En helg med måleri, skog och rörelse på Camp Järvsö den 16 - 18 September. Tänk dig en färgfylld naturupplevelse, där vi utforskar våra sinnen. Man behöver inte kunna måla för att vara med, utan fokus är på att ha kul med färg och umgås. För de som vill finns en idé att måla efter, och de som vill ha sin kreativa frihet har den. Leds av konstnär Ingela Johansson. En färgglad workshop där nyfikenheten får ta plats. Du kommer att få prova att skapa med alla sinnen. Allt detta i kombination av härlig träning med Cecilia Gustafsson. Du får under helgen prova på yoga, fridans och soma move. Ingela har med sig allt som behövs för att måla. En helg där vi fokuserar på alla sinnen, reflektion, målning och träning i olika former. Vi utlovar en helg med upplevelse som ger återhämtning, gemenskap och väcker nyfikenheten i en vidunderligt vacker miljö. Boken Create to Flow som Ingela har skrivit kommer också att ingå fylld med övningar i konstmeditation. Så att de som vill kan fortsätta efter helgen. Man behöver inte vara bra på eller kunna måla, teckna eller skapa för att vara med. Vi ser fram emot en färgrik, energirik och sinnesfylld helg.

This year we have all gathered our inspiration and drive despite a number of obstacles in our way. To celebrate this and learn from it, I have collaborated with a number of artists and magnificent speakers to bring you Harvest Moon. My most recent project has allowed me to bring together old friends and new, working on an experience that defines our history and present – Harvest Moon. After a long period of struggle, many of us have had to learn what the farming tradition of working in the light of the harvest moon exemplifies: resilience and hope in times of uncertainty. Through this event, we hope to bring you closer to art, music and dance that celebrate and illustrate both the harvest moon and our human drive. A number of thought-provoking speakers will also discuss their ideas of success, ambition, and creativity. ·Some of the inspiring teams and people you will be hearing form include: The Embassy of Sweden in Singapore, Natalie Turner TED Talks speaker and author of "Yes you can innovate", Daniel Ord specialist in customer service at OmniTouch International, Kjerstin Kleyne Brateen Senior Vice President Deck Machinery at Kongsberg Maritime, Betty Ashman at The Expat Fairs and Winston Liew curator and producer, Susanne Renck Kullgren dance, Lia Olsen Kinell song, Casper Persson song and guitar. I invite you all to have a look at what we’ve created here: And join us on the 24th of April at 5pm SGT/10am BST via the live link at TheExpatFairs.com A warm welcome to join us in the experience.

This Christmas I saw the movie Chocolate again, and since then I learned a great habit of drinking hot chocolate with chili and sea salt when I do my Sunday reflections on my art meditations. I prefer to paint on A3 watercolor paper, so that when Sunday arrives I can lay them out on the big table, and do my reflections. It involves a special playlist, my best pen and notebook. But, most of all time to write and reflect until I feel done. When I downloaded some photos for this post, I realized how different my weeks look. They follow how I feel and what I am experiencing during my weeks. When we have a set time to check in with ourselves we learn a lot about our own patterns. For me meditation, creativity and reflection is a great way to do this. If you would like to learn how, you will find online courses on this site. You can naturally also create your own system. This picture if from today. We listen to so many and so much every day, so to make space to listen to ourselves for 20 minutes every day, and longer on Sundays is a routine that I have found to be helpful in all areas of my life.

Today I will create a new collage. The one one the picture was created on a sunny day in late September with a dear friend. We watched the sunset and had Pro Secco, while discussing our collages. A colorful day full of insights. That is what I am doing today. I went out and bought magazines and champagne. The trick is not to think while you do this. Listen to your favorite playlist and pull out everything that you feel drawn to. Let your inspiration and curiosity guide you. If you are having fun, you are doing it RIGHT. I have created a special playlist for this years activity. I wish everyone a wonderful new 2021. #vision_collage

This year it took me a while to paint the Christmas Card that could sum up the feeling of 2020. It became a picture of what I have come home to this year, the forest and just being. I hope that you will have some time to relax during the holidays. Time to read for fun, walk in nature, cook great food (even if it is for one). Find new habits, like a dinner party via Zoom. Indulge in candlelight and soft textiles. Decorate with a childlike sense of adventure. Watch the classic movies, and enjoy chocolates. No matter what you do and whom you are with I am sure that this year we will be in more digital conversations than ever, and all of us will find new ways to connect. Make time for reflection, but it can be great to have a long break before you do. It took me a long time to learn that lesson. To understand that sometimes becoming more efficient means taking time to rest, If you are looking for some great exercises and ideas on mindfulness, creativity, and reflection I suggest getting your hands on Create to Relax, which is now out as an ebook on Amazon. A perfect gift for yourself or a creative friend. You can find it here #book_creative_mindfulness #Christmas_gift_for_the_creative #book_Create_to_Relax Most of all I wish you all the best for 2021. Take Care Ingela

Our brains are wonderful but sometimes they seem to love repetition and we get stuck in our own thought patterns When we try to break free, our whole system sends signals to persuade us to go back to what feels familiar. It feels safe, not to change. This is not only on an emotional level, but it is also a physical reaction. But, one day something happens to us that gives us a taste of change and we start to reflect on how it could be. We awaken our curiosity and imagine a life without listening to the old thoughts that are holding us back, and when we are ready we change. Change doesn't need to be radical it can be one million small steps, and it can take years or a lifetime. But, when we feel that we grow, lean and evolve we tend to free ourselves from thinking the same thoughts that we thought yesterday and the day before that. It is hard to explain how that feeling feels like, in many ways you can say that it is like feeling as happy as when you discovered something you love as a child. This weekend we had a Zenart course. I usually start with going through expectations from the participants on what they want to learn. One said that she wanted to stop "älta" that is a Swedish term for being unable to stop thinking and talking about something negative that happened to you. It is impossible to make our monkey brain stop thinking, but it is possible to redirect it with new thoughts. A combination of nature, creativity and mindfulness can be an inspiration to start this journey of redirecting your thoughts to find new perspectives and new solutions to old problems. It does in no way mean that you should not think about reality or problems that you need to deal with. But, it does mean taking a break with mindfulness and meditation for a 20 - 30 minutes to be able to dela with life from focus and clarity instead of stress. This is the journey a few students started this weekend. It is not something you learn in 3 days, but you can learn what you need and how to get started. Today I had a message that read "enough is enough" it was from one of the participants that had decided to continue her shift in her own though patterns, and she felt about herself. Colors, nature, mindfulness, creativity, words and taking the time to listen to yourself are the tools to help you. What I have done with the Zenart course is to put these powerful tools into a process that flows. A process that you can design so that it suits your lifestyle. If you are curious to work with your change I suggest trying the online course in art meditation. "Enough is enough." Words can be the start of something new, within us. The pictures we paint can make us aware of what we want, and how we thrive. Maybe what we are lacking is a way to express our creativity, or a hobby so that you can sit down and think of nothing else than color, shape and form. When we manege to let go of our usual mind loop we seem to get the answers. Change is one of these things in life we can't change it just is, and still we resist and fear it in so many ways. There is a power in taking charge of your own change, and you direct the speed and the outcome. Your trust in yourself will grow with the process. #change #growth #sef_care

Right now I am literally bathing in the colors of autumn. Colors and nature can have a profound impact on our wellbeing. If you have the chance I would suggest taking a color bath this upcoming weekend. To get the full effect don't put in earphones. Try instead to notice with all your senses. If it is not too cold sit down for a while and just be. We often run so quickly that we tend to forget how much these small things is about wellbeing. If you are in the city head for the parc, and if you can go to the forest. Things to do on the walk: Notice scents. Notice sounds. Notice colors. Discover things you have not seen before. Touch and notice textures. Breath Take your time to stop for magic. Notice the sky. Have some tea or coffee if possible. Just be Take a few minutes to notice and if you want to write about it or make a quick sketch. If you want to learn more about how art, nature, meditation, and reflection can be a great way to feel good try one of our courses or get the book Create to Flow. For me taking a walk in color is an essential part of wellness and it is a space for new energy and ideas. #forest_bathing #mindfulness #zenart #wellness

I woke up at 6 am and realized that today's painting workshop on color and landscape would be indoors, so we started off with coffee and discussing what we wanted with the day. We came up with an overall theme: The need to let go of perfection and allow yourself to play with creativity and color. We got some inspiration from a master in landscape and color, David Hockney. The day went by so quickly and each one of us tried something that we had never done before, including me. These are a few things of what we tried: A leftover wallpaper piece works well to paint on or use as a mixing palette. 2. You can sketch with a twig from a chestnut tree. Theresa calls it "literal landscape_painting". I enjoyed how it felt in my hand. 3. When you sketch on time 2 - 4 minutes you sometimes create masterpieces, because you let go of to much detail. 4. Sketching simple with a brush with color can help you see the composition, and try out different solutions for your artwork. 5. David Hockney likes to use bold contour colors on trees, and roads. This was something a few of us tried. 6. We tried starting reworking a painting in several layers. Changing and evolving. 7. We tried adding colors that we normally don't use or love. 8. We allowed ourselves to follow the flow of a wonderful "accident" and turn it into the focal point of our painting. 9. The mindful moment was taking the time to explore an object from nature with our senses. 10. We learned and co-created from discussing and working together. When you have a creative day with a group you get so many new perspectives and insights. You see so many ways to put paint on canvas solutions. It brings laughter and a mindset that a creative task can be solved in thousands of ways. It was like taking a walk-in color, in different landscapes. These days feed creativity and innovation in other areas. Trying out new things makes us less scared as we can feel like beginners and be allowed to play. We need it to find joy in seeing something new, in daring to go out of our comfort zone. When we do this it makes it easier to solve other tasks as well. If creativity and mindfulness inspires you I would also like you to check out the blog of one of the participants in the workshop "Zen and then some" #Creativity #selfcare #colors #landscape #Zenart #workshop #Zenart_kurs

Nu har skolorna börjat och många är tillbaka på jobbet. En färgstark höst väntar med uppdrag, omställningar, projekt och familjeliv. Återhämtning i vardagen och ny inspiration med färg är vad Zenart kan erbjuda under hösten. Vi har en workshop ute,"Må bra med färg" den 12:e september. Vid regn finns alternativ inne. När det blir lite kallare kommer vi att vara i stora lokaler hos Bilda på Drottninggatan så att vi kan vara kreativa och ha gott om plats. I höst har vi mycket på programmet: kreativ mindfulness, konst meditation och workshops med inspiration av Hilma af Klint och Kusama. Vår nyhet för i år är tema ryggar och drivkraft. Under dagen kommer vi att måla ryggar, spänningar och motivation. Alla våra kurser bygger på Zenart processen som är ett flöde av mindfulness/meditation, kreativitet och reflektion. Man behöver inga förkunskaper i vare sig meditation eller måleri för att vara med. Har man frågor om vilken typ av kurs som passar bäst så skriv gärna till ingela@zenart.info. Kursprogram hittar du här. Röster från tidigare deltagare: "Fantastiskt rolig och givande kurs! Konstmeditation för mig blev ett verktyg för reflektion, lekfullhet och kreativitet. Ingela är otroligt duktig på och locka fram glädjen och hur man kan använda sig mer av sin intuition. Efter kursen har jag fortsatt använda metoden och förutom stillhet och reflektion så har det gett nya insikter, perspektiv och mycket glädje." Tack Ingela! Hälsningar Maria Lindblad "Med penseln i handen försvinner stressen." Anki Fahlstad #kurs_Karlstad_Zenart #kursprogram_Zenart #kreativ_mindfulness

My book is titled Create to Flow because I believe that having the practice to start your day by setting up the foundations for flow can completely change your productivity while maintaining your health. Flow is about being more efficient than you thought was possible and feeling great while doing it. I used to be a project manager of a large project developing a new pedagogical method for individual learning in a classroom. It was my idea and I was very passionate about it, especially as I started to see that it worked in practice. I had a team of dedicated teachers and students. But for a while, it was all spinning too fast, and I got caught in solving problems and answering questions without taking a breath. I was always present for everyone else, and I started to go home without any energy to pick up my children. When they went to sleep it was time to do my work, the work I never had time for during the day. I started to realize that it would not be sustainable for 3 years. Prior to this, I had done another project and the man that had done the research on this project kept telling me that we can get burned out even by doing things we love. At this time I got lucky that our office ran out of space and I managed to get an office in the building next door, sharing an office with the researcher. He was working every day from eight to five. You could set your watch after when he would take his coffee, or go to lunch. I was mostly in the other building but when I sat down in my new office there was no stress in the room. There was the same amount of work but without stress. Just sitting next to him working made me alter my stress level. In the other building, I had shared with so many wonderful people that were like me running, believing that this was the only and more efficient way. Don't get me wrong you still have to do the same work, but stress does not in any way make us do it faster or better. The only way to work is really doing one thing well and repeat with the next. This was something that took many years to learn for me. I have learned a lot from authors like Robin Sharma, Tal Ben-Shahar, Marita Lekmo, and Steven Kotler about how to get into flow and work from it. Flow doesn't play well with stress, it plays with problem-solving at our optimal time of the day. I believe that we all have one time during 24 hours that our mind is more clear. Robin Sharma teaches that a lot of our success comes from what we do during this time. If we can do our most important tasks at our prime time for 90 minutes we can get a lot done. I set up a system of creative meditation to set up a practice to allow more flow and focus into my days. It is what I do before my prime 90 minutes. It takes me 15 - 30 minutes and it makes me feel great. If you are curious about how you need a pen, a notebook, and a couple of color markers. Put out the material in front of you, sit down with feet on the ground and hands in your lap. You start by focusing on your breath to clear your mind for 5 - 10 minutes. Draw for 5 - 10 minutes. Journal about the experience for 5 - 10 minutes. I do this to check-in with myself, calm my mind to be able to work from the flow, and feel great while doing. it. The book that I have written is all about teaching you this practice. Books to read on flow: The Joy of Leadership, Tal Ben-Shahar, and Angus Ridgway Flow the psychology of optimal experience, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, Steven Kotler The leader who had no title, Robin Sharma Create to Flow, a journey in creative self-discovery, Ingela Johansson The first four books are life-changing in knowledge, my book is filled with exercises and you do the work. It is a journey in creative self-discovery, that you can take with color markers and a notebook. In the book, you will also find more tips on flow, like the value of small decisions and a green calendar. #creativity_flow #flow_defined #flow #books_on_flow #definition_of_flow #becoming_more_productive #books_on_creativity_and_flow I could not help adding The Surrender Experiment by Michael. A. Singer is a book about living your whole life inflow. When you look at all the covers it seems to me that blue is the color of flow, for me this would be a representation of water and how you feel sitting by the sea looking at the horizon.

Learn a three step system to help you fall asleep, or sleep without interruption using meditation, creativity and reflection. There are nights when I have fallen asleep in front of the TV, I dragged myself to bed and all of a sudden it is as if my brain is spinning. The same thoughts are on repeat, and in between I am starting to get worried because I know that I have to get up to work the next morning. Other nights you fall asleep, but you wake up between two and four in the morning and it feels impossible to get back to sleep. Instead you feel like you are in a worry overdrive. Without uninterrupted sleep I become like a shadow of myself. If you have ever experienced loosing sleep I am sure that you have also tried a few tools to get back to sleep. Again, every tool works different for everyone. The reason for loosing sleep is naturally also very individual. For some it is something that occurs if we are grieving or going through big change, for others it is a constant battle. I am no sleep expert but I have noticed that many of my students have improved their sleep with creative meditation myself included. Let's look at how it works: Meditation even when we do it for 5 - 10 minutes a day will have a positive impact on our sleep. We worry less and if we can learn to focus on our breath for a couple of minutes, we day by day build resistance to the mind-loop that seems to occur when we put our head on the pillow. Image: I titled this one watching ego playing it was made on the 8th of June 2020. If we wake up during the night and get up and do something creative it can help us to slowly heal what is keeping us awake. Color can also have a calming effect on us. When we close this session with reflection it is like writing a diary and we can write down what has been on our mind, to make it easier to let go of or tackle in the morning. Okay so what do you actually do? I suggest very simple materials. A pen, a notebook and a box of crayons. If you prefer flowing colors have a small set of watercolor. Everything you need should take 2 min to set up. Get your materials ready. (with crayons and a notebook you can stay in bed if you like to) Do a 5 to 10 min guided audio meditation. Draw for 10 min or for as long as you feel like, just scribble and play with color. Reflect for 10 min, write done anything that comes to mind like you would in a diary These drawings or paintings often tell you a story about what is REALLY on your mind. Don't worry about what they look like, but look for how they make you feel. Image: These are scribbles, many of them might not mean a thing to you. Then I notices on the right hand corner that I had a figure flying. I reflect on what this means in my life. When you feel done you can go back to bed. If you are having trouble falling a sleep you can try this before going to sleep. Keep the notebook next to your bed, if you feel the need to add something. It can also help if you do this in the morning or during the day. Because it creates a space to listen inwards to ourselves. We have so many tools and systems to listen to others, but we don't always have a daily moment that is just for us where we listen to ourselves. If you would like to learn step by step you can start an online course today or get the book Create To Flow. I wish you many good nights sleeping. Ingela Ps. When you wake up you can reach for your notebook and write about your dreams, I will write another article on how this can help you in your journey of self-discovery. If you have any other subject that you are curious about when it comes to mindfulness and painting send me an email. ingela@zenart.info #sleep #a_tool_for_better_sleep #fall_asleep_with_meditation #sleep_well #creative_meditation #mindfulness #better_sleep

Painting and creativity can be a great tool to relax, unwind and have fun. When we add mindfulness it becomes a tool for increased well being. When we find calm and focus we make better decisions and creativity can help us see new possibilities. But many of us has stopped creating since childhood. We lost interest because we didn't like our drawing, someone said something about our painting, or art wasn't fun in school. Art wasn't considered to be important. There are so many reasons. Yet, in today's world art and creativity are important. It can be a tool for wellness and personal growth, as well as a tool for decision making and innovation. Creativity and innovation can change how you feel about yourself and it can also be how you can give back to your community or create a new product. You will not learn all of this in one mindful painting class but I hope to inspire you to play with your curiosity. In my new series the mindful painting classes, I am doing my best to give you exercises to boost your curiosity, and at the same time show you materials, techniques and design thinking. These are great classes for anyone that wants to explore there creativity, and paint to relax. Each one has it's own flavor and I hope you find one or two to inspire you. I will add new classes to the collection throughout summer! They come with a low base price, and on top of that you have 30% of until the 15th of June. Hope to bring more color to your summer. TO THE FULL COLLECTION Right now you will find two collage classes, one on texture, painting expressive feathers, acrylic butterflies and sunflowers. Enjoy creating throughout the summer. In the picture above you see textures made with sugar, salt and gauze. Explore painting to relax. "Ingela is so passionate about art in general and teaching it seems to be a joy to her. That shines thru in her art classes." Susanne Wallin #learn_expressive_painting #creative_mindfulness #wellness #Zenart