Joy Core Connection

It Makes Your Soul Sing!

I looked down at murky water swirling below, the cold stone of the bridge against my belly-  I wondered why my heart was so sad. I was sixteen and my life was a mess. No one understood or saw who I was, and I didn’t either. I didn’t seriously consider leaping off, but I couldn’t really see the point of it all. My creativity was blocked, and I was depressed.

When we’re older, we just keep on keeping on. I’ve often told the story that my artist’s mother suggested I become a dental assistant. It made my furious at the time. But why did I buy into it? I decided that artists are not appreciated, even worthless. Many other messages led me to that conclusion, because it’s a common belief in our world today.

I carry on like most of us do, but for a long time, on the inside I’ve often struggled to justify my existence, and to create. I held the belief that I was unworthy and it made me feel angry, sad, bored. It took a long time to change that and feel joy that I am a creative being and that it’s important.

Are you embracing your inner artist fully?

It doesn’t matter what you do. Whether you paint, take photographs, or play an instrument… whether you sew, craft, or bake- it’s your art. Every day that we do our thing, from bookkeeping to house cleaning, we express ourselves. Our lives are a creative process!

Our great big brains, combined with opposable thumbs make us human. They give us is an incredible power to shape our lives, from making tools to problem solving. What it really comes down to is the stories we tell ourselves about being an artist or not being one.

My mom’s suggestion revealed more about her than me. Her advice came from her own negative beliefs that finding a moderately good paying job was more important than what a person wants or is good at. She came by that belief honestly!

It is beliefs like these that keep us from living creatively.

Every person is unique, and it’s important to discover our creativity, to honor and express it. Because this gives us deep satisfaction, and that feeling supports us in doing the work we are meant to do. Anytime we feel bored, overwhelmed, depressed, or anxious, the root of the problem is not being fully tuned into our creativity.

It was the practice of yoga that help me shift the belief that artists aren’t appreciated . I learned how creativity supports me as a yoga therapist- how I observe people, connect with them, and design a personal practice for them. It also helps me grow as a mother, a parent, and a friend.

Expanding my idea of what an artist is has helped me become better at all these roles, and it helped me relax a bit about my burning desire to express myself through art. As I loosen up about what it is to be an artist, I allow myself to dream again.

It’s about breathing space, and yoga’s role in this gets most of the credit for it. When we take the time to look inward through a meditative yoga practice, it replenishes us. We get space to just ‘be’. My mind doesn’t take me there, I go there through the breath and attention.

Now I fully embrace that my whole life is being created by me in everything I do, every thought I think.

We are all artists- so what are you creating now?

With love,
Frances

Frances Adamson is a certified Yoga Therapist, and an art and intuition coach in Durham Area Ontario.

Serving Oshawa, Whitby, Bowmanville, and Clarington.

20 Kingswood Drive, Courtice