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'When your thoughts are like runaway horses'
Copyright (c) 2007-2023 Celeste Varley
Do you take the stress from other situations with you when you get the time to work on your art? Maybe you've had an argument, felt criticized, or experienced a difficult exchange with someone. Your hands may even be a bit unsteady. How can you calm your troubled thoughts so they don't spill over into your art?
Think about times when you are working on a passage of your artwork which is very exacting. When you require steady hand control, watch what you tend to do. Many people hold their breath, or breathe very shallowly. Often the heart beats like galloping horses.
Doing work with fine hand control, you need to be quite calm so it's just such times as this when you want to be at ease. How can you relax when you're concentrating on a challenging situation and adrenalin is still flowing?
First of all, don't even try. Accept the fact that you're tense and it's okay. Like a team of horses, you can't calm them with force, but only with respect. So hold your horses gently, and not your breath.
While we can control our breath to a certain extent, we are totally dependent on breathing air continuously as long as we live. Though we cannot stop it completely, we can influence the pace and consciously slow down our breathing. Have you ever seen a horse trainer gently crooning or lightly whistling to an upset horse?
Try this: Before you start to work, settle in to being exactly how you are in that moment. Acknowledge your own frisky horses. Then take a couple of full, easy breaths. Picture your breath coming into your heart and hum gently to yourself. Soon your breathing will match your slow steady heartbeat.
When you feel collected, centred, and at ease, then start work. This only takes a couple of minutes, and will start you off with more wholeness of body, mind, and spirit. Softly singing, humming, or whistling will steady your nerves and focus your vision. Slow, full breathing and the matching heartbeat can become a habit and take place automatically with very little conscious effort.
Some artists coordinate hand-eye-heart by listening to music while they work. Some music, perhaps dissonant, or mechanical, could interfere with your inner rhythm. As long as the music matches your natural mood or pace this can be a wonderful help.
The Indian philosopher Aurobindo, who was also a poet, remarked that the consistent practice of an art, in the end, constitutes a kind of yoga.
A few artists, unconsciously whistle or sing while they work. They do it very softly, more or less in the rhythm of a slow heart beat. It is an instinctive way of regulating the breath in order to centre and detach themselves from the noises of the surface mind.
This might become something akin to natural prayer. You might talk to your brush or pencil or chisel and coax it to - - - "see this line wants to go this way here, and recede there. . .the skin curves round the bone there. . . and wrinkles right here."
Finally the moment will come, when all this is forgotten and your hand moves naturally in tune with your heart, spontaneously becoming the bird or grass, tree or model, and you melt into the essence of the thing.
"Spirit" and "inspire" are from the same root word, like the French "respirer" to breathe. Isn't it inspiring that every inhalation contains particles of air which have come from all over the world - a mustang on the prairies, a grandmother in Indonesia, a dolphin in the Pacific, an alpaca in Peru, an earthworm in your garden, Leonardo daVinci, the Dalai Lama . . .?
Every exhalation circulates out to other far flung corners of the world in return.
Singing with your heart can lead the way to holistic connection and integration with the world. It could help you to take part in the mysterious rhythm of life as you engage in art making. 'Holding your horses' can be a very gentling activity, and it will probably influence your work too.
"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song." Maya Angelou
"Oh, for a horse with wings!" Shakespeare
May your heart sing and take flight.
Celeste Varley
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Hello, I'm Celeste Varley and have been an artist at heart all my life. It is my privilege and passion to help seekers move beyond self-expression, to access the seeds of wholeness within. If you like this article, you may want to see more "Fresh Horses" articles on my website. Check it out and see if it's right for you. http://www.heartsongstudio.com Celeste Varley, Heartsong Studio, Helping the Creative Spirit to Soar.
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| Votes: 17 |
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painting by Renoir. About 140,000 viewers came to admire this
work. They all saw the sky, the sea, and the sailboat. But, not
one of the 140,000 viewers noticed that the painting was hung
upside down. Why not? Because we see what we expect to see. Now
I don't know if this story is actually true. I heard it on a TV
courtroom drama, but it certainly illustrates a truism. See how
clear your vision really is in this article.
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Written by: Christine Beals |
Distributed: 2008-04-17 |
Word Count: 1034 |
Page Views: 4709
| Votes: 17 |
Rating: 2.12
When some people think of knitting they picture little old
grandmas slowly passing the hours away, but not anymore. Knitting
is a wonderful hobby that can provide anyone with a plethora of
pleasure and relaxation - not to mention adorable blankets,
scarves, hats, clothing and more! You can learn to create
handmade knits for yourself and for all the people you love with
just a little practice and patience.
Unique Gifts: Are They a Thing of the Past?
Written by: Nicole Maschwitz |
Distributed: 2008-05-06 |
Word Count: 419 |
Page Views: 4187
| Votes: 20 |
Rating: 2.05
Lets face it, times have changed long gone are the days of
knitting and crocheting. Lets admit it now with the introduction
of computers and X box, the next generation is more interested in
helping Scratch from Ice Age rather than doing embroidery. In
addition, with mass production of goods from China and other
countries, unique is becoming more rare.
How Solo Performances Kill Creativity
Written by: Celeste Varley |
Distributed: 2007-09-11 |
Word Count: 488 |
Page Views: 4021
| Votes: 25 |
Rating: 2.04
If you are used to taking charge and making things happen, why
does drawing leave you baffled? I feel your frustration in this,
and hope you'll find some relief in this article.
The Hard Work Of Becoming Spontaneous
Written by: Celeste Varley |
Distributed: 2007-12-26 |
Word Count: 799 |
Page Views: 4449
| Votes: 21 |
Rating: 2.00
Do you toil and sweat over artwork, while envying other artists
who seem to just create effortlessly? See if you can find a
breath of renewal in this article.
Wisdom Of The Tribe: Favorite Native American Artists On The Web
Written by: Eagle Vale |
Distributed: 2007-07-05 |
Word Count: 746 |
Page Views: 5435
| Votes: 24 |
Rating: 1.96
Many Native Americans have achieved fame through their art or
through their lives, and some of the greatest artists of this
modern age are descendants of the original American. Here are a
few contemporary Native American artists and a description of
their work:
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