A Surprisingly Colorful Way To Meditate Plus An All New Workshop

There's something so appealing about coloring mandalas...the continuous circle of shapes...the discovery or creation of patterns...the combination of colors...the relaxing act of coloring...all of this creates a very soothing, meditative experience.

In fact, coloring mandalas is considered by some to be a wonderful meditation technique.

If the idea of sitting on a mat and observing your breath for 30 minutes sounds like pure torture, then coloring a mandala might be just the meditation method for you.

As you may have noticed, I love mandalas! My Creative Oasis Coaching logo is a mandala and I regularly share mandala coloring sheets in my classes, workshops and coloring parties.

(*By the way ~ my August Creative Oasis Coloring & Wine Party sold out so quickly that I happily scheduled another one for September too. You can find all the details here.)

In addition to coloring, over the years I've discovered other ways to create mandalas that are simple to do and creatively satisfying.

I'm delighted to offer a new workshop devoted to creating mandalas this fall!

Discover the creative magic of making mandalas in this unique, low-pressure workshop. No previous experience, skills or talent needed ~ just a desire to dive into the creative process while playing with art supplies in a way that brings you creative fun and fulfillment.

We won't be meditating, but we will enjoy a great evening of creative camaraderie and chocolate!

WHAT

Mandalas ~ Mandalas ~ Mandalas 

Workshop

WHEN

Wednesday, September 9, 2015 

6:30 to 9:30 pm 

WHERE

Pigment School of the Arts

4605 West Lovers Lane

Dallas, Texas  75209

COST

$125 

(includes all creative supplies, handouts and yes, there will be chocolate)

*NOTE ~ Class size is limited to 8 & pre-registration is required.

To save your seat, purchase your class below. 

Until next time, all the best from my Creative Oasis to yours,

Jill

Jill Allison Bryan

www.creativeoasiscoaching.com

P.S. ~ If you enjoyed this post please feel free to share. If you'd like to receive bite-size bonbons of creative inspiration like this Mid-Week Oasis Moments plus a free copy of my e-book "Permission to Be Creative 101" join me here: http://www.creativeoasiscoaching.com/newsletter.html.

The Dalai Lama Vs. Your Inner Critic

"Everything else on your to-do list is more important than creative projects!"

"Are you kidding? You don't have time for this!"

"You're not an artist, writer, photographer, musician, gardener (fill in the blank)!"

"Who do you think you are?"

"Everyone else's needs are more important than your silly creative stuff!"

"Why bother?"

"You're wasting time!"

"You're wasting money!"

"You stink at this!"

Let's face it...our inner critic voice can be truly awful!

If you ever find yourself thinking insidious thoughts like these, you are not alone.

As a wonderful woman in my recent workshop at the Creative Arts Center put it, "My inner critic is a total asshole!"

We all laughed, while at the same time nodding our heads in agreement. Every woman there could relate on some level to the toxic messages our inner critic spews forth at times.

I'm lucky to be going to see the Dalai Lama speak today, so I've been revisiting some of his quotes that I love.

When I came upon the words above I figured he'd probably approve of the message being used as a reminder for us to be kind to ourselves as much as to others.

So, in true Kaizen form, I leave you with this one small question to ponder today in your journal, or on a walk or right now for that matter.

What's one small way you can be kind to your creative spirit today? 

And maybe the next time your inner critic comes calling you can call on the compassionate words of the Dalai Lama and show yourself a little love and kindness.

All the best from my Creative Oasis to yours,

Jill

Jill Allison Bryan

www.creativeoasiscoaching.com

P.S. ~ If you enjoyed this post please share on Facebook and twitter using the buttons below!  If you'd like to receive bite-size bonbons of creative inspiration like this Mid-Week Oasis Moments plus a free copy of my e-book "Permission to Be Creative 101" join me here: http://www.creativeoasiscoaching.com/newsletter.html.

The Gift of Me

At the Double J Hacienda and Art Ranch over Thanksgiving weekend, I offered a holiday creative workshop. We had a cozy little group of wonderful women come together and took some time to stop and think about what we’d like this season to look like for ourselves. We began by quick-listing words and phrases from our pasts that brought up good memories of “Christmas” or “Holidays” for us: baking cookies, classic movies, looking at lights, etc… More often than not, our lists had nothing to do with shopping or gifts, rather our favorite memories revolved around shared experiences with friends and family.

We created mind-maps to expound upon the idea of intentionally creating a holiday season that would be fulfilling and joyful rather than stressful and filled with too many things that weren’t important to us or felt like obligations just to make someone else happy. From our mind-maps we created collaged postcards that I later mailed out as a fun reminder – a very personal Christmas card to ourselves. (That’s the front of mine above and the back below.)

What I realized was that I wanted to leave plenty of space and time this month to be with the people I hold dear and to share the gift of me with them – or rather, of my full attention and love.  I made myself a promise to cut back on multi-tasking and focus one thing at a time, especially when interacting with others. I also reminded myself that keeping enough time open for good self-care through meditation, exercise and journaling was a gift that I could give myself that would benefit me as well as my friends and family. You’ve heard the saying, “If momma ain’t happy – ain’t nobody happy – so true! And if I let self-care slide, I get pretty Grinchy pretty quickly. 

I’ll admit, it’s been a pretty jam-packed month, and there is still quite a bit left to do, but for the most part, I’ve enjoyed feeling in the flow of things rather than swamped, and that has been lovely. I'm so grateful for all of the special holiday memories I've experienced already: watching a young friend act in a wonderful production of "A Christmas Carol," seeing my daughter perform holiday numbers with her dance company at events around town, going with dear friends to see the musical "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas," hosting our extended family Christmas party, playing Monopoly with my dad and daughter while my mom baked cookies and my husband played guitar – the good stuff you can't buy at the mall.  I feel sure that by taking the time to ask myself what I really wanted my holiday to look like, and spending some time with this awareness I've enjoyed this busy season much more than I would have otherwise.

What about you? There are a few days left before Christmas and over a week before the New Year.  There’s still time to create the experiences that you desire. Do you want to string popcorn and cranberries? Do you want to drink hot chocolate and watch “Charlie Brown’s Christmas?” Do you want to give yourself the gift of ten whole minutes just sitting in front of your Christmas tree enjoying the lights? Even the smallest of things can bring us an enormous amount of joy, especially when we allow ourselves to really be in the moment and immerse ourselves in it.

I wish you a Merry Little Christmas and the time and space to create at least a few wonderful holiday experiences that you’ll treasure now and always.

All the best from my Christmas oasis to yours,

Jill