Exercise 10, Energy Management ”Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love; it will not lead you astray. " Rumi What do you do when you feel full of energy? Sometimes it can be downright healing to say no to things, circumstances or people that drain our energy. Become aware of when you have the most energy, what time of day is your most productive, and feel free to put your creative meditation at the beginning of this time. For me one of the important changes that I have implemented is to start my work day with my most important task, instead of checking emails and messages. Naturally, it all depends on what we do and who we are. Another important thing to remember can be that it is all right to change your mind. Part 1 Meditation, 8 min Try meditating after a guided meditation that is attached as an audio file Energy meditation Part 2 Creative Meditation, 10 min Pick up the first color that feels right. Draw a line, draw a parallel line and keep drawing lines, breaking the pattern when it feels right. Change color whenever you want. Feel free to continue with the picture for at least 10 minutes. Be aware if your energy changes after your creative phase. Part 3 Reflection, 15 min Look at your picture, does it remind you of anything? What do the colors you have used mean to you? When does it feel like you have an energy where everything flows easily? Good Luck Ingela

Exercise 15, The energy in color Energy is my first language. I understand it more than I do words. I have a painting that everyone seems to like. It took me 8 months to complete. Not that I painted it every day, but it needed to mature between each coat. Sometimes it didn't feel good and then I painted over and waited. When it was finally left, I could feel that it was finished, and so do those who see it. It's the first painting I've turned down an offer for without keeping it. Because it represents how a work can become when intuition meets canvas. Technically it is imperfect, but it has a quality of an energy that reaches out towards you. That feeling cannot be created by forcing it, as you are sometimes forced to do when you work with art as a profession. Artists, like everyone else, are not always completely in balance with themselves. It took me a long time to understand that it goes much easier and gets better if I give time to meditation and reflection.  The process of the daily creative meditation gives me space to create a moment every day just for myself, which is a luxury in itself, the other luxury is to be able to create during that moment without the need to create something fantastic. It has been wonderful for my own art and for more often being in balance to create good art. In the process, I learn more about myself and what I value. Page by page, it becomes so much clearer what I stand for, what I like and where my limits are. It's an exciting journey. After 1.5 years, I discovered that I no longer worry less often, instead the thought is more solution focused. Karen French who was one of the first to take the course usually says that creative meditation doesn't change what happens in my life but how I deal with it. Part 1 Meditation, 5 min Film with art meditation from the National Gallery. Film Part 2 Creative meditation, 10 min Paint, draw or write about today's inner energy. What color and movement does it have? Part 3 Reflection, 15 min Look through what you have written and possibly Drawn from energy week. Do the works have the same energy as you? Write down your reflections.  Often it is one or two of a week's production that stand out, and want to say something. Feel free to spend a little more time on them. Note how your energy feels at the end of the reflection. Good Luck Ingela

Exercise 16, The longing ”To do something that you have longed for, can create a new energy." Ingela Part 1 Meditation, 5 min Listen to the meditation on your inner space Part 2 Creative meditation, 10 min Draw based on your experience in meditation. Part 3 Reflection, 5 min What could you do that you have longed for? Please start small. Is it a free afternoon? A long lunch with friends? Sleep morning? Try a hobby? Good Luck Ingela

Our third month has the theme, BALANCE Now we have come to month 3, which is about the flow and energy in balance. Don't worry if you find it difficult to relax and meditate. Getting into the rhythm of creative meditation can take time, and other times it feels completely natural. Some days it goes better and others it's harder just like anything else, if you keep going you will find it gets easier and easier.  It is perfectly natural for other thoughts to come up when you meditate, think of them as clouds that pass by and bring the thought back to the here and now. I remember being asked by a student who attended the program if it had really changed my life. At first I wanted to answer yes right away, but chose to take a break for a few months before to see if it was true. It wasn't long before I was more stressed and spending more time daily worrying. Of course, this does not mean that I always feel balanced, or feel anxious. The difference is that I have many days when I can make decisions based on a calm state of mind, and that I prioritise meditating, creating and reflecting in my daily life.

Exercise 17, The Balance Circle How do you want it? Some of us need to have unplanned time, e.g. A holiday where we can do what we feel like. Others like having plans to look forward too. This week starts with an exercise around the balance circle, so you can start feeling which areas you feel you want to start focusing on. Part 1 Meditation, 5 min Listen to a guided meditation. Relaxing guided meditation Part. 2 Creative Meditation 15 min The balance circle is a tool for visually getting a picture of the areas of our lives that are important to us and what we prioritise. Put a title on each piece of cake. Eg. Personal development, family, career, friends, finances, health, fun and hobbies. Choose a color for each heading and make a rating from 1 to 10 how you see The balance in this area now. If the piece of cake is filled with color, then it is a priority, and vice versa. This exercise is not for you to do more in all areas but more for you to think about what is important to you and what you want more of in your life and focus on. During certain periods in our lives, we also have completely different priority areas. Part 3 Reflection, 5 min Which two or three areas feel most important to focus on in the next three months to get more balance. Try not to prioritise more than three.

Exercise 18, Letting Go ”Life is a balance of holding on and letting go." Rumi Sometimes we need to let go of certain things to find our balance. It can be a notion that we have acquired about what is good for us and what is not. Demands on ourselves that we believe are necessary. It can also be projects that we've been saying we're going to start for years, like learning a new language, but we don't start. Sometimes it can be important to clear to make room for what we want to do. Part 1, Meditate, 5 min Listen to a guided meditation on letting go of demands. Letting Go Meditation Part 2, Creative Meditation, 10 min What do you need to let go of? Choose a neutral color and a strong color. Paint and write around the question. Part 3, Reflection, 5 min Note how the body feels through the exercise. How would it feel if you let go of certain requirements? Sometimes it can be a tremendous relief to get rid of something we've been thinking about for a long time but haven't started like learning a new language. It's as easy as a data file that sits and takes up memory in the background, even though we don't use it. Good Luck! Ingela

Exercise 20, Feel good with color There are research results that show that colors can affect our well-being and health. Warm yellow like sunshine can have a mild anti-depressant effect and green can give us a feeling of calm. For me, it is connected to how we experience nature. Perhaps the most important thing is to think about what colors mean to you and how you are affected by them. I like to have color around me to be able to work focused, or have a nice dinner with friends. For others, it is just as important to have a lot of white and simple. Think about how you feel. Part 1 Meditation, 5 min Listen to a guided color meditation Color shower meditation Part 2 Creative Meditation, 10 min Draw, paint or write about colors that mean something to you. Part 3, Reflection, 10 min Are you beginning to be able to listen to your color language? Clues: Look back at your notes and see what colors you have used? What colors are you wearing? What colors are in your home? What is your favourite place in nature? Good Luck! Ingela

Exercise 23, Design Your Own Process Part 1, Meditation 4 min Follow a guided meditation Energy meditation Part 2, Reflection 25 min, Design your process Today I want you to take the time to sit down and have a good cup of coffee/tea. Spread out or scroll through your photos. Go through your reflections. What has worked best for you? Now make up your own process. Choose the type of meditation, creativity and reflection that has suited you best. Some examples of how others use creative meditation: One person chose to make his process focused on present walks, photography and written reflection. For a participant who sometimes has difficulty sleeping, it became a process of painting and reflection when she wakes up at night. To sum up the day at the end of the working day with a short meditation and written reflection, became the process for a participant who receives clients during the days. These are only three different examples and there are many more. Some advice for designing your own process Please have a mug/glass that you only use during the process. Choose a way to activate your senses, it could be a scent, a taste or opening the window and feeling the breeze. You don't have to do it every day, but when it works for you. This also applies to the time of day. When creating a new habit, it can help to add it after something you do every day, such as brushing your teeth. Decide what you want to reward yourself with and how often. For me it has been to once a month do a longer reflection on my process and then buy myself a bouquet of flowers. It can also be time to spend doing whatever you want. Choose something that you long for. Do you remember the advice that creativity and imagination often develop under limitation, so let it get a little boring with limited material. Decide to switch every six months or whenever it suits you. Good Luck! Ingela

CREATIVE MEDITATION, WELLNESS PAID FOR IN ANOTHER APP A method for managing stress and increasing your well-being. If you have paid for the course through your wellness service, choose this course. Your membership will be activated. By combining meditation with creativity and reflection, it provides a unique opportunity to express emotions, increase concentration, and problem-solving abilities. Meditation exercises help you focus on the present moment and relax. The creative exercises do not require artistic skills but provide you with tools to be present and have fun. The online course is structured into two sessions per week for three months. The course includes 24 sessions with exercises, audio files, and videos. Each session takes 20 - 30 minutes, which you can do at your convenience. Throughout the course, you will have the opportunity to try various types of meditation/mindfulness to find what suits you. If you don't want to draw, then meditate and write. You will need a notebook and four pens to participate. To purchase the course here, you need to be logged into the platform. The goal of the course is to provide you with tools and a habit for health and well-being in everyday life. Course Leader: Ingela Johansson, ingela@zenart.info "Creative meditation has led me to finding new discoveries about myself through drawing meditations. Every time I reach for my drawing materials, I wonder... what will I discover next?" Kym Neson, Belgium

Exercise 1, Nature "Nature is satisfied with simplicity." Isaac Newton Part 1 Meditation, 5 min Distractions have become increasingly common in our everyday life. We are interrupted by notifications, messages and constantly being available. The first exercise is an exercise in being here and now. Focus on movement in nature: such as the wind in a branch, waves, or clouds. To keep track of time, you can set a timer on your phone. If you are not in a hurry, it is not necessary to keep track of time. Look, observe and feel. Try to keep your mind on the object you are focused on. Feel free to activate your senses, through scent, texture, color and sound. If your mind wanders use it's imagination to get back to discover more about the colors in a cloud, or how fast it is drifting. Part 2 Creative meditation, 15 min (or however long you want) If time is important, set a timer, otherwise just continue for as long as you want. Choose the colors or pencils that feel right. Draw without requirements, if you get stuck draw the flow and movement of the object you have been meditating on, start painting lines as in the texture. If it's going to be something else, let it be something else. Let the brush and pen go on a journey of discovery. If words come up, write them down, if you feel like taking photos to describe your story, take pictures. When you feel that you are done, stop. During an exercise, you can make as many pictures as you want. Sometimes a picture takes a long time, sometimes you're done quickly.  If it suits you better to write about the experience, do that instead. Our feelings or our intuitive messages sometimes like to show up in a drawing or a meditation. Part 3 Reflection, 5 min How does it feel when everything flows? What is the sensation in motion? What happens in your body when you receive a notification in your phone? Good Luck Ingela

Exercise 2, A focused walk ”What you focus on grows" Marita Lekmo Every time I do this exercise I am surprised by how much I pass by without noticing. Everything from a sculpture of an eagle on a roof, to a hare in the park. The focus walk is an exercise in being here and now, and exploring your surrondings with curiosity. Part 1, Meditation 5 - 30 min Todays meditation is to try a focused walk. Please go where you go often. Discover three new things you haven't noticed before. Feel free to focus on what flows in nature, and how it feels. Part 2, Creative meditation, 10 min After the walk, sit down and paint, write or photograph about the experience. Try to take the color that you see first and if it is difficult to start close your eyes and draw a line with a pencil. Then you can look and build on it. Sometimes it's all about getting started! If you want to take a photo or write about the experience instead, do so. Part 3, Reflection, 5 min Write down what you saw during the walk. Think about how it felt during the walk and the creative creation. Was there anything that surprised you? Were your discoveries visual, or did you use other senses? Good luck Ingela  

Exercise 6, Resistance and Flow ”If you relax and release, you will see that it puts you through tremendous spiritual growth." Michael A. Singer The law of resistance When we resist and fight against, the resistance usually increases, and when we let go, it flows. Sometimes all the excitement of holding back creates physical and mental reactions. Everything from tension pain to stomach ache. Sometimes we are also not fully aware of what it is in us that creates certain reactions. For example, it took me quite a long time before I understood that when I was really annoyed with my partner, I could comfort myself with food, instead of expressing how I felt because I couldn't deal with the problem. Today I can recognise the pattern and talk about it.  Part 1 Meditation in everyday life, 5 min Mindfulness and calmness can be found in things that we do every day, but it's about how we do them. Try brushing your teeth and be fully aware that you are brushing your teeth. Feel how the brush feels, how the toothpaste tastes and take your time. You can try the same thing if washing the dishes or making the bed. When choosing clothes, consider how the fabric feels against the skin.  When your thoughts wander to something else, just gently bring them back to the task at hand. Part 2 Creative Meditation, 10 min Measure the resistance and then the flow. When you feel that you are done, stop. During an exercise, you can make as many pictures as you want. Sometimes a picture takes a long time, sometimes you're done quickly.  Part 3 Reflection, 5 min Where in the body is the resistance? Where is the flow? What can you do to increase flow? Good Luck Ingela