Mindfulness Mode

How do mindfulness and creativity work together? One of our mindful tribe listeners has reached out to me and asked me to do a creativity meditation. And I wanted to talk about how creativity can help us during this pandemic, or really anytime. Many of you have lost jobs and you're not sure what's going to happen with your employment. Maybe you don't know if your job will still exist. After the quarantine, mindfulness can help you get in touch with your creative mind.

From there, you may realize how you can pivot. At this time, it may open up in your thought process exactly where you need to move to and at the same time, your creativity can help you become more mindful. So it can work both ways. And that can cause the light to come on in your mind.

Some of the best ideas and innovations have come to people during challenging times during strife. So the first thing is welcome new ideas and be open to being creative. Allow yourself to let your mind go where it wants to go. Allow your thoughts to go on a tour, to travel to wherever to it might take you. Don't try to predict it. Don't try to make this thing forced. Just let it happen.

Now a lot of us get so wrapped up in our lives or our jobs, our structures, that we push creativity away. We start to think we don't need creativity in our lives. And we just need our brain to be centered and focused on that same old thinking process.

Scientists have known for centuries that the creative process comes through forms of mindfulness. Now of course, it hasn't always been called Mindfulness.

In 1926, Graham Wallace wrote The Art Of Thought. And The Art Of Thought is a book that's all about training our minds in the creative process. Creativity requires freedom in our thinking. And there's a point where it also requires a certain amount of constraint. So I'll explain that. Let me guide you through the process of opening up to your creativity.

1. There are actually four stages of the creative brain. And the first stage is allowing your brain to roam around freely, being open to new thoughts, being willing to use your imagination and let it happen. And if you're open, you'll start to gather information and that can be random information. It can see messy and disorganized and you might feel like it makes no sense at all. Just allow your mind to go where it wants to. Allow your mind to entertain thoughts that in the past, you probably would have pushed away.

2. The second stage of the creative brain is letting those thoughts incubate, let them brew while you sleep or while you exercise, or while you're taking long walks in nature. Do what you enjoy and let those thoughts go where they want. Don't allow your mind to be too stimulated at this point.

3. The third stage is when your ‘aha’ moment will come to you. This will be a moment of creative insight that suddenly pops into your brain. It might happen at the second just as you're waking up in the morning, or maybe just as you're falling asleep at night. Suddenly a thought will come into your mind and you'll realize it's actually a revelation.

Maybe you're writing some music or playing an instrument, and you have a sudden realization. Mindfulness will help you be open to this new idea, a sudden thought that comes forward from your subconscious.

4. The fourth stage is when everything comes together. This is called the verification stage. You identify your aha moment and in your cognitive mind you put the pieces together and everything begins to make sense. Your massive pool of random thoughts has formed itself into a laser beam of light pointing at a specific solution or a process.

Everything suddenly starts to make sense and you can see how the pieces will potentially fit together. It's important to just let this process happen. Don't push it or try to speed up the process. Just be open to letting it happen on its own. Allowing yourself to use mindfulness in all its forms will help you move through these four stages.

The more you can let go and allow your creative mind to explore, the more you'll move through these stages. If you're a musician, allow yourself to improvise, to just freely let some music happen. It doesn't matter what it sounds like, just allow it to be free. Now apply this thinking and do whatever you like to do. As I mentioned, maybe it's cooking or organizing, or maybe it's drawing or painting.

Allow yourself to be free and open about what appears on that sketchpad or on that canvas. Just use the colors and let them happen and don't overthink it. Right now let's explore this mindful place where you can let go, where you can be open to new thoughts.

David Nielson is a life-long corporate leader after spending 18 years in the corporate world and another 33 years consulting to organizations and coaching executives. He’s been a frequent speaker at Chief Executive Network, Management Resources Association, Training Directors Forum, and many other organizations. His book, The 9 Dimensions of Conscious Success: It's All About You, is a reflection of all that David learned on his life journey.

• Website: DavidENielson.com

• John Jones, mentor of David and co-founder of University Associates in 1973

• “It made me more present with those whom I have relationships, it made me more conscious of how I am in the moment, and it has caused me to be better.”

• “It is very important to me.

• Book: Magic of Conflict by Thomas Crum

• “Bullying can exist anywhere. It is about the image of power or perceived power and the heart of it is insecurity.”

Greg Schmaus is a Holistic Health Coach and Licensed Massage Therapist. His work focuses primarily on coaching clients with various physical, mental, and emotional challenges. With the use of nutrition, meditation, mindfulness, exercise, and lifestyle coaching, Greg has been a guide for countless clients on their healing journey. Greg's work was inspired by his own healing journey, overcoming obsessive-compulsive disorder using these holistic healing modalities.

• Website: www.ghsTraining.co

• Paul Chek www.ChekInstitute.com

• Mindfulness has allowed me to be more aware of my emotions and has allowed me to experience my emotions with less judgment.

• Breathing is our anchor to the present moment. You can't breathe in the past or the future so any time we connect with our breath, we connect with the present moment. Breathing also bridges the mind and the body, so when we connect with our breath, we create harmony between the mind and the body.

• Book: Anything by Alan Watts, Osho, Thich Nhat Hanh

• When I was growing up I was very quiet. I never really spoke and when I was a child I was made fun of for being very quiet. At the time, I didn't really notice how much it affected me because I was a very good athlete so my mode of expressing myself was always through my physical body.

Become more calm, focused, and happy by reading the top 12 books recommended on the Mindfulness Mode Podcast. This mini 14-page ebook entitled '12 Must-Read Mindfulness Books' outlines each of the top books recommended by guests on the show. Get your digital copy now at  MindfulnessMode.com/top12books

• Have a Positive State of Mind To Start The Morning Urges Fitness and Mindset Coach, Ian Ryan

Aubree Nichols is an avid writer, calling herself a feminine feminist. Her writing for The Week, Observer, and Elite Daily have made her a resonant voice in the self-love movement, which she believes is the ultimate love story. She believes simply, that love changes the world. Aubree has a degree in Organizational Change, and cultivates community and ignites creativity within organizations with her proprietary workshop, Stoked! Her spirit animal is the Black Swan.

• Website: AubreeNichols.com

• Glennon Doyle Melton, author of Love Warrior

• “I have an intense emotional life so, I would say it has made me more steady and less reactive.”

• “Breathing is the power that we all have within us. It tells our body that everything is just fine.”

• Book: Darkness Before Light by Aubree Nichols (contributor)

• “I think have always been my own worst bully. People could be saying good things about me but in my brain, I would just think that they are all lying.  My internal chatter was so against me.”

Keep Calm and Meditate With Your Kids is a Facebook Group put together by two mothers, Tahmina Watson and Jigna Patel. They feature live meditations on weekdays at 3:00 PDT / 6:00 EDT. I was honored to be a guest meditator and am now making the meditation available to you, Mindful Tribe.

The idea of a Gratitude Tree is not new, but you'll see I've taken this concept and added some of my personal creativity to it.

Although this meditation was originally presented for children and their families, as an adult you will probably enjoy it too.

Thanks for listening to The Gratitude Tree Guided Meditation by me, Bruce Langford.

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Do you want to improve the focus, drive, and productivity of your employees? If so, you can learn how by downloading, '10 Simple & Effective Ways to Increase Mindfulness in the Workplace Now', a free PDF at MindfulnessMode.com/workplacep.

Do you want to become more calm, relaxed, peaceful, and content? If so, you can learn how by downloading this free ‘Waves of Content' Meditation by Bruce Langford. Unlock the secrets of calm by downloading the meditation here at MindfulnessMode.com/wavesofcontent

Adam Lewis Walker is a Leadership & New Media Speaker and 2 x Best-selling Author. He hosts the top-ranked podcasts ‘The TalkXcelerator' and ‘Awaken Your Alpha' interviewing the world’s elite minds in over 400 episodes since early 2014. A former teacher and international pole-vaulter, Adam was attempting to reach the Olympics in 2008 when his career was cut short by a freak accident. Adam gave the TEDx talk Awaken Your Alpha, How to Rise Up and has been featured in The Huffington Post, ESPN, PodFest, Influencers Radio and many more. In 2018 “Awaken Your Alpha – Tales & Tactics To Thrive” also became an international bestseller on it's release.

• Website: www.TalkXcelerator.com

• Seneca – Lucius Annaeus Seneca and also known simply as Seneca was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and dramatist.
  

• “Adversity happens to us all so for me, it's not a shock when it happens. I'm more aware now.”

• “I'm a big believer of move and breathe. I'd like to walk to the gym and practice my breathing with my steps.”

• Book: The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday

• “I was a very little guy in school. I was the smallest guy, by far. One guy would always come up to me and punch me in the arm. I did not punch back.”

Become more calm, focused, and happy by reading the top 12 books recommended on the Mindfulness Mode Podcast. This mini 14-page ebook entitled '12 Must-Read Mindfulness Books' outlines each of the top books recommended by guests on the show. Get your digital copy now at  MindfulnessMode.com/top12books

Stacy Bahrenfuss has uniquely integrated mindfulness and meditation practices into her real estate company, Catalyst Group. She uses her Limitless Mindset practice as a tool to help people learn how to become a magnet for success. Stacy started her real estate company at the early age of 19, sustained through the housing crisis of 2007-2010, and continued to build the business to be a 7-figure operation and one of the top real estate teams in the state of Idaho. She has personally funded a development project consisting of 11 upper-tier new luxury homes while still operating her real estate team. Stacy also brings over a decade of experience in meditation, personal development, and results coaching.

• Company: Catalyst Real Estate

• Preethaji and Krishnaji of the O&O Academy

• “It has allowed me to manage my emotions. Be aware and allow them to exist, not to change them.”

• “It fuels everything.”

• Book: The Four Sacred Secrets by Preethaji and Krishnaji

• “What's interesting about bullying is where that bully child is coming from. Quite often, it's a scream for help or it's the way to cope with emotions that they don't understand.”

Jack Canfield is well-known for one of the most successful series of books of all time, The Chicken Soup For The Soul books. Although I would call him a mindset expert, he didn’t grow up around a self-help mentality. His mother was an alcoholic and his father was a workaholic. Later, through his determination, Jack became familiar with certain principles of success that he used in the late 1980s to create the Chicken Soup For the Soul series, even after being turned down by 144 publishers. Jack shares the same principles of success that he used to succeed back in the ‘80s, in his book, The Success Principles: How To Get From Where You Are to Where You Want To Be. Now Jack’s most recent book, The Success Principles Workbook, is available as a powerful companion guide to the original publication.

• Website: www.TheSuccessPrinciplesWorkbook.com

• Dawa Tarchin Phillips, Tibetan Buddhist lama and mindfulness teacher: www.DawaTarchinPhillips.com

• It's kept me much more calm and much more neutral. Sometimes people think I don't have any feelings.

• I do breathing exercises as part of my yoga and my meditation practices in the morning.

• Book: The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

• My dad was an alcoholic and he got violent when he got drunk he would rage and if I wasn't careful I would get beaten, so I would literally hide inside the radio.

Do you want to become more calm, relaxed, peaceful, and content? Learn how by downloading this free ‘Waves of Content' Meditation by Bruce Langford. Unlock the secrets of calm here: MindfulnessMode.com/wavesofcontent

Johnathan Grzybowski, is the co-founder of Penji, a platform that gives you on-demand access to the top two percent of designers in the world. Penji has been named as a “top startup to watch” according to Philadelphia Magazine and acknowledged as one of the fastest-growing private companies in America according to Inc. Johnathan has also founded multiple marketing-related startups and his daily life is peppered with mindfulness practices.

• Company: Penji

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• “My goal now is to more to take a step back and be mindful of the other person's time and attention and not react as quickly as I once did.”

• “It isn't a technique but it's something that I'm mindful of because sometimes I forgot breathing even when I'm meditating.”

• Book: Never Get A Real Job by Scott Gerber

• “I was called “gay” and the “F” word  in any type of egocentric situation in high school.”

These challenging times are tough for many of us. Understanding how to have mental toughness can help us take control and move forward in the best way possible, leaving behind overwhelming stress and panic. One of the quickest ways to learn mental toughness is right here:

* www.MindfulnessMode.com/tough

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