want answers to something that is bothering you, you will search high and low to get those answers for years even. Well that has been my journey.  By the way it's still going as I believe working on yourself just never stops.  But I feel as though I have many insights now that I want to share about how I  have evolved and where this journey has led me.

If you have been following me for a while you would have noticed that my art has changed.  First of all I am actually making art.  Funnily enough 16 years ago I actually did formal painting classes and then continue to paint on my own, this was before the internet.  I did a few market stalls with painted wood pieces.  Years later I started to get involved with the Scrapbooking Community and went from there.  I think I was drawn to all the beautiful supplies and creating lovely things.  There was still a need to create but I did get bored of scrapbooking even though I eventually opened up a store selling supplies Koko Vanilla Designs.

I evolved over to card making and still love making cards to this day.  They are quick and easy and great therapy.  But there was something still missing.  Yes I can make gorgeous cards but the fulfillment was gone.  Don't get me wrong I still love putting pretty papers and embellishments together and taking cute photos but my soul was asking me to go deeper here.  Creating had become just to inspire my customers, to the point that I wasn't creating for my own enjoyment but to demonstrate how you could use the products and supplies.  Once again fun but not really inspiring to me.

The last year or so I have really begun to combine my love of painting and mixed media together.  I love that there are no rules and you can go as crazy as you want to.  The process can be healing if you don't let the ego step in and criticise you whilst you create.  Over time I have filled my social media platforms with creativity in which ever form has called to me.  I have run a couple of classes here and there and done a video or two.  But still I needed more.

A few weeks back after months of going back and forth in my mind with what will I do now.  I kept feeling called to help others through my art, I just wasn't sure how.  I don't have qualifications as an Art Therapist and I am not a Qualified Life Coach although I have a lot to share from experience and life journey.  In my search to find an online course that would give me some sort of a combination of these two elements and some structure and insight when it comes to sharing and teaching, I found a lovely lady who I absolutely resonated with as soon as I heard her speak on an online podcast.  Her name is Whitney Freya.  Whitney runs several online courses but the one I have joined up for is Creatively Fit Certified Coach  This will give me even more insight and skill in sharing my art with you not to mention help me to feel more confident once I have gone through this journey to share it with others.  I am once again the student and absolutely loving it I have to say.

In my next Blog post I will share with you what I have learnt in the first 4 weeks of my course so far.  I wanted to share it here but the post will be way too long.  So I am breaking it up into two although they both relate.

As for the online store it is staying, and will evolve as I do.  As for my offerings that will also change no doubt.  For now I hope you enjoy reading about my first 4 weeks on my Creatively Fit Coaching Journey.

Anna xx