To Be a Rainbow Lion

Creative Nudge Fridays is here!

This week I was a rainbow lion.

As kids adorning our faces with paint is pure joy. To transform into magical creatures, animals and superheroes. Face paint momentarily becomes a part of our skin. With it we step into a certain character or a new aspect. One that might help us to have more courage, freedom and fun that we might otherwise embody on a day to day basis. This ancient practice is one way to consciously enter the realm of imagination. No matter our age it brings out our inner-child, opens our heart space and uplifts our whole self. As adults it invites us to take things less seriously or shake them off - especially any pressures and tensions we don't need to, but for whatever reason think we must, carry.

Face painting can help shift the story your body is holding right now.

For this nudge we are doing exactly that. Painting our face. I was a rainbow lion. What do you want to be? Your face painting might be a recognisable being or perhaps it's not. It could be; simple, elaborate, symmetrical, free form, tribal, contemporary, bold, subtle, multi-coloured or all in one hue. You can use ready-to-go face paints, make your own face paints or get creative with makeup. Be sure it is non-toxic and skin-friendly (check any labels as not all non-toxic paints mean skin-friendly).

A note, if you can, ask someone else to do this for you, like your partner, a family member or friend. If you have little ones in your life, hand the brush over to them!

To remind yourself that the aspects that surface when you paint your face are aspects already within you, take a pic of your face painting. Then use the pic as your screen saver or wallpaper on your phone or computer.

If you give the nudge a go, comment below or be a part of the conversation on my Facebook Page. If you share your face painting pic via Twitter or Instagram use the tag #creativenudgefridays so we can find you.

Create on, Jelena x

© Copyright Jelena Mrkich 2013.

Permission is granted to blog about this nudge or share this post and images within it freely on the condition that the author is credited and this byline is included. Jelena Mrkich is an Artist, Art Therapist and Creative Catayst who is passionate about creativity as a tool for healing, transformation and self-awareness. For more info visit JelenaMrkich.com or for regular creative good things join her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

Share

Pleasure Loves Awakening You

Creative Nudge Fridays is here!

Welcome to nudge #23. Let's go out and play.

As kids we don't need a reason to play. And we sure don't need to be asked twice if we want to go out and play. Whether that means going on the swings, sliding down the slippery-dip, kicking a ball around, running through the park, collecting leaves, climbing trees, shape-spotting in the clouds, drawing with chalk or building sandcastles. Perhaps due to weather or your location it's all about indoor fun like colouring in, finger painting, face painting, baking cookies and creating a mess in the kitchen, carving potato stamps, making play-dough, playing an instrument or a board game. Maybe it's more quiet play like doing a puzzle or reading a book.

Here is a nudge to up your inner-child happiness. Play. Go out or stay indoors. Whatever works for you. Think about the kinds of things you loved doing as a kid. Or maybe it was things you would have loved to do as a kid if you could have.

Play is happiness enhancing and ups your inner bliss! It's sheer joy in motion and super food for your creative spirit.

Here's my acronym for play --> Pleasure loves awakening you! It loves awakening you to the full expression of who you are.

To remind yourself that play is serious self-care business, take a pic of your play in motion, then use the pic as your screen saver or wallpaper on your phone or computer.

If you give the nudge a go, comment below or be a part of the conversation on my Facebook Page. If you share your play in motion via Twitter or Instagram use the tag #creativenudgefridays so we can find you.

Create on, Jelena x

© Copyright Jelena Mrkich 2013.

Permission is granted to blog about this nudge or share this post and images within it freely on the condition that the author is credited and this byline is included. Jelena Mrkich is an Artist, Art Therapist and Creative Catayst who is passionate about creativity as a tool for healing, transformation and self-awareness. For more info visit JelenaMrkich.com or for regular creative good things join her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

Share

Up Your Inner Bliss

What if you knew that pleasure, as a way of being, was seeking you right now. Would you answer its call to lighten up? Would you seize the opportunity to expand your joy? Would you accept its invitation to be more playful with who you are? Or would you press pause, take a ticket and push it aside for later?

Pleasure is expansive, soul-nourishing and boundless. It is readily available to us in each moment. But how ready are we really to be present to it, and to accept it?

Every experience of sheer joy need not be off-the-richter scale states of euphoria. True inner joy is cultivated one happiness at a time, no matter the intensity. Yet how we respond to pleasure on one level informs us a great deal about how we respond to pleasure on any level. Let's consider for a moment one of the most intense points of physical pleasure aka the "big O". It is interesting to note men have little challenge experiencing this. On the other hand, according to Planned Parenthood statistics, at least one in three women have issue in this department. Our culture calls it "Female sexual dysfunction (FSD)". The very word 'dysfunction' suggests that in fact intense states of pleasure are a natural part of female functioning. Others say women just aren't built 'that way'. As George's dad in an episode of Seinfield says to Elaine, "What the hell does that mean?". She responds, "That means whatever the hell you want it to mean!". 

So, what might really be going on beneath the surface of such an imbalance within humanity? Regardless of gender we each hold masculine and feminine aspects within. Our divine masculine makes no excuses for immersing in fun on all levels and is more au fait with meeting its own needs of pleasure, including but not exclusive to sexual pleasure. Our divine feminine however, has been placing the pleasure of others (including the inner masculine) above the needs of her own pleasure, also including but not exclusive to sexual pleasure. We are living in a time where this is shifting. The divine feminine is awakening on an individual and collective level. The more we surrender to this awakening within our own selves, the more we awaken to its positively powerful ability to transform our lives, our relationships and our outer world.

Adept at self bliss, our divine masculine is now ready to expand its definition of pleasure to include the embodiment of heart-based love. Experienced with heart-based love, in particular expressed toward others, our divine feminine is now ready to expand its definition of pleasure to include her own bliss.

Inner bliss is a vital part of the full expression of who we are. Every little morsel of joy matters.

I'd love to hear from you. In what ways do you pursue or push aside your inner bliss? This question can also be used as a journal prompt! Add your comments below or be a part of the conversation on my Facebook Page.

Shine on, Jelena x

p.s. Kalvin says when we surrender to bliss~fullness on any level, it helps us surrender to bliss~fullness on all levels. Pleasure can show up in an abundance of ways depending upon where you are at in your life right now. It might show up as a smile in your eyes, in being present in the moment when immersed in play or in greater actioning of what feels good for the highest vision of your life. Kalvin says pleasure as a way of being is seeking you right now. To help you up your inner bliss here is a pleasure activating affirmation; "I breathe with pleasure. I allow pleasure to flow through me. I open to the pleasure in my life right now."

© Copyright Jelena Mrkich 2013.

Permission is granted to share this post and images within it freely on the condition that the author is credited and this byline is included. Jelena Mrkich is an Artist, Art Therapist and Creative Catayst who is passionate about creativity as a tool for healing, transformation and self-awareness. For more info visit JelenaMrkich.com or for regular creative good things join her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

Share

Sweet Creation! Be in the Now

Creative expression is an opportunity to be present in the moment, to release what you no longer need and lift the veils of doubt and fear. To create is to be in the now, its energy allows you to experience, integrate and embody who you really are. It creates the space for you to access and express your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual bodies, paving the way for abundant benefits to

a teaspoon of SpontaneiTea

I finished my morning meditation, opened my eyes and spotted a surfer bobbing around on his board, searching for a wave. Suddenly he layed down on his board, flat on his back. He seemed calm, free and unbothered about water he had been so intent on watching. Minutes later he shot up, caught sight of a potential wave, got on it and rode it in.

a cup of CreativiTea

I love my morning soy chai. It has become a ritual that marks the beginning of my day, no matter what the weather. Stormy, cold, blue skies or humid, I like to have my tea. Much like art and creativity for me, no matter what my inner weather. Joyful, refreshed, hesitant or frustrated, I tap into the creative realm daily. It is not so much what I do. It's the movement behind it, what's going on behind the scenes that is nourishing to the self.