Dear Yogis,
We are experiencing some beautiful days, and I have been experiencing the most beautiful clients.  Clients who have helped me make sense of what I am doing. Clients with messages for my heart, and those who even consider what I need materially to continue – the angels among us.  If I told you, you just wouldn’t believe – extraordinary.  Thank you.
How are YOU making the most of your time with your creative self.

HOW DO HERBS AND PLANTS INSPIRE YOUR CREATIVE MOMENTS?  

I wonder about your routine – I certainly have one.  There are some basic questions I ask myself first such as “what is seasonally relevant”, and then “what is growing in my garden, or on my foraging walks today”.   Now winter is on the way, and the weather is damp with some cool days and some warm and wet days, the mushrooms are starting to appear.  Wild greens are  always coming up, and  I’ll think of some ways that I want to intentionally engage with them, paint them, or make a tincture or recipe.  I am painting wild (edible) mushrooms at the moment. And I am still dealing with a bumper plum harvest, lemons and limes.
Before I start creating at my favourite bench space, I always like to have a cup of herbal tea, take some kind of tincture, and light some incense to feel grounded (I make sure the cat is settled – I can’t work with her on the bench). I like to pick recipes based on the season. So right now, it’s coming on to winter and I’m drinking rooibos with vanilla.  A warming comforting tea.  I have a mushroom tincture (shilajit for energy) that I use often because it works for me, and Bach flower remedy I make myself to keep me concentrating and on track.   I’ll put some in my tea, put some on my wrists, and also put some in the paint water.
What you’re engaging with physically is also what you’re engaging with on the paper as you paint, so it’s nice to bring that tincture into the artwork itself.
When possible I will bring a sample of the herb I am working with indoors, and just stand it in the paint water as well. It is nice to connect the dots between the natural world and the creative, I just feel more inspired and creative when all the energies are linked.

DRAWING EXERCISE

We are moving from summer to winter – some days more quickly than others… the seasons are really shifting. I have a drawing exercise here for you so you can play along with me.
  1. Bring your drawing supplies – and a picnic rug –  on a walk (the walk I have been trying to get you on for a long time)…. Notice the plants and the plant energies around you.  Notice the new plants popping through, even the fungi.  Easter is a great time for mushrooms.   Don’t rush, breathe along with nature, and feel yourself “plugging in” to the earth energies.  Don’t just rely on your iPhone! It is not the same as doodling with a pencil and paper.
  2. Let a place call out for you.  It could be  bench, or a favourite rock, or just sitting on the grass (don’t forget a picnic rug).
  3. Start with a simple meditation, with every breath take in the energies around you, and imagine your drawing, or the beginning of the drawing.
  4. When you feel connected , just start a drawing or a doodle.  Anything – even words.  There is no right or wrong.  Just do what comes through to you, without introducing technology, (perhaps leaving that until you are back in your studio).

The schedule for this week.
ZOOM:Monday 6.30 Gita, Tuesday 7.30 Herbal Workshop, Friday 6.45 Free Tarot.
STUDIO:  Monday 1pm (full), Wednesday Restorative 1pm and Friday at gentle hatha and chair 1pm.

I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU ON THE MAT (OR THE PICNIC RUG)

NAMASTE – JAHNE