Igniting Creativity and Inspiring Imagination
Igniting Creativity
Creating Magic and Fun with Your Kids is Easy
Image is the first half of imagination. Igniting creativity, inspiring imagination and having some fun with your kids is easy, if you use your brain. Here is my recipe: I love looking at the sky and at trees to see if I can find pictures. I remember spending lots of time as a kid just gazing up at the clouds or staring at a tree to see what might be hiding there.
It’s a great pastime and allows your child to be creative. Trying to describe what you’re seeing when someone else might not see the same thing is a great way to practice “getting your point across.”
What Do You See?
Yesterday I was walking along our road and saw this tree trunk. Do you see the horse that has reared up on his hind legs and is peering over the fence?!? I’ve noticed it before but this time I had my iPhone along so I could take the picture.
Do you see what I’m seeing?
If not, maybe it would just take some time to describe how and why I’m seeing what I’m seeing. The process is truly like painting pictures with your words.
Practice this with your kids.
Simple Energy Tips for Igniting Creativity
AND if either of you need some help expressing what you are seeing, try these simple energy tips:
- Hold the base of your skull, right fingers on the right side and left fingers on the left side
- up the base of your skull with one hand and cup your forehead with the other
Have fun being a creative artist with your words!
Your Mind is the Center of Your Creativity
For more information about igniting your creativity and using your brain, check out Steven Campbell’s radio show and website. I will be his guest on September 2nd from 9:00 to 11:00 am. His radio program is entitled “Making Your Mind Magnificent.” Steven’s weekly radio show features the latest findings in cognitive psychology.
Tune into KOWS radio at 107.3 FM and on the internet at http://kows107-3.org. You may call us during the show at 707-874-1073.
The Perils of Being Unconsciousness
Be Here Now
Have you caught yourself being un-conscious, that is not aware of where you are at a specific moment or not being aware of HOW to be where you are?
Bambi Alert
I’ll give you an example from my life! In the past few weeks I’ve been unlucky enough to have deer jumping the fence and getting into my garden. Now that is a bummer! I’ve lost tomatoes, strawberries, lettuce, flowers and who knows what else. I know they’re hungry and searching for food and water, but in MY garden? I have a really tall fence all around the garden, but I think they’re jumping onto the deck and then over the railing into the garden itself. Now, those deer are truly persistent.
One of the first mornings I discovered three deer (a doe and two little ones) meandering around and chomping away, I rushed down without thinking about what was on my feet. Big mistake. I should’ve been wearing tennis shoes, not sandals. In the process of herding them through an open gate, I stubbed my toe and really hurt it.
My Wake-up Moment
I know that accidents happen. But I truly was not being in a state of conscious awareness of where I was putting my feet and how I was moving. Well, those deer are still getting in, but I’m not going into “frantic mode”. It is what it is and I’ve decided to move more slowly and deliberately as I meander my way into the garden and herd those “sweet looking beings” out the gate.
The Lesson of My Story
BE in a conscious state of awareness by allowing every part of you to fully feel your body, where you are in time and space, and how you are experiencing your surroundings and emotions. One way to get yourself there easily is to “do” a daily practice of mindfulness. Maybe it’s doing the Daily Clean Your House Flow, maybe it’s meditating, maybe it’s a practice you’re already putting into your day. Whatever it is, allow you and your body to feel the breath and feel the movement of energy.
A Quick Energy Tip for Mindfulness
A real quick energy tip to bring in breath and bring you and your body to full awareness is to:
- Right hand — cup sternum directly below the clavicle
- Left hand — hold fingers in a vertical pattern on your tummy
This simple energy movement will remind your body to breath and to go to that place of centered and grounded. THAT is where you will experience “conscious awareness” and truly be present.
I’ll give you more next time — both the story and the energy tips.
Enjoy being in the moment!
Getting Centered and Feeling Better
Have you ever noticed that when you feel “out-of-sorts” you might just need to take a break from what you’re doing? Sometimes if you switch up where you are, you can quickly change your perspective too. For me, I often just need to walk outside and literally smell the roses. Yes, I’m “smelling the different air” and in reality I’m putting myself in a different environment that allows my brain and my senses to make different connections and create a new way of being in that instant. And when I’m really in a stuck place, getting dirty in the garden is more often than not the perfect solution for me!
Kids have the very same need as we do to make a quick shift from blah to better. Emotions and feelings and that sensation of “I don’t know why I feel this way, but I do” can often be so all-encompassing that they can literally take over and cause a “no rational thought can even happen in this space.” When that happens to a child, you can make a big difference by helping them create new habits and patterns.
When you notice that your child and/or student is really having a rough time, create a diversion which can help them get unstuck and experience a different way of being. Be supportive of what your child is experiencing and validate what is being felt. You just might help create the moment when they realize they can be in control of their own energy and the way they feel — a true moment of empowerment.
Hit the Reset Button
Some possible diversions that can trigger a reset are:
- Come up with a favorite outside activity, like “want to go ride your bike?”
- Or “Let’s go for walk. I could really use a break.”
- “Will you help me_______?” (choose something you know your child loves to do)
- And one of my absolute favorite suggestions is to do the Daily Clean Your House Flow or at the very least the Jumper Cables, which is the last step of the Daily Flow.
When we bring a daily practice of energy balancing into our lives, the body “knows what it feels like.” It will more easily go to that place of being in balance and being centered as soon as you start doing some of the energy poses.
Case in point – I was having a rough day last weekend. Old feelings of loss came up when I was spending time with an old friend who knew my husband and me when we were in college. I could tell that I had “lost my center” so I went down to the garden and spent some quiet time doing some energy work. Within a few minutes, I could feel my breath expand and I could feel myself becoming okay with where I am now. I got back in touch with “being in the moment.”
It doesn’t matter how old we are or what we’ve experienced, sometimes we just need to change up the pattern and give ourselves a reset.
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School Daze
School is right around the corner! Now how can that be happening already? As a parent, you might be noticing the kids having some anxious moments as the first day gets closer. And, as a teacher, you are probably recognizing that there will be a few of your students who are nervous and a bit unsure of what to expect.
So, it’s easy to help them be better prepared, whether it’s the weeks before or those first days.
Do the Daily Clean Your House Flow! Many of you already know how to do it, but are you aware that your kids can follow it via an animation video? Check out the trailer video on www.dailycleanyourhouseflow.com.
Tips for Productive, Confident Kids
Here are a few tips to help let go of those nervous, anxious moments and to even prevent them! Show your kids and they can do it for themselves. It’s all about learning how to become a partner with your own body. And if we make it an easy process, we’ll do it – whether we’re young or older!
- Right hand – cup your sternum directly below the collarbone
- Left hand – hold your fingertips in a vertical pattern on your tummy.
- Right hand – hold your fingertips on the outside of the right knee
- Left hand – hold fingertips on the outside of the left knee.
Let me know how your kids are doing! I love hearing the results and the stories!
The Dog Days of Summer
The “dog days of summer” occur during the hottest and muggiest part of the season. Webster defines “dog days” as the period between early July and early September when the hot sultry weather of summer usually occurs in the northern hemisphere.
In the summer Sirius, the “dog star,” rises and sets with the sun. During late July Sirius is in conjunction with the sun, and the ancients believed that its heat added to the heat of the sun, creating a stretch of hot and sultry weather. They named this period of time, from 20 days before the conjunction to 20 days after, “dog days” after the Dog Star.
So – that being said, how are YOU doing with the stretches of time when the heat can be unbearable?
I’ve found that it’s all about helping our bodies NOT be in reaction. Doing a daily practice of energy work definitely helps our bodies be better prepared for what might come at them – including heat and mugginess. And here’s some energy tips to help you do extra prevention and to actually let go of the reaction.
Tips for Overcoming Reactions to Heat
- Right hand – hold fingertips at left upper arm
- Left hand – hold fingertips on base of right ribcage
- Right hand – hold outside of right knee
- Left hand – hold outside of left knee
Banish Hot Flashes
This flow can really stop the “flash of heat”
- Right hand – cup sternum directly below the collarbone
- Left hand – hold fingertips on tummy
- Right hand – hold base of spine at tailbone
- Left hand – hold outside of left knee
Let me know how it’s going! AND hoping the rest of this summer is ALL you want it to be! It’s all about enjoying what Mother Nature has created for us. AND it’s about finding ways to enjoy every moment.
