| Meditative Approaches to
Creative Expression by Katelyn Mariah When the artist is alive in any person, whatever his kind of work may be, he becomes an inventive, searching, daring, self-expressing, creature. He becomes interesting to other people. He disturbs, upsets, enlightens and he opens the way for a better understanding. -- Robert Henri The creative process stops for a lot of people at about 10 years of age, when someone laughs at our artwork or the teacher says we can do a better job. From then on, when we attempt to draw we hear the teacher's voice or the children's laughter and we are the 10-year-old who can't draw again. How many times have you heard someone say, "I can only draw stick people." That is because it is only stick people who can squeeze through the crack in the door that is closed to creativity. People who are in the flow of creative energy are open, flexible, spontaneous and fearless. They are willing to take risks, make mistakes and have fun in the process for it is within the risk and mistake making that our greatest teachers live. In this flow of energy the whole world opens up, blesses you and shows you options you didn't know were available to you. I have been a visionary artist and writer for many years. I have learned to get out of my own way and open to inspiration. The word inspire comes from the Latin word "inspirare," which means "to breath into" or "in"-into + "spirare," to breathe. Inspiration comes to us on the wings of the very breath we breathe. It can be just that easy, if we are open and listening. The simple act of conscious breathing deeply into the diaphragm can be a meditation in itself and have profound impact on the ability to open to creativity. Taoist master Mantak Chia describes the diaphragm as nothing less than a spiritual muscle. He says: "Lifting the heart and fanning the fires of digestion and metabolism, the diaphragm muscle plays a largely unheralded role in maintaining our health, vitality and well-being." How do we bring the artist alive, as Robert Henri suggests in the above quotation? I believe we can make sacred the space in our inner and outer environment using mind, body, spirit techniques, and from there we can access our creative muse. By setting a practice before you sit down to create something you become balanced and inspiration can flow through you. This is the space of innocence, imagination and play. This is the space of innocence, imagination and play. Carl Jung says "The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves." Creativity is born from that calm inner home that resides in the heart, not in the mind. It is the ability to invent, experiment, take risks, break rules, make mistakes and have fun doing it. We all have this ability and it is the stresses of life that make it difficult to access. I have completed the Advanced Mind-body Skills group training with Dr. James Gordon of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington, D.C. He is also the author of Manifesto for A New Medicine. Dr. Gordon has created a group model for stress release and relaxation that is simple and yet very powerful. Mind-Body Skills include: meditation, breathing technique, movement, music, biofeedback, autogenics, imagery, art and group processing. During the past eleven years Dr. Gordon has used the techniques successfully with cancer patients and victims of war and torture. The successful use of the techniques is supported by research. I see each of the techniques as a form of meditation. Dr. Gordon believes that awareness and meditation are fundamental to the deep change that is necessary for healing. He says the following in "Manifesto to a New Medicine": "Awareness allows us to see where we are; to stand for a moment outside ourselves; to appreciated in a powerful, personal way how the world around us affects us; to observe the thoughts, feelings and sensations that arise in us. Meditation is a state of moment-to-moment awareness that over time may help to dissolve physical symptoms and habitual ways of thinking and acting. Both awareness and meditation enable us to experience the way our mind may limit or free us. Together they prepare us to use our mind to make the deep changes in thought, feeling, and action that are necessary for our healing." I have created Mind-Body Skills groups, using simple yet powerful techniques that are specifically for opening to and enhancing creativity. I have personally worked successfully with the techniques in my creative process, as a visionary artist. My practice includes techniques that will be learned in the group, such as breathing exercises, movement, mediation, simple yoga techniques and dance. I have discovered that the techniques remove stress and put me into a clear space and inspiration just flows in because I am a receptive container. The Mind-Body Skills put me in the place where I am connected to that wise inner guide, my inner well of creativity. Mind-Body Medicine techniques are complete and comprehensive healing techniques that integrate body, mind and spirit. The continued use of these techniques will enhance creativity, guide an individual to greater self-awareness, and redesign and rehabilitate the body and mind. When the senses are still, when the mind is at rest, when the intellect wavers not, the highest stage is reached. From this place we can move to a space of conscious play where imagination, wisdom and creativity dance together. Play consciousness is the surrender to our deepest unconscious wisdom, the place of ancient memory and of collective information. This is the place that we can access a deep understanding and ways of knowing that are not available to the conscious mind. This is the present moment and it is sacred play. It is the inner healer, artist, and wise one. We are all artists, with our own unique form of creative expression. All we need to do to access this part of ourselves is step out of our own way. For me mediation, music, journaling movement and dance are ways to do just that and are gateways to accessing my inner wise guide. I hope this inspires you to do the same. Katelyn Mariah BFA, MA, LICSW, is a visionary artist and expressive arts therapist with 19 years of experience working with children and families. She has studied metaphysics and indigenous wisdom for many years. Katelyn has advance training in Mind-Body Skills groups from the Center for Mind Body Medicine in Washington DC. She is conducting Mind-Body Skills groups that are focused on opening and expanding creativity and groups for general health and well-being. New groups are starting all of the time.To find out more visit her web gallery at www.katelynmariah.com or contact Katelyn at (651) 646-8306 or hummingbird@usfamily.net to find out more information about groups. Copyright © 2004 Katelyn Mariah |
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Aug 2004 |
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