Intention for the Self First

In our Reiki tradition, the lineage keeper Mrs Takata encouraged her students to practice "Reiki for the self first!" before treating others. She taught a simple self treatment pattern, and encouraged them to receive Reiki regularly as well.

With Intentional Creativity®, we begin each painting and project with an intention, an issue we are working on, a theme, a tool for identifying our gifts ... How do we connect with this intention and presence whilst competing our CoW quest? 

Lotus Wisdom - with Tina Greene

While tidying my space (a never-ending adventure!!) this morning, I listened to a favorite podcast with Home Purification coach Michael Spencer. One of the episodes I caught was this interview with mindfulness teacher Martha Rouleau from last summer.

Mindfulness and Intentional Creativity® share some beautiful interfaces and enriching practices.

• Self Compassion - as in our painting process, what if we couldn't get it wrong? We need to follow our inner Muse, not get caught in the tyranny of perfecting or comparison.
• There is an invitation to connect with our senses - touch, taste, smell, hearing, what an I present to? What do I feel? See? What will enrich me?
• Engage curiosity - what am i curious about? What calls for exploration? 
• Take time and space to just be - we can get so caught up doing, we forget to pause! Take a breath- you've got this!

Martha shared a couple of quick and simple movements, and exercises for becoming present. The first she calls Sunshine Breath (and talks through on the recording). A similar movement I've been doing for years comes from Qigong - I love my friend Alessandro's version, which he demonstrates here.

On longer IC calls, we often put on some music and take a dance break in the middle! 

Martha's second suggestion was a wonderful exercise for gaining perspective:

• Stand near a window, or go outside
• Look at something small and close, notice several things about it
• Now look as far away as you can see what's the colour? The form?
• Now choose something in the middle; micro, macro and in between! 

This can be very helpful when we start feeling overwhelmed - it brings our place and our focus in the Big Picture into better perspective.

She also shared the image of the wheel - the center hub, what Stella Mac would call our core values, is the constant. We might get distracted by something going on with one of the spokes - but come back to center for reference. Another image common to mindfulness practices is the lotus, which springs from the mud. No mud, no lotus! 

How can you be more mindful, and care for yourself today?