“IN THE MOMENT”
MABIN P2P CONFERENCE: CREATIVE MINDFULNESS SESSION
Summary + Resources
Welcome, you made it!
It was so wonderful to give you a taste of creative mindfulness this past Monday evening.
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YOU LEARNED:
Creative Expression as a primal birthright of all humans — including you!
Mindfulness as simply being paying attention on purpose, to what you’re doing, while you are doing it.
That you can use Mark-Making (any mark made on any surface) —as a simple and accessible way to express yourself.
How in this increasingly busy, fast moving world, it is more important than ever to create intentional SPACE built into in your day for .pausing., for quiet and for moving s l o w e r.
The Japanese concept/aesthetic Wabi Sabi: The Beauty of Imperfection
This perspective provides an empathetic filter through which to view yourself, others and what you can see and touch. For. eg. Appreciating a broken, scarred, weathered or worn surface as being all of the more beautiful for what it has been through.
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CREATIVE MINDFUL ACTIVITIES:
TEMPORARY NATURE MANDALA
If you have flowers that have wilted, gather the petals and notice how beautiful they still are, even in their dried out phase.
AND/OR
Go on a slow walk. Collect sticks, leaves, needles, plants, grasses, feathers.
Clear a space on the floor or table or a piece of paper. In silence or to beautiful music, slowly create a mandala with with the petals or other elements you have gathered.
NATURE BRUSHES
Go on a slow walk.
Collect sticks, leaves, needles, dried plants, grasses, feathers.
Use masking tape/wire/elastics/string to secure nature bits to the end of a stick, make a series of them to achieve different kinds of marks
PAINTING TO MUSIC ( with regular or nature brushes)
Set up watercolour paper, Ink or liquid watercolours, flat plates for ink, water, regular brushes.
Experiment with different kinds of music on different sheets of paper, using regular or nature brushes and play with the different marks you can get depending on the brush and materials.
TIP: Helps if you tape down paper ;-)
OPTIONAL: Use the papers you’ve made to write a card to a friend or to create a simple little book.
Booklet: using the watercolour paper as front and back covers, add some trimmed sheets of regular paper between them, punch 2-3 holes and use a piece of string or ribbon to bind them. They make thoughtful little gifts for a friend or for children to use as a bedtime gratitude journal.
A great way to re-purpose your kids paintings if they’re as prolific as mine
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IF YOU:
Enjoyed our session + are intrigued to keep exploring the possibilities of creative expression + mindfulness…
Would like to learn new ways to bring more moments of quiet spaciousness into your busy life…
Be the first to know WHEN SPRING WORKSHOP REGISTRATION OPENS for: Sunday April 28, June 2nd and June 9th:
“Nicole is a fountain of inspiration for how to practice mindfulness through creativity—and vice versa. I was surprised by how calm I felt — a very encouraging evening for artists & ‘non-artists’ of every level.”
… and for those that made it this far, here is ONE MORE BONUS ACTIVITY. ;-)
Stay cozy and inspired,