Your Creative Tree Pose

Creative Nudge Fridays is here!

Welcome to nudge #15. Let's rest like a great tree. 

Trees are ancient beings, holding wisdom, stories and possibility. We are connected to them with every breath. There is a well-known posture in yoga called the Tree Pose. It's about balancing and being centred through your core like a tree; with your feet = your roots, your torso = your trunk, and your limbs = your branches. It is a pose for developing a greater sense of inner calm, concentration and connection to the earth.

We're going to draw upon the principles of the Tree Pose and embody a creative version.



Here is a nudge to enhance your conscious awareness of your connection with all life. Become a tree. Find a tree that calls you and notice where its shadow is falling. Then stand beside it, facing the shadow, so that you can also see your shadow next to the tree's. Now, nudge closer or lean next to it, stretch your arms upward, open your hands and allow your own shadow to emerge as an extension of the tree. And breathe it in. Connect to the sense of being a part of the tree as your shadow and the tree's merge as one. Rest in the feeling for a moment.
To remind yourself that just like a tree you are held by the Universe, take a photo of your tree pose shadow (pop your camera in one hand while in the pose, aim for the shadow + snap away, tricky, but totally doable!), then use the pic as your screen saver or wallpaper on your phone or computer.

Your view. If you like this post, click LIKE below or if you give the nudge a go, please let us know. Share a pic with us on my Facebook Page, or add your comments below. I'd love to see your creative tree poses! If you share your tree pose on Twitter, Instagram or elsewhere on the web, let's use the tag #creativenudgefridays so we can find you.

Pass it on. Here is a ready-to-go prod for you to share the nudge on Facebook, Twitter + elsewhere on the web; Embody your creative tree pose, http://ow.ly/izEjj via @jelenamrkich #creativenudgefridays

Resting a moment like a great tree can help replenish our perspective that life is an interconnected experience.

Create on, Jelena x

© 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.

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Move Toward Your Light

Seedlings and plants have an innate response to "move" toward the light. Super sensitive to their environment, they bend and grow in the direction of their light source. We too bend and grow in response to our environment.

Each and every day our whole self experiences movement. From moment to moment our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual states can shift slightly or significantly. As we go about our daily routines and regular happenings, our senses are receiving word about our internal and external environment - whether sensory via what we hear, see, smell, taste and touch or extrasensory via intuition (commonly known as the sixth sense), visions and telepathy. Our response mechanisms are so ah-mazing that it doesn't even matter whether stimuli is actual, imagined or a fallacy. We can be triggered by such things as; a tangible object, a real action, an imagined happening, a meditative experience, a factual memory or a false perception. This is a remarkable gift, as we have the capacity to consciously use our imagination and the power of imagery as tools to create positive and purposeful change in our lives.

We encounter stimuli throughout our entire day from the moment we open our eyes, be it; the natural light of daybreak, the sound of a little one stirring, an animal friend wanting food, an alarm clock sounding, a neighbour mowing the lawn or traffic driving by.

But what effect is your response having on the direction of your own growth? 

Tune into your current responses to gain clarity with the direction you are moving in right now - further away or closer toward your own light. 

If it resonates with you, here is an awareness exercise you can do wherever you are and no matter what unfolds during your day, whether a lot or very little. Pick a day this week and be aware of what shifts your states and when. You might like to write it down in a journal. Alternatively, during the day check in with yourself on the hour every hour and note down any inner or outer shifts. Do this without any judgement. Simply allow yourself to observe what shifts you. Notice what changes your body posture, what alters your mood and what triggers reactions within you. Take note too of what changes your energy levels.

The more aware we are of what shifts, uplifts or squashes us, the more empowered we are to make different choices if we desire. As a bonus, paying attention to what triggers us opens the doors to a rather fabulous personal resource library. When you know what gives you more energy, greater clarity, harmonious emotions and calmer thoughts - the more readily you can draw upon these experiences in your life when you feel otherwise.

What direction are you growing in? To tweak your course, pay attention to how you are responding to your inner and outer environment.

Your view. If you like this post click LIKE, add your comments below or on my Facebook Page.

Pass it on. Here is a ready-to-go prod for you to share on Facebook, Twitter + elsewhere on the web; Move toward your light, http://ow.ly/irIsJ via @jelenamrkich

Shine on, Jelena x

p.s. Kalvin was sitting in my hand as we both became the tree during today's photo shoot. He laughed and laughed himself silly saying sometimes he feels teeny tiny in the world. But through the power of light and shadow he was able to be like the tree and stretch his limbs up to the Sun. He said this made him feel as tall as the tree and like his own roots were planted firmly in the ground. In that moment, as his shadow and mine became an extension of the tree, he realised that it doesn't matter how big or small we might think we are in relation to others or other things in the world, what matters is that you are here - like every plant and every tree, you have a place in the world.

© 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.

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