4 Benefits of Adding Meditation to Your Creative Practice | This Changes EVERYTHING 

by Amanda StoneCreative Flow, Creativity, Inspiration, Meditation, SpiritualityPosted on No Comments

If you’re ready to get out of your mind, out of your fears, and out of your self-doubt and into a place of peace when it comes to creating your best work, you definitely want to educate yourself on the four major benefits to adding meditation to your creative practice. When I had my spiritual and creative awakening experience in 2017, meditation was one of the first tools that was taught to me that has been beneficial to my own creative journey. It’s something that I return to time and time again, especially when I’m feeling down, when I’m feeling stressed, or when I’m feeling just off-centered. Meditation is something that I can rely on to bring me back into balance and keep me focused on what I really want to be doing, which is making awesome art, whether it’s painting, writing, or whatever it is that I am into. And that’s what I know you want too. So here are the four major benefits of adding meditation to your creative practice. Benefit 1: Learning to Separate Your Mind and Thought Processes From Your Identity If you’ve ever been in the process of creating, you’ve probably experienced a lot of swirling thoughts in terms of critiquing your own work or wondering if you’re doing a good enough job. Meditation is going to give you the skills necessary to be able to observe those thought patterns without overly identifying with them or attaching to them, which will leave you to do your work more effectively and at the same time learn from the dialogues that are going on within you and see if there are some necessary tweaks of perspective that you need to make in order to either pivot some of those thought processes or tamper them down or eliminate them entirely. Benefit 2: A Tool to Return to Center at Any Time If you’ve learned about The Cycle of Creative Flow, you know that there is an aspect of creative flow that involves rest. It’s a part of the process that we don’t often talk about, but it’s an essential component to creative flow. Meditation is one of the things you can put into practice in order to bring yourself into that state of restoration. In that state of restoration is where you’re going to get realigned with your creative purpose and open yourself up to receive new inspiration. Benefit 3: Aligning More Quickly With Your Authentic Voice as a Creator While you’re in the midst of creating, you can get lost in terms of expressing your authentic voice. You can start to allow the voices of others or the voices of concern to begin manipulating what you’re creating, until you’re no longer creating something that’s authentic to you. Meditation is something that you can do before, during, and after your creative process to bring yourself back into alignment with what your authentic voice wants to say for the peace that you’re creating. Benefit 4: It’s Easy to Put Into Practice Meditation is really easy to do. You don’t need any special equipment to do it, just yourself and your breath. If you’d like to learn and practice a simple heart alignment meditation you can watch one of my heart alignment rituals on YouTube or download my FREE Heart Alignment Ritual Guide, complete with short video lessons. By learning this, at any time you’ll be able to get yourself back in alignment with your authentic truth as a creator, restore your center, and give yourself some space from any thoughts that have been pestering you throughout the week. Conclusion I really hope that you will take the information in this video and begin to apply it by utilizing meditation in your creative practice and seeing the benefits that it has to offer. If you’re interested in more resources like this or learning more about what might be interfering with your ability to express yourself authentically, please explore the free resources and paid resources here on the Awakened Creators website. Just move with what resonates with you. Thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of your creative journey. I am so glad that you have committed to your art, to your heart, and to you. I love you. Namaste.

3 Tips to Enhance Your Creative Process with Presence and Flow | Creative Flow State Explained 

by Amanda StoneCreative Flow, Creativity, SpiritualityPosted on No Comments

Creative flow is a powerful state of being that can help you manifest your dreams and desires. In this series, we have explored all three components of creative flow and how to embody it in your creative process. In this article and video, we will discuss three tips to help you embody presence during the creative flow process. Tip 1: Respect the Cycle The creative process is a cycle with layers of learning and understanding that unfold as you engage in it. We don’t want to get stuck in the body phase and try to force our manifestation out, but instead intuitively listen to our bodies and return to Spirit to receive inspiration for the next phase. As we move through this cycle of Spirit, Mind, and Body, we are creating, manifesting, and making real all of these things, and in the process, we ourselves are becoming changed. It is important to honor the cyclical nature of creation and to remember that there is a time and place to do each thing. Tip 2: Balance Masculine and Feminine Energies The Mind and Body components of the cycle are very masculine and form-based, requiring a fully embodied masculine energy. However, it is necessary to honor the feminine energies embodied in Spirit, surrender, compassion, tenderness, and nurturing. If you forget, just take a breath and remember the balance of masculine and feminine energies. Tip 3: Connect to Your Heart The center of the creative process is the heart. This heartfelt presence is the soul of everything you are doing on your creative journey. It is that presence, beingness, connection to the Divine, and is-ness that is always present and is your center. If you feel yourself spiraling out of creative flow, return to your heart and center yourself. I have created a FREE Heart Alignment Creative Ritual Guide to help you do this. Conclusion I hope that this series on Creative Flow has been helpful to you. If you feel like you are getting stuck in any phase of the creative process, please consider using the Heart Alignment Creative Ritual Guide. I have also prepared a Masterclass on Overcoming Creative Blocks in the various phases of the creative flow cycle with actual exercises and spiritual tools. If you missed any part of this blog series, you can start at the beginning with this article and video about the secrets to creative flow that no one told you. Thank you for being here and for being committed to your art, your heart, and yourself. Namaste.

Burned Out Creators: Understand This To Get Back In Flow | Creative Flow State Explained 

by Amanda StoneCreative Flow, Creativity, SpiritualityPosted on No Comments

The Creative Cycle of Flow starts with inspiration from Spirit, moves to conceptualization in the mind, and then to action in the body. But what happens when we get stuck in the body phase of creative flow? In this video and article, we’ll discuss the body’s role in creative flow and how to avoid burnout and physical illness. The Body’s Role in Creative Flow The body phase of creative flow is characterized by action. This is the output of what we are putting forth into the world. It doesn’t have to be a big action or a long action, but it is important to be present in the act of doing. This phase of the creative cycle is very masculine in its energy, and it is possible to get stuck in this phase. When we are stuck in the body, we can become tired, exhausted, and burnt out. Our back may start aching, our muscles may give out, and we may feel tired. This is a signal from our body that the body phase of our creation is coming to a close. It is important to remember that this doesn’t mean that we need to have finished our project. The body is not the end of creating. We don’t go from Spirit to Mind to Body and then ta-da, everything is done. It is a cycle, and we will cycle many times through Mind, Body, Spirit, adding layers of understanding and creative expression to the thing we are making. We want to avoid getting pulled back into our minds or starting to question our actions. We want to be present with the act of doing. We also want to avoid letting ourselves get pulled back into the Mind, pausing our progress or starting to question the progress we have already made and halting the flow cycle. Returning to Spirit When we start spiraling out of flow, at any point, we need to return to Center through our heart alignment practice and remind ourselves that this is just one third of the whole of the creative flow cycle. When finishing the body phase, we are allowed to, encouraged to, and invited to rest . After we have rested in Spirit, then we can return back to the mind and the body at a later time. If we do happen to get stuck in the body phase of creative flow, where we are putting a lot of pressure on ourselves to finish, we need to surrender and let go of the need to push. We need to allow ourselves to return to that more Yin aspect of the creative flow, release the Yang, and allow ourselves to return to Spirit to surrender back into rest. Conclusion In the body phase of creative flow it is possible to get stuck, and when we do, we can become tired, exhausted, and burnt out. It is important to remember that this doesn’t mean that we need to have finished our project. We want to avoid getting pulled back into our minds or starting to question our actions. When we start spiraling out of flow, at any point, we need to return to Center (which you can learn to do with my FREE Heart Alignment Guide) and remind ourselves that this is just one third of the whole of the creative flow cycle. We are allowed to, encouraged to, and invited to rest. We need to surrender and let go of the need to push and allow ourselves to return to Spirit to surrender back into rest. Let’s conclude our discussion by tying all three phases together. You can watch the video below or read the article here.

Attention Overthinkers! | Help Your Mind SUPPORT Creative Flow | Creative Flow State Explained 

by Amanda StoneCreative Flow, Creativity, SpiritualityPosted on No Comments

What is the role of the Mind in the creative flow process? The mind gets a ton of credit for creativity, but it is really only one of the three elements necessary to bring something to life. So if you tend to get stuck in your mind overthinking your creative projects, this article is for you! If you prefer, you may watch the video. Together, we’ll put that pesky mind of yours in its place. This article and video are the next in a series about creative flow and how creative flow really works. If we can master creative flow, we can keep ourselves going along our creative Journey for a very long time. The Mind Element We all know we live in a mental world, a world that is obsessed with the mind and thinking. So our brains tend to get most of the credit when it comes to our creative process. But I’m here to tell you it is a third of what’s necessary in order to keep things going. After you’ve received inspiration from the element of spirit and you’ve opened yourself up to trust it that you are the one to receive it and that this inspiration is worthy of your time and attention, you’ll bring that inspiration down into the mind. The mind is where we begin to conceptualize and plan our creative process. Now this can be as quick and simple as “Oh my gosh I have an idea! I need pens, papers, someone give me a notebook!” to as detailed and well thought out as the script for a movie and all of the characters and “I’m gonna need actors and I’m gonna need costumes and I’m gonna need a set and where shall it be” and all of these questions start to form in the mind. So again, the mind is a really essential part of the creation process because that’s where we’re taking what was previously a nebulous inspiration and we’re giving it more form and structure. We’re starting to put things in a logical order that would make sense to us if we were to explain it to someone else what this idea is. Moving From the Mind Element to the Body Element So the key to moving from the Mind element to the body element so that you can manifest what you wanting to create is action. There’s just no other way around it. You have to act. Now if you’re feeling resistant to acting, that’s where we always return and align to the heart. Then we can ask, “Where is that resistance to action coming from?” If you need help doing this and kind of sussing out the reason behind your overthinking and your fear of taking action, I have written a eBook full of journal prompts for you to go really deep on this and find out why you’re getting stuck in the mind. That eBook is part of a series of ebooks that I’m writing about each element of the creative flow cycle. Not Having All the Answers One common fear that people have about taking action is that they don’t have all the answers yet. However, understanding the cycle of creative flow tells us that in order to receive the answer to our problem, we must act. If you’ve ever heard the adage “action brings Clarity”, this is the moment to use that adage. You must act. Do something. Take action on one of your ideas, even if it doesn’t work out, even if it ends up being wrong. You now know you can check that one off your list. It won’t work and you can move on to the next idea. Without taking action, you’ll never know what will happen and then you’ll be constantly stuck in this state of suspended animation instead of moving forward. If you are feeling fearful because you don’t have all the answers, go ahead and take action on something anyways and just see. Now that might bring up a lot of tension for you and if it does, there’s something in your heart that maybe needs a revolution. It could be a deep-seated fear, a failure, or a fear of making mistakes. If that’s the case, you need to tune into your heart to find out exactly what’s going on so you can bring compassion and love to that part of yourself. Why Heart Alignment Matters More The practice of aligning with your heart that we talk about here at Awakened Creators is so powerful, yet simple, I created a FREE Heart Alignment Guide. This simple 3-step ritual is going to help you tune into your heart so you can ask it these questions. You’ll get to know what is it that your heart really needs you to understand before you can move safely and confidently into action. Conclusion Just remember that the mind, while brilliant, is only one small part of the creative flow process and if you’re getting stuck in this space you need to act. I know it’s easier said than done but action truly does bring clarity. By acting, you keep the energy in the Cycle of Creative Flow moving so that the solutions to your questions can become inspired answers as you continue on the journey. After you move from the mind into the body, you can start to manifest your creation. However, be warned, the body also sometimes struggles in knowing when to stop. So if burnout is your problem, we’ll answer all those questions for you and more in the next article and video in this series.

What is Creative Flow? | The Secrets No One Told You | Creative Flow State Explained

by Amanda StoneCreative Flow, Creativity, SpiritualityPosted on No Comments

Creative flow is a concept that is often discussed in creative circles, but few people truly understand what it is and how it works. In this series, Amanda from Awakened Creators will explain the lesser-known aspects of creative flow that can be a real game-changer for your creative journey. If you prefer to watch the video, you can. What is Creative Flow? Creative flow is a state of being that emerges naturally when a creator is in harmony with all aspects of the creative process. This means that creative flow is not just a feeling that you get when you are actively creating, but rather a state of being that can be achieved throughout the entire creative process. As Alan Watts said, we should remind ourselves often that we’re “a human being not a human doing.” Being is something that the great Eckhart Tolle talks about in his book, The Power of Now. In it, he says, “Give your fullest attention to whatever the moment presents. This implies that you also completely accept what is because you cannot give your full attention to something and at the same time resist it. As soon as you honor the present moment, all unhappiness and struggle dissolve and life begins to flow with joy and ease. You no longer depend on the future for fulfillment and satisfaction. Therefore, you are not attached to the results; neither failure nor success has the power to change your inner state of being. You have found the life underneath your life situation.” This teaches us that the state of being is not concerned with the future or outcomes, which can often be the obsession of creatives. What is important is that we maintain and focus on a state of being, accepting each moment as it is. When we do this, creative flow emerges naturally. How Does Creative Flow Emerge? When we can tap into a state of heartfelt presence or being, we naturally align ourselves with the is-ness of the all. This is a place of love, unconditional and acceptance of what Is. It is only when we are in harmony with this Is-ness or in dissonance with it that creates those feelings of resistance or creative blocks. Harmony is what happens when sound is vibrating in a way that creates a unity that moves together. It is the symphony of life. When we are in harmony with our creative process, we are in alignment with it. This is why here at Awakened Creators, we talk a lot about being in alignment. The Creative Flow Process Creative flow is not just about actively manifesting through our bodies, but also includes mental processing in order to conceptualize the inspiration that we’ve received, as well as inspiration and the spiritual element of receiving and surrendering. Resting and allowing inspiration to find you is also an important part of the creative flow process. In order to truly be in a state of flow, we must accept all stages of creation. It is like a tree that is always in a state of flow no matter what stage of the process it is in, whether it is in the winter resting, hibernating, going within, or in the spring budding with new ideas, or in the summer and fall, ample and ready to share what is created. Conclusion Now that we understand what creative flow is, we can begin to explore the first aspect of the creative flow process: Where does creativity come from and what is inspiration? In the next video in this series, Amanda will explore these questions and more. Or if you prefer, you can read the article.

Where Does Creativity REALLY Come From? | Creative Flow State Explained 

by Amanda StoneCreative Flow, Creativity, Inspiration, SpiritualityPosted on No Comments

Creativity is something that has been around since the dawn of time. It is a powerful force that can be used to create beautiful works of art, music, literature, and more. But where does this creative energy come from? In this video, Amanda explains the creative flow state and how to tap into it to access your creative potential. What is Creative Inspiration? Creative inspiration is a state of being that allows us to tap into our dreams, faith, and moments of presence. It is a breath of spirit that can be inhaled to awaken our creative potential. Creative inspiration has nothing to do with the mind, as it is a spiritual process that begins in the realm of infinite possibilities. For example, there are a million depictions of a rose in modern art. No one artist sees a rose the same way. Your unique perspective is what the universe craves and in this you get to choose with your awareness which imaginative perspective you would like to capture and receive. How to Access Creative Inspiration In order to access creative inspiration, we must be in a state of heartfelt presence. This means being in harmony with the creative flow process and trusting that we are the right individuals to perceive such a thing. However, there are a lot of things that can get in the way of allowing inspiration into the creative flow process. This can create dissonance and can make it difficult to access our creative potential. Once we have accessed creative inspiration, we can then move it into the mind. This is where a lot of people think that inspiration starts, but at Awakened Creators, we now know that it begins much earlier than that. Conclusion Creative inspiration is a powerful force that can be used to create beautiful works of art, music, literature, and more. It is a spiritual process that begins in the realm of infinite possibilities and can be accessed through a state of heartfelt presence. Once we have accessed creative inspiration, we can then move it into the mind and begin the creative process. The next video in this series can be viewed here, or you can read the article. At Awakened Creators, we do the inner work necessary to do the outer work that we love. We are so glad to be a part of your creative journey and hope that this video has been helpful in understanding the creative flow state and how to tap into it. If you’d like to align with your creative essence, consider my Heart Alignment Guide where I’ll explain a simple 3-step process for getting in tune with your authentic creative energy.