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The Best Prayer for Creativity: The Awakened Creators Invocation

by Amanda StoneCreativity, Inspiration, Spirituality, VideosPosted on No Comments

Listen up, because this is the creative ritual that I engage in before starting any creative project. It really helps me to release self-judgement and open up to creative flow. It is hands down, the best prayer for creativity I have ever used. The Awakened Creators Invocation (aka Creativity Prayer), is super easy to understand and use.  You can check out the quick video I made to explain the process, or just read this blog! Step 1 – Create Sacred Space The first thing that I have to do is create sacred space as part of my creativity ritual. I have a whole video playlist devoted to how to create sacred space as part of developing your own creative rituals here. Creating sacred space for my creativity includes: Locking the door Asking my family not to disturb me Clearing my energy (you can burn sage or just take some deep breaths) Center in my heart (you can hold crystals (link to crystals for creativity) or just place your hands on your heart) Step 2 – Read the Creativity Prayer Out Loud Now it is time to read the Awakened Creators Invocation, which you can download in my FREE Elevate & Create Guide. Note: This creativity prayer allows you to insert the name of your own personal concept of God. It does not require you to hold any particular religion or belief system or any belief system at all. You could pray to Yoda for all I care.  It is important that you read the invocation aloud and with sincerity. It will feel awkward at first and that’s okay. You will get used to it with time and soon even memorize the words.  And that’s it! Performing this super simple ritual for creativity is a great way to clear your mind, and prepare yourself for whatever experience wants to come through.  If you haven’t downloaded the FREE Elevate and Create PDF Guide you can do that here. The PDF of the invocation is gorgeous! I’m super proud of it! I hope this helps you. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below. And don’t forget to join the Awakened Creators family over on Instagram @awakened.creators for daily creative inspiration and guidance.  Much love, Amanda

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3 Powerful Lessons Reclaiming Creativity Taught Me

by Amanda StoneCreativity, InspirationPosted on No Comments

If you would have met me back in 2017, you would think I had everything going for me. I had a partner, a child, and a good paying job. I was even going to graduate school to further my career prospects. But despite appearances, my life was a complete mess. Beneath the surface, I was an alcoholic, putting down 1.5 to 2 bottles of wine every night (a huge improvement from my former pints of vodka). When I remembered, I would take my anti-depressant and anti-anxiety medication (a terrible mix with booze btw). And whenever alcohol wasn’t available, I would eat my feelings in a stomach-turning sugar binge.  All of this self-destruction and self-loathing led me to the brink of suicide for the second time in my life. That is, until my creativity stepped in to saved me. Literally. When I began to reclaim my creativity, everything changed. I found my missing piece. The piece I had denied myself for so long because I believed the lie that my creativity wasn’t important, wasn’t practical, and wasn’t needed. This is the biggest lie a creative soul could ever tell themselves! After surviving this supreme low in life, reclaiming my creativity taught me 3 powerful lessons that I’d like to share with you. My sincere hope is that by sharing my journey, you will never need to sink into the darkness, like I did, to find these truths. 1. Creative expression is necessary for some people Society likes to treat creativity like sprinkles on a cupcake. An added extra to flavor life, but something you could easily do without. My experience taught me that this isn’t true for some people. For “creative souls”, our expression of creativity is as important as breathing. It is a vital element of our well-being and should be treated as such. When we disregard our creativity as an afterthought, or relentlessly judge it, we rob ourselves of this incredible lifeforce. As seen in my story, and in many I’ve heard from other creatives, ignoring this can be a death sentence.  2. Creativity is an act of self love When we take the time and space to pursue our creativity, it sends a powerful signal to our soul that we love and appreciate what makes us happy. By accepting creativity as a real part of our identity, deserving of our attention, we give ourselves the healing gift of unconditional love. It isn’t about achieving some creative goal or level of recognition (although that is very possible as an Awakened Creator). Reclaiming your creativity is caring about yourself enough to put your own oxygen mask on first before anyone else around you. To choose your creativity is to choose to love yourself.  3. The creative journey is all about transformation Creative souls aren’t just creatively talented for the heck of it, our creativity is a divine gift. When applied properly, our creativity can transform our lives and carry us on an incredible lifelong journey of self-discovery through joy. Your creative projects (and your setbacks) are a reflection of your inner state, and with each one, you learn something powerful about yourself, about life, about…everything! Creativity is a force for deep healing, and serves as both the tool and the path. As you transform, your work becomes infused with the wisdom you’ve gained and holds the power to help others heal as well. So how did I start reclaiming my creativity? How can you start making your creativity a priority and showing yourself some love through your creative expression? Here are 3 tools that worked beautifully for me (and that I still use): 1. Shadow Journaling At Awakened Creators, we refer to self-reflective journaling as “sacred journeying”. This invaluable process allows a clearer window into the often subconscious source(s) of blockages in our creative process.  By surrendering our fears, anxieties, and rage onto the page, we not only give ourselves a safe space to feel our emotions and demonstrate powerful self-compassion, we start freeing ourselves from unhealthy attachment to and blind acceptance of false narratives that keep us stuck. I often share journal prompts on Instagram to encourage this practice and offer guidance for going deep. I recommend every creative keep a journal, and use it as often as they feel called, especially during creative blocks. 2. Meditation Meditation is a very powerful tool for learning how to quiet your inner critic and untangle old programming that is leaving you stuck. Meditation can be as simple or complex as you want it to be, so don’t feel bad starting with just a few minutes a day. As you start seeing the positive results of a meditation practice, you will actually want to do it for longer and more often. I use meditation as both a daily practice (as often as I can) and as a prescriptive medicine when I get into a funky head space. If you want help getting started, guided meditations are great because they walk you through the process step by step. I have a growing library of meditations I’ve recorded on the Awakened Creators YouTube Channel that you can check out. 3. Create (of course)! Did you actually think you could reclaim your creativity without picking up that pencil or paintbrush? Not a chance! Whatever your medium of expression, you MUST actually do it to experience the transformative power of the creative journey. I get it. It can be scary to start, especially if you’ve been repressing your creativity for years, but the rewards will be great. Yes, you will judge yourself. Yes, you will wonder what the heck to create, but taking that risk will be so worthwhile! When you are living in your joy and feeling better about your life than you ever have, you will only wish you’d started sooner! Well beautiful soul, I hope reading this helped you understand how essential reclaiming your creativity is to your well-being and given you some practical tools you can use to begin your journey.  It is …

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The REAL reason you can’t create (and 5 ways to fix it)

by Amanda StoneCreativity, Inspiration, VideosPosted on No Comments

You know the feeling. You pick up the blank paper or canvas, fully expecting to create something amazing, but then nothing happens. You’re completely paralyzed.  Your mind starts racing and you think, “I used to be so creative. What happened?” Are you losing your creativity? Is creativity something you can even run out of? Let me reassure you, your creativity has not been lost! Even when you feel you can’t create or come up with ideas, your creativity is still churning away inside you.  So, why won’t it come out?  What happened? What is the REAL reason you can’t create? It might sound silly to some, but the truth is: Your creativity is hiding from you because it doesn’t feel SAFE.  Think of your creativity like a shy animal in the woods. It will not emerge from behind the trees until it feels safe enough to do so.  The question is, how are you creating that unsafe environment?  There are a lot of reasons why you can’t create, but two of the most common attitudes that create an unsafe environment for your creativity and the likely reason you can’t create anymore is because you are:   Placing too much pressure on a specific outcome.  When we demand our creativity produce a specific outcome, we don’t allow ourselves to feel comfortable with making mistakes. Creativity does not work like logic and intellect. It doesn’t unfold in a linear fashion. If you do not provide a safe space for yourself to explore, expand, and refine, then your creativity will refuse to play with you. Trying to get from A to Z without making a single mistake or deviating from the expected timeline is a lot of pressure on your creativity. Rather than motivate, this kind of pressure ends up squashing your courage to create at all. Another way you’ve made it feel unsafe to create is because you are: Comparing yourself to others.  Comparison is the kiss of death to any creative process because it requires that you buy into a lie. A lie that says your creativity it is not good enough. So rather than leave the door open for growth, you immediately cut off the creative flow. When you compare yourself to others, not only will your creativity refuse to perform for you in any capacity, but you will feel terrible about yourself in the process. It is a recipe for disaster and the only person you should ever compare yourself to is your past self, to cheer how far you’ve come. So, now that you know the REAL reason your creativity is hiding from you (because it doesn’t feel safe), let’s talk about 5 ways you can give yourself a safe space to create!   Here are 5 ways you can fix it:  Promise yourself it is okay to mess up This is not negotiable. Creation is not a clean process and your creativity needs to know it is okay to make mistakes and get messy. This is a simple but powerful truth, especially if you say it outloud to yourself before you begin any creative project. I think Ms. Frizzle captures it best. Reduce the pressure on yourself by allowing more time to complete your project Rather than tackling an entire project in one day, set yourself a manageable goal you know with 100% certainty you can meet. Chances are, you will exceed your goal and feel even more proud of yourself when you’re done. Note: this can only happen if the bar is low to begin with. If your self-imposed deadlines feel suffocating, throw yourself a life line and extend them. Put your mind at ease Creativity is supposed to be fun! Sometimes our mind can trick us into forgetting this. So distract your monkey mind by making your creative space fun to be in. Play music you enjoy, create outside in the sunshine, have a comforting object nearby. Whatever makes you feel more playful and open to creating, do it.  Invoke Sacred Creative Space If you really want to raise the vibe of your creative process, make it a sacred time for yourself. Lock the door. Light a candle. Say a prayer or mantra (See Tip 5). Want a crash course in how to invoke sacred creative space? Watch my quick YouTube tutorial. Read a Mantra Mantras are phrases or statements that we say ceremoniously to invoke a certain frame of mind or feeling. It could be any phrase (or series of phrases) you resonate with, but I have designed the Official Awakened Creators Invocation to help you release fear and resistance so you can relax and open to unlimited creative possibilities. I use this invocation before starting ANY creative process, including working on Awakened Creators content. It works beautifully. The original invocation has been enhanced to include a full 8-page guide explaining how to use it, and other steps you can take to release blocks that keep you from creating. Grab the Elevate & Create guide here. Your creativity is a gift and, rest assured, not something you can lose. Save this blog article for the next time you feel you can’t create, to remind yourself the real reason why and how to fix it. If you enjoyed this article, consider joining the Awakened Creators family so you can receive regular creative support and inspiration in your inbox! Also, check out the Awakened Creators YouTube channel and Instagram to continue elevating your creative process. Namaste!

10 Creativity Prompts to Help You Take Creative Risks

by Amanda StoneCreativity, Inspiration, Journal PromptsPosted on No Comments

When we feel safe and protected, we are able to move beyond our comfort zones (whether by force or voluntarily) and still feel that we are okay. In human development, this is known as “secure attachment” and the effect of its presence or absence in our childhoods extends far into our adult lives.  If we have experiences in life that failed to affirm our need for security, we can develop a maladaptive sense of attachment that I will call the “Dis-Comfort Zone”, because even though we are aware of its dysfunction and misalignment, it soon becomes all we know. The consequences of living in our “Dis-Comfort Zone” can affect our ability to express our creativity, have healthy relationships, and balance our emotional state.  Fortunately, we can consciously make choices that foster a level of security within our current lives that will allow us to take creative risks without fear. These creative risks will benefit our continued growth and healing, sending a ripple of positive transformation through our lives. If you struggle at all with feeling safe enough to step outside your “Dis-Comfort Zone” use these Ten Creativity Prompts to Help You Take Creative Risks and foster a new sense of secure attachment within yourself. Reflect on your creation afterwards using the journal prompts provided.  Write Write about a time you felt the most secure Write about an imaginary place that feels incredibly safe Write about a character finding comfort in something (or someone) Move Dance in a way that emphasizes your feet, legs, or bottom (aka your root chakra) Create a musical piece that inspires a feeling of being comforted or held Sing a song (or create your own) that reminds you of home or another place you feel most loved Make Create a self-portrait that evokes a feeling of security Craft something that brings you comfort (e.g, a stuffed animal, a scarf, a food dish) Snap a series of photographs that speak to a sense of home or feeling rooted Open-ended WRITE, MOVE, or MAKE something inspired by one or more of the following words: Safe Secure Home Comfort Rooted Loved Held Protected JOURNAL REFLECTION  Now journal about what you created and why. What did you end up creating? Why do you think this was your interpretation of the creativity prompt? Is there a memory associated with your creation? If so, what about that memory relates to the idea of feeling safe? How can you evoke a greater sense of security and comfort in your daily experience? Are you ready to awaken the creator in you? If you want more support, consider joining the Awakened Creators Tribe on Instagram or YouTube for more inspiring content designed to bring you closer to your most creative self. 

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Permission Granted | Embodying your Creative Truth

by Amanda StoneChanneled Messages, Inspiration, SpiritualityPosted on No Comments

It is easy to say one thing and do another. We’ve all heard that talk is cheap. What isn’t cheap, however, is permission. And I’m not talking about the “permission” you grant every app you download on your phone to have access to your personal data (which you should maybe ask yourself about that BTW). No, I’m talking about the permission we grant ourselves, to be…ourselves. It is easy to tell your loved ones, and anyone else you encounter to “be yourself,” “do you,” and “follow your heart.” But how often do we give ourselves that permission, without condition? Too often we say, “be yourself” to a friend, but for ourselves we mean, “be yourself only if it will gain you approval or bring you recognition from the external.” Or we’ll shout, “do you” to an eccentric stranger, but to ourselves we mean, “you better do what they expect you to do or else you’ll be left alone in the dust, forgotten and abandoned.” Like the fairy godmothers to our loved ones we’ll whisper, “follow your heart,” but to ourselves we mean, “if you think heart following is going to pay the bills you’ve got another thing coming.” Why do we give everyone else permission, except ourselves? To speak truth, you must EMBODY truth. To speak truth, you must EMBODY truth. You must LIVE that truth, every day, even if it means relationships slip away or people look at your confused because they don’t understand. Until you can step into your own words, they are without value and without conviction. The next time you tell someone something encouraging, consider whether or not you truly believe and embody that in your own life. So, the next time you tell someone something encouraging, consider whether or not you truly believe and embody that in your own life and if not…thank you Universe for pointing out the part of yourself that needs a little more love and get to work. The time is now to live your truth. The world needs you. Just as you are.