Sacred Hearth

30 September to 6 October 2013; 'Sacred Hearth', an intuited sketch from my soul with a message for the week ahead.

A golden hearth built of ancient stardust holds sacred your inner fire that sparked (from your higher spark) when you birthed into the world. 

It burns bright, fuelled by oxygen and love. It is soul sustenance, spirit warming and no matter where you are, it goes with you.

No matter whether you are conscious of it or not, it burns on.

And, you are the keeper of the fire.

What you fuel your inner fire with, is what fuels you and the home of your beingness.

Imagine you have an actual hearth in your physical home (perhaps you actually do). Imagine this hearth warms your heart. Its flames soothe your mind and its radiant light is like calming balm for your emotions. Its gentle crackle relaxes your muscles and its familiar scent wafts away any tension. When needed it allows you to release a healing sweat from your pores, cleansing your whole self. Remembering that which you fuel the fire with is that which fuels you, how would you choose to fuel this fire? With natural and safe fuels or hazardous materials?

So, how do you choose to fuel your inner fire? With mindful or toxic fuels? With love or resentment? Gratitude or blame? Inspiration or mediocrity? Flow or stuckness? Trust or doubt? Faith or false control? As the keeper of the fire, you get to choose each day.

This week, tune in to the state of your sacred hearth. 

Is there a flicker of a flame or is your inner fire burning ablaze? Is it welcoming and warming? What might it need from you to be even more welcoming and warming? Notice how you fuel your inner fire, and how it fuels you.

Your inner fire is a transformational shapeshifter. If at any moment you choose to change how you fuel your inner fire, it will change how it fuels you and your world.

I'd love to hear from you. How do you fuel your inner fire? Add your comments below or be a part of the conversation on my Facebook Page.

Shine 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.

Share

Spread Your Wings

23-29 September 2013; 'Spread Your Wings', this morning's intuited sketch from my soul with a message for the week ahead.

The colour-filled and calm winged one arrived to remind the self, 'this way up!'. 

This way to the highest vision of yourself and your life. Spread your wings, let go of the outcome and be free (from within) to see the heights they are capable of (up)lifting you to.

We're working with the notion here that you have a pair of wings. Well, you do. The more you know this the more you can work with them and spread them wide to help shift yourself beyond old patterns, inner-tensions and self-doubts. Sounds too fanciful? Remember, you are a miracle happening on an organic life-supporting rock hurling through an ever-expanding Universe at the precisely the exact speed to keep you on it.

Your soul has a pair of wings, and while you are here they are located right in between your shoulder blades. They move in tune with your whole beingness.

Here is an exercise you can do to Open Your Wings right now; 

Take a moment to sit or stand comfortably (if the only spare moment you have today is in the bathroom, that's as good a place as any!). And inhale slowly and deeply (bring your breath all the way down to your abdomen and allow it to fill up like a balloon). And exhale, releasing all the stale air. Again, inhale deeply and slowly, this time become aware of your chest expanding. And exhale. One more time, inhale deeply and slowly and as you do see your wings puff wide open behind you. And exhale. A note, some of you will be able to visualise this process. Others might need to imagine it is happening, like you are pretending and that is okay. Or you can work with the words and allow the process to happen in whatever way feels right for you.

Whenever our chest aka heart chakra feels it has room (is allowed) to breathe, your wings shoot open even if your arms are by your side. Whenever you trust your heart they shoot open (I'm told it's their favourite method). Whenever you follow through on your inner knowing or centre yourself in your truth within, your wings shoot open. Whenever you are expressing yourself authentically, feeling gratitude and in a state of calm, they shoot open. When you invest in self-care, they yes shoot open.

Our wings are also our helpers. Especially when we don't know which way to go or when it feels too overwhelming to shift yourself from where you feel you are at to where you wish to be. Whenever we find it challenging to trust our hearts, are doubting our own selves or feeling displaced from within, what is the one thing we must all keep doing? Breathing. The more you tune into your breath, the breath itself can help relax your chest. Keep breathing. And your wings will puff open to help you.

This week, spread your brilliant wings. 

We're not talking about being showy in order to prove our worth to others, we talking about showing up for ourselves, showing up as who we really are (which means having the courage to be vulnerable). If you are doubting your worth or who you are right now, breathe through it. Puff those wings open that will show you otherwise. You can do it. *If you are new to your wings, test them out. Practice with the breathing exercise and notice how this changes your mood and mode of being.

I'd love to hear from you. How do your brilliant wings assist you? Add your comments below or be a part of the conversation on my Facebook Page.

Shine on, Jelena x

p.s. while doing this sketch I unconsciously flipped my art journal around, thus it's upside-down in relation to the rest of the book. Sometimes things (need to) appear upside-down in order to be seen in a new light and thus (re)turned right-side-up. Including our own self 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.

Share

Inner Eye Open

16-22 September 2013; 'Inner Eye Open', this morning's intuited sketch from my soul with a message for the week ahead.

There are an infinite number of ways to view the self and what is known as reality. 

Reality is what-is-real for you in any given moment. Yet we can dedicate so much of our energy and effort to one version of reality, the mainstream version. It's the one the majority conform to (the majority of our personal clan, work tribe or greater community), which does not make it the only reality nor the one where your soul most thrives in. When others insist you need to get with reality, it's simply a request to get with the reality they are most familiar with, believe in or have been told or taught they must align to. You know, in order to be enough; worthy enough, loved enough, good enough. But of course your inner eye already sees you as all those things no matter what.

When you live in your truth - and nurture that connection - it is more easeful to recognise and respect other people's reality (without necessarily needing to demolish your reality or pack up and move right into theirs). There is no right or wrong reality, there's the reality that resonates with your truth. Different versions of reality can and do harmoniously co-exist all the time. Though our mind, doubts or old ways of being might like to convince us otherwise.

Your inner eye is whatever it means to you, it might be; the view from your spirit, the perspective from your heart, your wisdom within, your soul's truth or inner knowing. Our inner eye sees with love, kindness, gratitude and patience. It is a guiding force that sees what is true for you right now, sans judgement.

This week zoom in on what your inner eye is seeing. 

You might also like to pay attention to what reality you are subscribing to. How are you perceiving yourself and the goings-on in your outer world? Are you seeing through doubt or faith? Is your lens blurred from stress and fatigue or made clear by inner-breathing-space and calm? Is your view of self and life shaky or grounded?

Our inner eye has seen where we have come from, it knows exactly where we are at and sees our next step with clarity. Whenever you feel unclear, unsettled, sidetracked or think you have lost your way, use those moments as an invitation to go within and check in with what your inner eye is seeing.

Your inner eye sees you with love. The more you are able to love (and receive) what it sees, the more you see (and receive) what you love.

I'd love to hear from you. How do you connect to what your inner eye is seeing? Add your comments below or be a part of the conversation on my Facebook Page.

Shine 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.

Share

Miraculous Emergence

'Miraculous Emergence', an intuited sketch from my soul with a message for the week ahead, 19-25 August 2013;

From mud and murky waters the lotus flower emerges immaculate. 

Imagine if a lotus flower decided to focus on the murky water, refusing or resisting to blossom until it had purified every drop it drank? Instead it is the murky water that washes the lotus clean. Not a spot of mud adheres to the lotus leaves as the lotus makes its way above the surface to bloom in the open air.

The lotus starts off as a seed in the mud. 

As it grows it does not throw the mud over its shoulder to make its own journey more burdensome or difficult. The lotus makes use of the mud by planting its roots firmly in the river bed. Are you shouldering the mud in your life? The lotus says leave the mud where it is, no need to carry it with you. The mud is there to support your path not direct it.

From the darkness beneath the surface the lotus frees itself. 

It was born ready to emerge into the light. Are you waiting until you are ready; ready to be you, ready to shine, or ready to be or do… anything? The lotus says you too were born ready to emerge. You have been emerging into more of who you are your entire life. Even when it might feel like you are doing everything but.

The birth of a lotus is a miracle (like you). Its emergence is miraculous (as is yours). 

Are you holding onto a belief that your life right now is (or your yesterday was) as good as it gets? The lotus says it gets even better. Look to the miracles in your everyday. The lotus knows they are everywhere. This week pay attention to the presence of miracles in your life. They can help us shift from old ways of surviving to new ways of thriving.

The lotus seeds above the petals remind the self that when we open to our deepest truth we unleash our highest potential.

Rise up to who you are, it's your natural direction.

I'd love to hear from you. What miracles are showing up for you right now? Add your comments below or be a part of the conversation on my Facebook Page.

Shine 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.

Share

A Radiant Gem

'A Radiant Gem', an intuited sketch from my soul with a message for the week ahead, 12-18 August 2013;

A multi-faceted gem radiates (that's you), knowing each facet (of the self) is unique yet part of the same whole. There's a facet that wants facts first, and a facet that dares to dive into the unknown. There's a facet that seeks silence, and a facet that presses its face to the window eagerly awaiting the next thunder storm. There's a facet that loves to be filled to over-flowing, and a facet that desires to empty itself of all it is not. Who you are is not a collection of contradictions (or a mis-matched mess). Nor are you broken or faulty. You are a divinely crafted whole.

Inner-battles, struggles and self-sabotage momentarily blind our higher vision when we forget we hold it all. 

Your whole self is as you already are, whole. 

You are a beauty-filled multi-faceted whole. Each one of us are well-aware of the things that seem not-quite-right about us, inside and out. Gemstones do not seek to ignore, deny or dismiss one of its facets. Each facet is held sacred as part of the one beautiful whole.

As any facets show up this week that irk you, push you, bother you or bug you, let them be (without becoming them). There are facets within you that want, will and wish for opposing things. But not to start a war in your head and heart. Simply to remind you all things are possible. So, own the facets that tug at your sleeve. No, it doesn't mean you have to become them. If one facet is loudly protesting that it needs alone (all-one) time doesn't mean you must now become a monk or a nun. Allow them space to be. Listen to what they want to tell you. Hear the message they hold for you.

When our individual facets (especially the ones that are unsure, unclear and holding fear) are allowed to be, they release their resistance and naturally 'click' into place. You are beauty-filled. Beautiful. Whole.

You radiant multi-faceted gem you.

I'd love to hear from you. What facets of self are asking you to let them be right now? Add your comments below or be a part of the conversation on my Facebook Page.

Shine 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.

Share

Earth, Art and You

Creative Nudge Fridays is here!

It's all about Earth, art and you.

From the highest mountainous peaks to the deepest of canyons, Mother Earth creates, moves, shifts and exchanges energy with a natural sense of balance and purpose. Wherever we are we breathe her air, nourish our physical self with food grown in her rich soil, feel her breeze, are touched by her rains, drink her water and look up to her skies. Even under the thickest of urban fabric we remain intimately connected with her.

Here is a nudge to nurture your connection with nature and your own natural creative flow. Create a piece of earth art. Allow natural objects to be your materials using the earth (the ground itself) as your canvas. Your art can be as big or as small as you like. It might be a large spiral of stones you can walk around, a circle of flowers formed at your feet or a few feathers poked into the sand. It is whatever flows naturally from you.

Begin with a walk outdoors. You might step out in your yard, visit a local park, community garden, nature reserve, headland, river, lake, beach or perhaps take a stroll through a side alley near your home lined with some trees. Notice the natural and organic materials on your path and gather up what calls you. Your objects can be all of one type or they might vary. Trust whatever is on your path is exactly what you need right now, be it; pebbles, rocks, stones, shells, driftwood, twigs, bark, feathers, seed pods, pine cones, leaves, flowers, petals or whatever you find (or finds you!). Then, using the ground as your canvas create a piece of land art. Lay your objects in a formation that flows naturally from you and feels good to you. Allow your intuition to guide you.

Note, if you are unable to access a spot of nature outdoors due to weather, you can do this indoors using natural objects you may already have around your home or in your everyday environment.

Earth is with us in every breath. Nurturing the sacred connection to her daily is nourishment for our own natural creative flow.

To remind yourself that you are always connected to Earth wherever you physically are, take a pic of your earth art, 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 earthy art 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

Creative Nudge Fridays is Here!

Creative Nudge Fridays is here!

Welcome to the first nudge. We're going to start at the heart. It's where your expression of love - of who you are - begins. Most of us are familiar with living, being and investing enough into who we are not. This weekend, hold the space for who you are. You are energy dancing in form, a reality shaper {you create it!}

Earth Hour, Mandala Power

It's lights off at 8.30pm tonight for Earth Hour, a global event to celebrate a worldwide commitment to protect our planet. It's an apt time this weekend to gift yourself some off time too in order to check in with your inner world via the creation of an Earth Mandala.

The word mandala is Sanskrit for both circle and centre, and sacred circles have been used as a meditation, focusing and ritual tool since ancient time. The Universe is a master mandala maker, creating natural mandala's throughout all of creation, from the cosmos to our very cells. An archetypal symbol of wholeness, protection and healing, psychologist Carl Jung worked with the mandala as a therapeutic tool to help make the unconscious conscious. Mandala making is a part of all my Classes & Workshops, and when appropriate it is often used during my one-on-one Soul Work Sessions to help hold safe all that is placed within its enclosed and contained space. Inspired by Earth Hour, here is a process I have created to help you make one wherever you are.

Earth Mandala

You will need paper to draw on and a drawing tool like pencils, crayons or pastels. Draw a full size circle on your sheet of paper. This is where you will create your mandala. Sitting in a comfortable place, close your eyes and bring your awareness to your breath. Breathe in. Breathe out. Repeat 3 times. Allow your breath to relax your being. Now bring your awareness to your heart centre and take a few deep breaths from this space. Breathe in. Breathe out. Repeat 3 times. Imagine you can see planet Earth in front of you, with it's land masses and blue oceans. Imagine all the living beings that currently live on and with Earth. Imagine all the cycles, seasons and movements Earth experiences in one day. Breathe this is. Breathe this out. Ask yourself, "What does Earth mean to me?". Allow any words, shapes or images to come to mind. Sit with this for a few moments. Then, when you are ready slowly open your eyes and express this out within your circle, creating your own Earth Mandala.

Create on, Jelena x

p.s. As Kalvin likes to point out, flowers are one of Earth's natural mandala's. Yes, that's him in the centre of one. He said he's embodying my process. In order to do this he took a journey to the centre, literally, and just breathed. He said he felt wonderful and took a fancy to focusing on his breath and using it to help him be in his centre, that space where we simply be and we simply are. Kalvin tells me each new dawn is a daily invitation from Earth to be our true selves, to centre our being ~ to sit in our own mandala within.

p.p.s. Kalvin reminds me to tell you no worries if you don't create an Earth Mandala at precisely Earth Hour time, any hour is a good hour to create one!

Share

© Copyright Jelena Mrkich 2011.

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.

The truth is in your own heART

Creativity is a transformative energy, it can help you with where you are at, if you are willing to be present to it, and open you up to what is there for you right now. Transpersonal art therapy consciously works with this to assist you to live a more authentic life. But what exactly is art therapy?

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.