Category Archives: A Balanced Life

Grief

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Using Art as a therapy during a time of grief allows you to express your thoughts, feelings and emotions. This can be done in a variety of non verbal ways such as painting, drawing or clay work.

Other non verbal ways of expression, such as journaling and letter writing that help define what the event or deceased person meant to you allow you to start the healing process.

Guided visualizations and  Reiki can help relax you.  As you allow the body and mind to relax you can begin to sort out conflicting emotions. Therefore by using art therapy activities, your healing takes place at a deeper level and many people find that they are better equipped to move forward.

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Mind Body Connection

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Eastern traditions have long been more aware of a mind/body connection than the modern Western medical profession which has based much of their thinking on the theory put forward by Descartes who was a French philosopher in the 1600’s. He believed that the mind and body were separate entities which had no influence on the other.

Modern medicine is a reflection of this, and is shown by the desire to remove symptoms of an illness rather than addressing any underlying mental/emotional issues that could contribute to an illness. Compare this to traditional Eastern healing systems where illness is considered to be an imbalance in the energy (Qi or Chi) which in turn affects the mental/emotional and physical body systems.

Western science has since discovered that the impulses to the cells can be affected by either negative or positive thoughts, thus having an effect on things such as immunity and health. Previously thought to only be present in the brain, these neurotransmitters have been discovered in other major organs such as the heart and gut. A regular meditation practice can help to still the mind and help with general health. Checking in on your thoughts and changing or reframing them to a more positive attitude will also help. For instance if you find yourself saying “I should…….”, change the language to “I choose to……” and notice the difference.

Challenge

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5 Day ChallengeThe challenge of creating something that doesn’t add more stress to one’s life! Having printed out an outline of a heart to fill with words or lines to complete this five day challenge, I reached a blank.  I was also at a stage  where I had to meditate on the Heart Chakra and create a photo collage for an assignment in my current studies..  A challenge, to say the least, until I re-read the question.  The photos could be of places, pets or words that elicited a heart felt response.

When looking up what the opposite of a challenge could mean, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the following words came up….agree, decide, win, answer, acceptance, peace … fitting in beautifully with the essence of working with the Heart Chakra.  I was further amused when I consulted a text on Chakras to find that the hexagon (yesterday’s challenge) is its symbol. 

five day challengeAs a result, the time selecting the photos for the assignment meant spending some time delving through old files.  In addition, reflecting on why I chose each photo and explaining the emotional attachment took longer than expected. Unsurprisingly, many of the photos are of places that I’ve experienced a deep sense of peacefulness and belonging. Included is Lucy the labrador – representing  the unconditional love that dogs exhibit to us.  Because of the synchronicity of tasks, I have decided to use the photo collage rather than lines or words.

Hexagon

The hexagon

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five day challengeDay 4’s shape  for the Five Day Challenge is the hexagon. A six sided figure, the hexagon is found in nature from bees to bubbles.  In man made items such as nuts and bolts to tessellated tiles it is used.  Snowflakes are based on the hexagon and perhaps the most easily recognizable group of hexagons are to be found on soccer balls.

Even items we use on a daily basis are constructed using the hexagon.  Most pencils will have six sides…. go ahead and count if you doubt me! Modern use of the hexagon can be found with mobile phone towers constructed  in a hexagonal grid – hence the term “cell phone”.

Today’s shape took a while to come together

I dusted off my compass and protractor and set about to construct a hexagon.  After a couple of tries and much rubbing out of pencil lines, I eventually got the shape right. Then to fill the shape….. pleased with the pattern that emerged, I then allowed my conscious mind to take over. Big mistake. I thought that I would “improve” the pattern by colouring in using the chakra colours.  From simple to dreadfully contrived in just a few minutes.

HexagonTake two…. now that I had the hang of constructing the hexagon, it was much easier to stay with a black line marker and see what transpired. With the addition of some compass work and very simple lines and shapes the following emerged.  Perhaps I could add colour, but it was relaxing not to have to think about which to choose.  It would be interesting to construct a series of hexagons and see what evolved from that.

From an Art Therapy point of view the benefits of “doodling” are that there are no preconceived ideas as to what the finished product will look like. It is a free form of expression and the shapes emerge from deep within the one’s psyche.

As it is a non verbal form of expression, the doodle literally can help you to “connect the dots”. It allows you to engage in sustained attention to a task without needing to create perfection or a recognisable image and is a useful tool for stress reduction. This is helpful in using art therapy as a means of unconscious expression.

 

squares

Squares

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Squares for a dreary Saturday in Melbourne.5 day challenge I did two squares today as part of my mental health strategy to avoid the state by state updates.

In the forefront of my mind was the quote for today on my Facebook page by J. Vernon McGee  – ” Being a square keeps you from going around in circles.” However, I did have to laugh as the pattern for the first of the squares had a freehand circle in it!

Squares

The first of the squares was predominately red in colour. squares

This is the colour of the Root Chakra (Muladhara). When you look at the various meanings for the colour red,  they range from health and courage as positive aspect to anger or aggression for the negative aspects. I felt that the energy of this square needed to be lifted by the inclusion of yellow – this bright yellow symbolizing happiness and positivity, with a touch of green for growth and good health in  the corners.

squaresBoth squares took a little longer than the 5 minutes that I anticipated as today I decided to create something more structured. This second square evolved by creating triangles in the corners and rotating the paper in a circular fashion.

Green is associated with the Heart Chakra (Anahata) and is about balance and growth and the emotion of love. The Heart Chakra is the bridge between the lower and upper Chakras.

Colour can influence our emotions in a number of ways.  For instance, the warm colours (red, orange, yellow) often evoke strong emotions – both positive in energy and negative in that these colours can overwhelm a sensitive person. Green, blue and purple are classed as cool colours and can evoke calmness. Blue in particular, is often associated with sadness or depression. Reaction to a colour can be based on personal experiences with a subconscious association to an event (either happy or sad). Some colours have a deep cultural significance, such as the meanings attached to black and white. For example, black is used for mourning in European countries and white for mourning in some Asian countries.

 

Triangles

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5 day challengeDay 2 and playing with triangles!

There is something about a triangle…. in fact there are many different triangle shapes – these are the main three….

  • equilateral – where all sides are the same length
  • isosceles – two of its sides are of equal length
  • scalene – none of its sides are of equal length

Five days, five different shapes to fill in with simple lines, both straight and curved – taking around five minutes to complete. It’s a mini meditation for you. No need to make it  perfect, it’s about focusing your mind on filling a space – not filling your mind with random thoughts. Feel free to post your creation on my Facebook page.

5 Day ChallengeUsing just a blue marker today and straight and curved lines to fill the spaces. Light blue is the colour of the throat chakra. The throat chakra governs the ability to communicate, to speak your truth and if you find that difficult, it means that this energy centre is blocked. If you are in lockdown and finding that you are eating unhealthy food, a mini detox diet may help in rebalancing your energy.

If you were drawn to a deeper, indigo blue then this is the colour of the third eye chakra. This chakra governs intuition, wisdom and your spiritual centre. When you find yourself overly concerned about what others think of you or having lots of negative thoughts, there is an imbalance. This can be rectified by releasing old thought patterns and habits. The Full Moon is an ideal time to be doing this. A regular meditation practice will also help to keep this chakra balanced. If you are into crystals, then a piece of Lapis Lazuli is considered helpful.

 

Five Day Challenge

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A five day challenge for the fifth Melbourne lockdown…. five day challengeArt therapy is a great way to reduce stress. This five day challenge is designed so you can take five minutes or so to focus on a shape and change it with simple lines and colours.

When we are engaged in doing something that we love to do, hormones such as Dopamine, Serotonin and Oxytocin (happy hormones) are released and stress is reduced. As stress is reduced, wellbeing is increased. You may discover or rediscover something that you wanted to do as a child and put aside due to societal or cultural expectations. The pursuit of this activity and the joy in doing it will often bring about a great sense of satisfaction and completion. Not only that, when you are engaged in your passion, your inner energy is apparent and you will radiate that out to those around you.

The challenge is on my Facebook page if you would like to contribute your creation.  I used Yellow for happiness & positivity; green for renewal & energy ( full moon tomorrow); blue for intuition, imagination and understanding, and a spiral path to lead inward and outward.

Day 1 challenge

Mercury Retrograde

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For those of you who are astrologically inclined read on. Mercury Retrograde is a big thing. Maybe…. For skeptics, close this window now and forever hold your peace.  Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs around planetary positions and how they impact (or don’t) on our lives. Mercury Retrograde can be a positive experience……

We have just entered into another Mercury Retrograde – May 29th 2021 to June 22nd 2021 and I would encourage you to view this as a time to implement positive changes into your life.

A time of reset, review and renewal …. at every level… Personal, local, countrywide and global….. as Mahatma Gandhi said…” be the change you want to see”…..

Lockdown

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Another day, another lockdown. We can choose how we respond to these times and I won’t go  into the politics of whether it is right or wrong or who may be at fault. What I will do is to choose to use this time as a reset, a chance to create and as we move into winter…… perhaps a little hibernation.

I’m taking my own advice and doing a little art therapy to relax my mind and take myself away from listening to or watching the news. Having created some mandalas for an online program, I’d like to share one with you so that you can relax a  little during this lockdown or circuit breaker.

Download it HERE.

If you don’t have a supply of colour pens or pencils – not to worry, I did one using just a black pen and lines and I think it turned out OK!

A Balanced Life

A Balanced Life

A Balanced Life, clarity, Coaching

With the advent of another lockdown here in Melbourne and face to face consultations postponed, it is timely to introduce A Balanced Life.

Designed so that you can creatively focus on a specific area of your life that you want to improve, it uses a combination of tools to achieve this.

This program is broken into 3 Modules:A Balanced Life

  • WHAT you can have in your toolbox
  • WHY are you running around in circles? A creative exercise to help you relax your conscious mind
  • HOW to choose an area of your life that’s not working right now and apply helpful strategies to turn it around.

 

All for a little less than the cost of a  single coaching session! Plus downloadable resources that you can re-use again. I hope that you will enjoy this journey  and have your own toolbox to create a more balanced life.

You may want to have a few more coaching sessions to debrief and to clarify how to goal set effectively. There’s a choice between  1:1 sessions or group sessions. There is also a private Facebook group once you have done this program that you are eligible to join.