Tag: self discovery

creative practice, Creativity, inspiration, instinctive meditation, instinctive meditation, journaling, meditation, mindfulness, passion, Personal Development, Personal growth, writing

Creativity and Meditation: Finding Flow Between Our Inner and Outer Worlds

Adele Satori
Image shows books, beaded artwork, a painting and a metal singing bowl scattered on a table.

It can sometimes be more of a challenge for me to write on an assigned or chosen topic rather than answer the call the Universe is sending. So what do I do? While getting ready to write this article, I laid in my bed, meditating. Imagining my hands on the cover of my journal. Thinking of all I’ve learned in my training: “What do I love?” “In what quality of life do I want to be immersed?”

Then the neighbour’s illegal chickens started singing their egg laying song.  Some people deal with monkey mind; I’ve got chickens.  So creative!  And I started to laugh.

There are so many parallels between creativity and meditation. Setting up sacred time and place. Distractions. Blocks. Daydreaming. Attuning to our senses, instincts, and intuitions. Finding beauty in the mundane. Thoughts coming faster than the conscious mind can process them. 

And what do I do when I feel blocked, or stuck, or having a case of the I-don’t-wannas?  I simply start. Doodling in a notebook….. words or lines, it doesn’t matter. Get up and move. Go somewhere less urban and welcome the mountain vista into my heart.  I feel myself drop into a meditative state, or a spark of inspiration makes itself known, and I begin to create.

Creative practice and meditation are ways of being in the world where we can gain a deeper connection to Self. Creating and meditating both ask us to be open to what is desired or needed in the moment.

Creativity is bound to our instinct to make meaning. It’s about giving your imagination permission to see, feel, and explore, without judgement or expecting an outcome. A way to express one’s inner world in the outer world. It’s putting things together (this can be objects, concepts, routes, movement and more!) in ways unique to my being. How I am in the moment will be reflected. If there are constraints or requirements, that will challenge me to be innovative in my approach.

In creating for the enjoyment of the process and discovery, something wonderful might be revealed that hadn’t thought of before. Much like Instinctive Meditation®, we welcome all our parts, everything that shows up in a creation session.

Creative practice has been shown to improve memory, expand our ways of thinking and problem solving, and encourage flexibility in our approach to life, both personally and professionally. So can meditation!

Meditating is also a creative act. We can sit and chant a few words that hold meaning for us, walk in the woods and listen to trees, watch the waves and get into the rhythm of the ocean, read a passage of a book and pause to allow the words to wash over our soul.

Meditation is an instinct that gives the brainbody an opportunity to rest, restore, repair, and rehearse in our daily life. To come to a place of relaxed awareness. To become attuned to life’s rhythms. To open our curiosity.

When we allow the meditation or creative session to flow, ideas, feelings and sensations arise that might not have if we were determined to do things in a certain way- the same way- every time.

Through Instinctive Meditation®, I’ve come to appreciate more the rhythm of creativity. It’s increased my capacity to see the world around me, and to touch the deep levels within.

We are organic beings living in a linear world many societies have created.  Output, production, and tangible evidence that we’ve done something with our time has become more valued that enjoying creating for its own sake. Creativity and meditation are states of being, rather than states of doing. Let your mind show you the adventure of the moment.

creative practice, Creativity, inspiration, instinctive meditation, instinctive meditation, journaling, meditation, mindfulness, passion, perception, Personal Development, Personal growth, spirituality, writing

Dare the Wild Unknown

Adele Satori

I’ve been savouring this first stanza of Sutra 85, from “The Radiance Sutras” by Lorin Roche, PhD.

In trying something new, or even a fresh day, one can open one’s Self up to so much if an encounter, exploration, or a routine you’ve done a thousand time, is approached without layering expectations over the experience. I learn so much when I engage with something as if it is for the first time. Some of my best work has come when I haven’t been quite certain of what I am doing, and have the willingness to follow where events are leading me.

Here is the sutra in its entirety:
Toss aside your map of the world,
All your beliefs and constructs.
Dare the wild unknow.

Here in this terrifying freedom,
Naked before the universe,
Commune with the One
Who knows everything from the inside:
Invisible power pervading everywhere
Divine presence permeating everything.

Breathe tenderly as
The lover of all beings.

Creativity, inspiration, instinctive meditation, meditation, mindfulness, Personal Development

The Adventure of Beginnings

Adele Satori
Instinctive Meditation® is a form of meditation that invites you to approach life and your meditation practice with curiosity, awe and wonder.

You can create a practice that is unique to your own personal style. It can be different every time, and anything from deeply listening to music, spending time in Nature, doing something you love to do, or giving yourself permission to rest. I would be honoured to walk with you on your journey as your meditation guide.

The music is an excerpt from my latest composition “Space”.

Text in video reads: Approach something new with curiosity. Even the most subtle thing can be an invitation. Explore without expectation. Make it an adventure. Allow the journey to be the journey, in both your inner and outer worlds. Curiosity, awe, and wonder are super powers.
instinctive meditation, journaling, meditation, perception, Personal Development, Personal growth

Find Your Way

Adele Satori
Image shows dappled sunlight on a grey stone wall with sharp green lichen (or moss)

The most simple thing can be a doorway into meditation. On my walk this morning, I was captivated by the unexpected green for this time of year , and the way the light was landing on this stone wall. I took the time to receive this beauty, and felt myself going into the beautiful relaxed awareness of meditation.

Your meditation can be as unique as you are, and may be different every time. Being open to allowing the experience to unfold, you begin to see doorways everywhere, and develop a deeper connection and appreciation for all that is around and within you.

This is the way of Instinctive Meditation®- meditation for modern humans.

inspiration, instinctive meditation, journaling, meditation

Rocks in My Pocket

Adele Satori
Image shows rocks in a pants pocket.

The other day I was talking with a friend, and they mentioned another friend who was holding on to ways of being that were no longer serving them and weighing them down. I gently told my friend that some of what they were dealing with was beyond the scope of friendship (i.e. a good time to bring in a mental health professional), and at times the best we can do is be a witness to someone else’s journey. And then I said:

“It’s like they have a bunch of rocks in their pocket! It’s like they’ve collected all these rocks of experience and habits over the years, put them in their pocket, and won’t get rid of them.”

We went on to talk about how sometimes it’s so challenging to release habits and ways of thinking that really aren’t doing us any good. Rocks in a pocket is a good analogy. Some are pretty and nice to take out to look at now and then, some get annoying and poke us, and others bunch together and take up space we could use for something else, weighing us down and slowing our journey.

I suggested it could be an interesting exercise to go out on a walk, collect rocks, or find some near a lakeshore or creek edge. Hold each rock, name what it represents, say what you’re making room for, and send the rock sailing into the water (being mindful of any nearby living things). Water is so purifying, and it would be satisfying to watch the ripples as the water settled back into calm.

My friend said it could be cool to do it on a hike and throw rocks into a canyon, to which I replied… you’d want to be sure no one was down below so you don’t bonk someone on the head with your troubles (i.e. transfer your burdens on to someone else).

If you’re not able to get somewhere to empty your pocket of rocks, I suppose you could write things on paper and burn them (be safe!), or as an acquaintance did years ago, put on some goggles and smash garage sale dishes in your basement, naming what each item represented. That person ended up making mosaics with all the broken bits! Some cities have rage rooms, where for a fee you can go smash stuff.

But there’s nothing quite so satisfying as flinging a rock with all your might, and watching it disappear into the water.