4 Ways to Find Clarity and Get Inspired & Creative to Follow Your Dreams
Oct 10, 2018If you had a thriving career before becoming a mum, the chances are you might be feeling a bit lost in your future directions. I was there too. After the first 6 months of sleep deprivation and feeling run down and having zero time to myself (yep, the baby ruling our world!) my mind was blurry and fuzzy and couldn’t possibly think straight. I loved our beautiful daughter but to tell you the truth, being there for her 24/7 was extremely challenging and my heart was calling me back to the mat. (the teacher’s mat)
If you have a big dream, if you are a creative soul, I’m writing this for you!
Don’t give up even though it feels like there's a countless number of nappies to change or tons of washing to do. (yep, I’m toilet training my daughter!) Time spent on cleaning and washing might feel endless now but you can always make time for something that matters. Your dreams matter. You are worthy of pursuing your heart’s desire. It’s all about finding balance. Finding balance between being a mum, being a wife/partner, being a sister, being a friend, being an entrepreneur, being a dreamer…
I wanted to share with you 4 things that have helped me find more clarity, inspiration & creativity in my life so I can follow my heart’s desire and keep going for my dreams while being a mum at the same time!
1. Try yin yoga
What I love about yin yoga is that I feel my energy is restored after each practice. It’s not a vigorous practice, instead it’s a slow nurturing kind of practice so you never feel depleted afterwards. So even if you have not had much sleep the night before and feeling a bit low on energy, you can always give yin yoga a go.
I notice my emotions getting balanced and the mind becoming calmer and clearer. Most importantly I gain this increasing level of acceptance in life as we learn to sit in each pose for a few minutes. If you want to learn more about yin yoga, go check out my previous blog post below.
“5 amazing benefits of yin yoga and why you should make time for it right now”
2. Meditate
Meditation becomes a little easier after yin yoga practice as we have prepared our bodies for sitting. Having said that, it can also be practiced on its own and you can always start small like 3 minutes! Meditation always quietens down the noise in my mind and helps me find more clarity. There is an increasing level of focus you gain from simply giving your full attention to each breath, each inhalation and each exhalation.
3. Connect with nature
Ocean is where I go for inspiration. When I feel a bit stuck or uncreative (it often happens after staring at the screen for a while), I will simply close my laptop, get out of the house and go for a walk! I live in a part of the world that is abundant in nature, but if you are nowhere near the ocean, you could walk to a park or you could simply get out of your place, get some fresh air and feel the sun on your skin. Or go listen to the sounds of birds chirping and just be with the mother nature. She has so much to offer you.
4. Try journaling
I need to have my journal with me all the time as ideas can strike any moment. If I don’t write things down, I will just forget and they may never come back again. Writing things down gives me a chance to reflect more and organise my thoughts and find more clarity.
Today, I am so excited to have a guest with me, my dear friend Kelly Sunartha from the Dharma Collaborative who is known for using journaling to help coach people towards living their Dharma, purpose or dreams! She will be sharing her insights on how journaling has been a big part of her own journey to finding her highest purpose and creating her business goals. Here are the 3 questions I asked Kelly about her journaling journey and her lovely answers.
What got you into journaling and how long have you been journaling for?
I have always loved writing. I studied creative writing (and philosophy) at university and have always used it as a tool for unpacking my thoughts and getting my mind in order.
How has journaling helped you get where you are? I know you were a yoga studio owner for 6 years and then an account manager for an advertising agency and now the founder of the Dharma Collaborative?
Journaling has helped me over the years to connect with my own inner wisdom and stay on course with my truth. Sometimes we have that little niggly feeling that we should be following our heart or doing something different in our life. I felt this particularly when I was working in a marketing agency and knew that I was meant to be doing something more aligned with my own dharma and purpose. This niggly, gentle nudging towards your inner truth may arise as a feeling of uneasiness or mind chatter that is hard to quiet, and while meditation often gives us little moments of clarity, sometimes the mind needs to be allowed to flow in order to release the thoughts and make them conscious. It allows those fleeting moments of clarity that we get in meditation to be written down and recorded in order to come to a realisation of our truth and help guide and direct our course of action.
Why should anyone try journaling?
We all are our own best guru. Journaling is a tool that anyone can use to access their inner wisdom and truth.
Thanks so much Kelly for sharing your valuable insights with us :-)
I hope this blog post will help you move closer towards your dreams!
