Mindful Mandart Moment #9 "Process and Practice"
WISDOM AT THE CROSSROADS PODCAST.
DISCLAIMER: This meditative process may lead you to find the wisdom your soul yearns to share.
Viewer discretion is advised!
This episode might focus on process and personal practice but the key word
for this post might just be vulnerability.
I am a fairly private person and not generally prone to public vulnerability yet I am the Mand in this mindful MANDart moment where I invite you behind the curtain to experience the magic of process as it is revealed.
This episode is all about personal practice. In it I step way outside my comfort zone to share parts of the written meditative process I use to access the wisdom at the crossroads where action and presence meet.
Listen in to rest your heart in the details of your own story and trust me, this process, with practice, will be an enlightening and inspiring interaction to add to your meditative tool kit.
Connecting to the wisdom we all have access to is the end goal here. I hope you will listen in to rest your heart in the details of your own story.
Since this episode is all about process I thought we’d illustrate this blogpost with a snap shot of my most recent paint pallet. I love to see the details in the everyday, snippets of small magic that cause me to take pause or to press the trigger on my iphone camera. This snapshot was taken a few hours before I wrote this post. The remnants of my painting day at the studio were probably not even dry as I uploaded it.
A practice, a routine or a process can also be called a habit and I am definitely a creature of habit. When I think of my studio art practice I definitely have a routine and routine is somehow comforting. Years ago I rescued an abandoned teak bucket chair from the back loading dock at my studio building. I recovered it and it became my favourite chair, eventually my meditation chair that became a major part of my morning routine.
Since we’re being vulnerable… I am also an early morning person. The water is my elemental home so early mornings find me swimming laps at the Y when at home in Canda. This pic above is me swimming in the pond I learned to swim in. Olympic sized and unheated in an Australian spring this pool was cause for a lifetime aversion to cold water. Thankfully I still love to swim and my local Y is an indoor pool heated all year round.
How do you start your day?
Once at the studio , for many years, I settled myself into my meditation chair, turned on my trusty CD player and set about establishing a meditation practice.
Monkey mind is a thing…
Settling into a process or a practice or a routine is an individual thing. In the podcast this week I share my personal meditative process. You are welcome to follow along, to listen in or to take the parts that might resonate for you and adapt them for use in whatever practice you develop as your own. Accepting where we are and the unique way our mind works is a brave first step. Our thoughts are our own and all of them are welcome. On occasion though we can move them to the side for just a little while to engage in a meditative practice and listen for the wisdom our soul years to share.
My practice is something I have developed over time and it works for me. The terminology I use suits my personal paradigm. I hope you’ll feel confident to use terminology that aligns with your personal preferences and practices if my terminology is not for you.
Words are powerful. My handwriting is “Creative”, ie a little rough at the best of times, the words I write during my meditative mornings get even looser, sometimes they don’t even look like they belong to me.
Intention is key…
My intention is always to allow the words to flow without forcing anything onto the page. Each day I sit down to be intentional about my process I settle in with paper and pencil and a board to lean on at the studio or in the “starbucks corner” if i happen to be at home. Think comfy chair in a sunny corner but without the crowds or the coffee. I save the coffee for later as I am rereading the words I have written in the process As with every process we don’t just sprint the 100 meter dash without a warmup.
Warming up…
My warm up consists of writing out my intention longhand as a way to get the muscle memory engaged in my writing hand. It also serves as a way to relax my mind and body that settles me into the moment. An intentional yoga breath becomes a signal to apply my focus. It’s like rebooting my system. The exhale is a release that encourages space within that can be replaced with the wisdom and healing energy that flows… from within, or the universe, …?
and then i begin.
Listen in on the recording for the actual mantra I write longhand for inspiration. You might choose to use the same words or you are free to modify the process to suit yourself. Its just important to know that though I am not concerned with the words I am writing as I am writing them, I trust that I’ll be able to read any messages I receive at the end of the session. I am always amazed that there are few edits beyond recognising and clarifying my own handwriting.
Trust in your process…
Our routines become more comfortable when we relax into the process. Engaged in this process I was astounded at the wisdom I was discovering. The words were not a series of random disacssociated thoughts but a thoughtful and enlightening philosophy. With minor editing and a lot of hesitation I published excerpts from my meditative notes as my first book. It shares the name of this podcast.
Wisdom at the Crossroads…
became a simple alphabetical journey, a picture book for adults, or Yoga for the mind. “Weightier than its small stature” according to one early reader.
Meditation..
Is something we all can do. It can take many forms and can be as simple or complex as we feel is appropriate for ourselves. Whether formal or informal the process helps me to feel centred and refreshed on all levels. In fact I am often surprised at the depth of my focus moving forward into the rest of my day after I meditate. Your imagination is a gift and I love that you get to co create mentally along with me, to connect to your own stories, your own wisdom, by choosing to listen in to my examples.
I wonder what wisdom will surface for you should you choose to work through my process or amalgamate parts of it into something that is uniquely your own. Its not easy to quiet the noise of distraction that permeates all aspects of our busy lives but with practice I hope you’ll be inspired by the wisdom you already have at your core and that you’ll feel more refreshed and at ease through the simple action of slowing down.
Creativity is another avenue to presence. The process quiets me as it draws me in to the action of problem solving in colour. Engaged, painting, can literally can fly by. Setting an alarm was my best idea when I had small children to pick up from school and didn’t want them feeling abandoned or missing their activities because Mum had lost track of time and was still at work at the studio :)
Painting as pause…
Inspiration is everywhere. The act of painting and the creative decisions I make in the process transport me into a different world as I work. The process feels a bit like a physical meditation. The process is about being present within an activity. A painting is the culmination of a series of decisions I get to make along the way. Each cumulative choice , documented in consecutive marks, forms the foundation for what comes next. Writing , similarly, is just another way to express ourselves creatively.
Part of my process includes music. I have gardened with David (Bowie) and Joni (Mitchel), hung out with John (Mayor) and Jack (Johnson) and crooned with Ray (Charles) and Brian (Ferry). In the past few years Richard Goldsworthy’s Piano instrumentals have dominated as heart songs that serenade me at the studio.
Sound combined with action, in my case painting or writing, is my way of taming the noise of the busy life I have chosen. What are your chill tunes? Where do they take you? Take some time to listen in with intention and a pencil and paper in hand to see where inspirational music might take you
WONDERLAND is a pair that paired with a version of this episode’s mandart moment on the podcast in episode #23. I share it here as an update. The left side “Heart” sold and was shipped across the country. My apprenticeship as shipper and receiver got a literal work out. Getting a 4 foot square into a purpose built cardboard box was an adventure for sure. One I imagine to be the equivalent of wrestling a crocodile into a tea cup. The Right hand side “Soul” is available but would have to be wrestled off the wall in my husband’s office where it is currently being “stored”. He can be so helpful :)
This detail has become the newest addition to the MANDART GREETING CARD BOX as well as a prototype for fuzzy Mandart Blankies, coming soon. Here my hubby, 6’2” is modelling his long reach and demonstrating scale.
We’ve come to the end of todays story. I hope this practice is one you will return too often as inspiration that will help you to get quiet with the support that is always around you and infinitely available.
I appreciate you tuning in to this episode and joining in on this journey with me. I hope the images are helpful and that you are finding something of your story within mine. If my work or words inspire you please consider sharing the podcast with a friend or write a review on apple podcasts. Reach out if you have qjuestyions on how to do that.
The full episode is available anywhere you get your podcasts or simply press the arrow in the player at the top of this post.
I appreciate you!
Nameste, Amanda