In The MomentWORKSHOP SUMMARY + RESOURCES
Let me begin by saying THANK YOU for arriving at the workshop with such open minds and ready to explore.
I work with these ideas every day, but they truly come alive in a new way when people like you come and experience what they can mean for you.
Here is a summary of what we explored in the workshop —
as well as some resources for those inspired to keep exploring beyond the workshop experience.
WE EXPLORED:
ANCHORS
Knowing that our minds will inevitably wander, we explored anchors as a way to return and strengthen the quality of our attention.
Examples of anchors can be:
Focusing on our breath.
Using a point of physical contact, like the tip of a pencil, pen, or brush on paper to bring our attention back.
WABI SABI:
The Japanese aesthetic and concept of Wabi Sabi means embracing imperfection as an alternate way of seeing and appreciating the world - ie. it involves giving permission to ourselves to be messy, to show up as is.
By embracing this way of seeing, we strengthen the muscle of looking for the beauty in the worn surfaces, the broken things, in scars, in the wonky drawings…
In a brief chocolate-tasting meditation, we deliberately slowed down and directed our attention to our senses: sight, touch, smell, taste, and sound, and were able to drop into a more perceptive, open state.
In experiencing a simple sensory meditation with something pleasurable or beautiful, we are more easily able to connect to our physical body, and thus to a more embodied sense of expansion and gratitude — setting the stage for a range of creative mindfulness practices.
PRIMING THE SENSES
COLLECTING “ELEVATED” MOMENTS”
Some favourites moments generated by previous workshop participants:
Sliding into bed with fresh sheets (esp. if they’ve just been hung outside)
The deep quiet at night after kids have gone to bed
The very first sip of coffee
Watching a child you love, fall asleep
Sweetness of bedtime cuddles
The swell of emotion in a piece of music
The warmth of sun on your face
The first sound of the cardinals early in the morning
The quiet after or during a heavy snowfall
Stepping out of an airport into a new city
The smell and feeling of coming home
Bird Murmuration
Notice how it feels to savour moments like these, and how they can immediately change our state.
MARK- MAKING
We are inherently built to express and make marks. Mark-making is any mark made on any surface with any implement. This practice is a beautiful way to connect internally/externally and when slowed down, and done intentionally, can help to down-regulate our nervous system.
PRACTICES TO EXPLORE:
Explore ‘drawing your breath’ as a way to both check-in and impact the quality of your breath.
Use sounds or music to guide you in mark-making.
Using a pencil, pen or brush, express your inner state (like an internal body scan expressed visually)
BLIND CONTOUR
A practice of embracing imperfection as well as sharpening our noticing skills…
PRACTICE:
Find something interesting in your line of vision.
Maintain focus, without looking at paper.
SLOWLY trace its contours, notice, and record as much detail as possible).
IT WILL LOOK strange and wonky — find the WABI SABI (the beauty of the imperfection) in it.
See how it somehow captures the energy of the thing, in an interesting and unexpected way.
Perhaps fill in some of the interesting shapes afterward with another colour.
FLUIDITY
Remember the feeling of delight and calm in your chest as your brush first touched the wet paper, how the ink slowly bloomed across the surface?
Explore how you can bring a sense of expansive FLUIDITY into your life day to day?
SLOW DOWN, PAUSE, CONNECT TO YOURSELF AND…
Make a breath drawing, a blind contour, draw to music, make a slow meal, slowly write some calming words, snap a photo of a tiny detail you noticed etc…
Use creating as a way to connect to yourself internally and to your environment externally.
It is the feeling we get when we’re in the process of the creating that we are aiming to hang out in.
BONUS ACTIVITY
Try writing a word and placing it around your physical space as a visual cue of mindfulness.
BEAUTY OF IMPERFECTION (or simply WABI SABI)
JUST THIS
SAVOUR
PAUSE
ALLOW
BASIC SUPPLIES
Black fine-tipped pens - I’m a fan of ‘Le Pen’ brand, Muji fine line pens, or Pilot V5 Hi-Tecpoint 0.5 pens
Pencils (Blackwing brand is my favourite, but a regular pencil is fine too)
Dry-erase markers/board
White Pens - Uni-ball Signo Broad
India Ink - I often use the Speedball Brand
Watercolour paper - I like ‘ARTIST LOFT’ brand from Michaels for experimenting with.
Keep a small sketchbook or notebook in your bag
Larger sketchbook/paper
(play with scale and how it feels in your body to work bigger or smaller)
BOOK SUGGESTIONS
Stop Look Breathe Create by Wendy Ann Greenhalgh
The Art of Mindfulness by Wendy Ann Greenhalgh
The Zen of Creativity by John Daido Loori
Choose A Muse1:1 CREATIVE EXPRESSION SESSIONS
As I mentioned at the end of the workshop, if you loved this introduction to creative mindfulness, I am now offering 1:1 + small group sessions, called CHOOSE A MUSE, where I can customize an experience specifically for you, or a small group of friends.
These can be a really beautiful gift to yourself or a loved one, to mark a significant transition or occasion, or to awaken a new creative journey.
In these sessions, I weave in a theme or symbol that feels meaningful to you personally. Now that you have this beautiful foundation, we get to choose from a much wider range of materials and methods, customized to your interests, such as watercolour/ink, collage, mindful photography, shadow-drawing, free-writing, and much more.
STAY IN TOUCH!
Follow for future offerings, ‘elevated moments’ inspiration, and behind-the-scenes studio details.
Be first-in-line for announcements of new workshops, classes, art exhibitions, & creative inspiration.
Last, if you would like to explore how I incorporate many of these ideas into my own artwork, each of the images below links to a different series of hand-detailed art prints.
Each of the thoughtfully distilled images + symbols in these collections originated as slow visual meditations in my studio.
They are designed to serve as visual cues, offering a beautiful way to be reminded regularly of specific ideas in your living or work spaces.
Pause, connect + create something
… and let me know how it goes!
xo, NK