Hello and welcome to this practice where we're going to explore creativity.
But not creativity in the form of art or performance or making new things or being good at drawing or acting.
Sewing or singing.
It's more this sense of creativity being something that lives inherently within us.
And it might express itself by being in the garden,
By being more flexible,
By taking a different way to work,
By acknowledging that things change.
Life itself is creative.
And the fact that you're a human on planet earth it means that you are creative too.
So your body is always changing.
The present moment is always changing.
Seasons are changing.
Stars move across the sky.
Leaves fall.
Water evaporates and becomes a cloud and then falls as rain and flows again.
Rivers meet the sea.
We age.
We can always try new things.
So this guided meditation is really about dropping a little deeper into the present moment,
Sensing that the present moment is always changing and that you can move through life with greater presence,
Therefore greater creativity.
And that you're never too old to start to see yourself as creative as you expand the definition to.
Let's begin our guided practice with our eyes open.
And just looking around your room and seeing if you can notice anything with fresh eyes.
With this sense of creativity,
Maybe you can notice the way.
The light falls.
Any hints of the season you're in?
Maybe you could look at something you've seen a hundred times before,
But this time notice it a little differently.
Color,
Texture.
A book.
And just getting a sense that you can use your eyes and your awareness.
To begin this process of a more creative life.
And when you're ready,
You can close down your eyes or just allow your gaze to feel soft.
And we'll begin today's practice just with a gentle focus on our breath.
We don't need to change our breath.
We don't need to deepen it,
Make it feel smoother.
It's enough just to notice.
And what if you could allow this simple act of breathing to remind you of your inherent creativity?
Your ability to begin again through the tide of the in-breath.
And your ability to let go on the tide of the out-breath.
Each breath a beginning and an ending.
And now let's expand our present moment awareness by becoming aware of the sounds in your environment.
So sounds close by.
Sounds far away.
And really getting a sense of this.
Changing soundscape.
Nothing for you to do or to control.
You can really just let sounds move in and out of your awareness.
And acknowledging that your soundscape can be inherently creative.
Simply by its transient nature.
And then moving your awareness inwards to get a sense of bodily sensations.
Maybe there's pain.
Aches,
Stiffness,
Tension in your body.
Maybe there's warmth.
Tingling,
Numbness.
And here in this moment just acknowledging the changing nature of sensation within the body.
Sure we're sitting here in stillness.
But within each moment,
Our body is actually different.
The sensations are different.
How we're responding to those sensations,
Whether we're aware of them,
We're leaning into or away from.
And now let's expand our awareness of the present moment even further.
So we've been aware of the sounds.
Of the inner sensations of the body.
Now can you zoom your awareness out?
So the present moment feels larger.
The present moment holds your home.
For me,
It holds my dog sleeping beside me.
Maybe for you,
There's other people in your home.
Maybe the dishwasher's on.
Zooming your awareness out further to hold your street.
The comings and goings of cars,
Of people walking past.
We're expanding our awareness of the present moment to include your community.
The shops,
The people commuting to work.
Person walking their dog.
The sun shining on the trees.
And so really expanding your awareness of what is contained in the present moment.
And now I'm going to read you something.
This is about the physics of now.
And this is an idea from a physicist,
Richard Muller.
Nearly 14 billion years ago,
The Big Bang produced a universe with four dimensions.
Three of space and one of time.
And all of them have been expanding ever since.
The Big Bang is an explosion of 4D space-time.
Just as space is being generated by this expansion.
So time is being created.
Every moment the universe gets a little bigger.
And there is a little more time.
And it is this leading edge of time that we refer to as now.
By the flow of time we mean the continual addition of new moments.
Moments that give us the sense that time moves forward.
In the continual creation of new nows.
It's awe-inspiring to imagine that each moment of our lives is being made at the front edge of the expansion of the universe.
And so can you breathe deep into that possibility?
That right here,
Right now.
You are sitting at the edge of now.
At the edge of an ever-expanding universe.
That you are indeed part of the great mystery of consciousness.
That you are at the edge of an expanding now.
And how does this make you feel?
And can you breathe a little of this energy?
A little of this possibility.
A little bit of this creativity deep into your heart.
Nothing to do.
Nothing to make,
Nothing to paint,
Nothing to perform.
You are inherently creative.
Breathing this sense of creativity,
This remembering deep into your heart.
With each breath allowing the energy of creativity,
The truth of who you are.
To weave into your bloodstream.
To your ligaments,
Your tissues,
Your organs.
Into every cell of your being.
Here in this moment,
Reigniting your inherent creativity.
Creating a new baseline.
And so creativity can feel far-reaching.
At the edges of consciousness.
At the expanding universe.
But it can also be deeply practical.
Set in everyday life.
And so the question is.
.
.
How could you bring a more creative lens?
To your everyday life.
Where is creativity calling you?
Is it through cooking?
The way you talk to yourself.
How you interact with nature or those you love.
We're not looking to overhaul our whole life here.
We're just identifying one way that creativity might speak to you in your everyday life.
Imagining yourself moving through your days.
Doing this thing,
Being this way.
Whilst also imagining yourself,
Your energy,
Your being.
At the edges of time and space.
At the edges of the ever-expanding now.
Coming back to your body as it sits or lies in meditation.
And just noticing how you feel.
Noticing if anything has shifted.
If anything's opened up.
And noticing again the sounds in your environment near and far.
How the present moment is dynamic.
How each moment is a brand new moment that you have never seen before.
And you get to choose how you move through it,
How you interact with it.
Offering yourself a smile.
For being willing to explore these ideas.
Creativity in the abstract and the practical.
Opening your eyes when you're ready.
Thanks for sharing your practice with me.
From my home to your home,
From my heart to your heart,
I've really enjoyed it.
