These Artful Hours

02/10/2023

'Oh but I'm just not creative'

I hear this all the time... and if you’ve said it yourself, I’m lovingly calling you out.
All human beings are creative. The ability to shape our world, to build and transform, is part of what makes us human.

To create is simply to bring something new into existence, or take elements that already exist and put them together in a new way.

If you have started a business, you are creative.
If you can cook up a storm from leftovers, you are creative.
If you can put together a smoking hot outfit, you are creative. If you can complete the look with make up and accessories, then you’re pretty much a creative goddess.
If you can use cushions and candles and curtains to transform a room into a cosy welcoming space, you are creative.
If you are a mum, you are creative - bringing a child into the world is undoubtedly the ultimate act of creation.

What people usually mean by 'I'm not creative' is ‘I couldn’t paint a fruit bowl at school’.

I've been a professional artist for over ten years and let me tell you I could not paint a fruit bowl if my life depended on it. But I am overflowing with ideas, stories, projects and so I never doubt for a second that I am creative.

These days I spend my time helping other mums embrace their creativity as a super easy form of meditation, so that they can release stress and anxiety and step into cool calm confidence.

Wanna know more? Join the mmmmm club here https://mmmmmclub.ck.page/mmmmm - it’s completely free and you’ll receive a feelgood guided visualisation every month to help you relax and enjoy being a mum that little bit more.

And in the meantime, try and notice and celebrate all the million small ways you are creative everyday!

Shonie These Artful Hours

20/09/2023

‘Oh but I’m not creative’

I hear this all the time… and I’m calling BS.

All human beings are creative. The ability to shape our world, to build and transform, is part of what makes us human.

To create is simply to bring something new into existence, or take elements that already exist and put them together in a new way.

If you have started a business, you are creative.

If you can cook up a storm from leftovers, you are creative.

If you can put together a smoking hot outfit, complete with make up and accessories, you are creative.

If you can use cushions and candles and curtains to transform a room into a cosy welcoming space, you are creative.

If you are a mum, you are creative - bringing a child into the world is pretty much the ultimate act of creation 😂

What people usually mean by ‘I’m not creative’ is ‘I can’t paint a fruit bowl for sh*t’.

I’ve been a professional artist for over ten years and I cannot paint a fruit bowl. But I’m overflowing with ideas, stories, projects and so I never doubt for a second that I am creative.

So do me a favour, keep an eye out for all the million small ways you create today.

Because you ARE creative ❤️

Shonie x

19/09/2023

Hi, I’m Shonie.

I’m a mum of 3 boys, 2 dogs, a cat and a tortoise.

I founded These Artful Hours to help mums like me take the sting out of stressful situations and step into cool calm confidence.

I create feelgood meditations, gorgeous guided visualisations and powerful self hypnosis scripts.

I’ve helped mums (and their families) with everything from calmer bedtimes to overcoming their child’s nail cutting phobia, falling back in love with their post natal body and letting go of guilt about returning to work after maternity leave.

To find out how I can help you, visit our website at www.theseartfulhours.com

Shonie These Artful Hours x

16/09/2023

3 ways to work with me for absolutely free:

⭐️Join the mmmmm club and get a free feelgood meditation sent to your inbox every month (link in bio)

⭐️ Follow me on Insight Timer and get access to gorgeous guided visualisations for every mood - and if you don’t know what Insight Timer is, go to the App Store and check it out now, I promise you it’s worth your time!

⭐️ Join my brand new ‘Time to Think’ space - a monthly online workshop for busy mums. The first workshop will take place on Monday 25th September at 12.30pm BST, everyone welcome, DM for the zoom link.

Shonie x

12/09/2023

Here’s three things you might not know how about me:

- I’ve given birth three times without ever being in labour (shout out to my ❤️)

- I used to work for one of the UK’s biggest soap operas writing storylines

- I have several tattoos including a T-Rex, a parrot and a family of frogs

Your turn, tell me three things I might now know about you!

Shonie x

12/09/2023

A meditation you can do while washing up/waiting for Netflix to load ❤️

A simple, do anywhere (with any number of babies crying, pots clanging or dogs barking in the background) meditation:

Start by sending yourself love and kindness and wishing yourself well. You’re doing a great job.

Now, direct your kindness towards somebody that you love. Think about them fondly and wish them well.

Next, think about a person you are neutral about, maybe the postman or a neighbour, and repeat the process. Wish them well.

Then, and this is the hard bit, turn your loving kindness towards somebody you don’t like or find difficult to deal with. Whatever your differences, wish them well today.

Finally send well wishes to all living beings everywhere, the complete strangers you meet everyday, and the strangers you’ll never meet. Remember we’re all in this together, and know that right now, somewhere in the world, someone is wishing you well.

Isn’t that a beautiful meditation?

For more simple meditations for mums, hop over and like our page These Artful Hours

Stay cool

Shonie These Artful Hours

10/09/2023

The practice of chanting a mantra while using prayer beads is called japa meditation.

Japa meditation is generally practiced while seated but can also be done standing and while walking. The chant is repeated silently or aloud, as slowly or as quickly as necessary to keep your attention focused.

Traditional Japa meditation involves 108 repetitions of a single word for each of the 108 beads, but an easy adaptation is to use an affirmation (I am confident, I am loved… or whatever you need to hear today) and just repeat for a few minutes. You can buy the traditional beads or use a necklace or bracelet you already own for the simple adaptation.

If you’re feeling nervous or anxious in a particular situation, this is a really good grounding technique to keep you focused and calm. Just keep repeating the mantra, counting the beads.

Stay cool,

Shonie x

09/09/2023

I love candles to the point of obsession (it’s September, we can definitely talk candles), they make my chaotic house look cosy and smell great but they are also so calming and meditative.

If you’ve ever found yourself gazing into a flickering flame then you have actually participated in an ancient meditation practise called Trataka.

Unlike forms of meditation where the eyes are often closed and your attention goes inward, a candle gazing meditation involves staring at a flame and making that the subject of your focus. From there it’s easy to enter into an almost trance like state.

The benefits of meditation combined with the indulgent gorgeousness of candles? Yes please!

Shonie x

Wanna join my free meditation club and get a brand new guided meditation direct to your inbox every month? DM the word CLUB for the link ❤️

08/09/2023

Love Like A Forest

“Take a moment to acknowledge that loving yourself, making sure your own needs are met, is to love like a forest. Think of yourself as an eco-system, providing your children with everything they need to grow. To care for them, you need to put yourself first.

Loving like a forest means prioritising self care. The stronger the forest, the more nurture it can provide. Taking time for self care, self love, can never be selfish, because it puts you in the best possible position to serve.”

This is an extract from a guided meditation we created to help mums enjoy guilt free self care. I just love the metaphor of the forest as a different way of thinking about our love for our children.

If you’d like to find out more about our guided meditations created just for mums, sign up to our email list and receive a free meditation every month (we like to call it our mmmmm club). Here’s the link: https://mmmmmclub.ck.page

ShonieThese Artful Hours

08/09/2023

So body scan meditations are a fairly typical way to deepen relaxation, and yeah you’ll find them in many of my guided meditations and self hypnosis audios.

But in the meditation teacher training we were prompted to think more expansively about body scans.

Going for a walk? A fantastic opportunity to do a full body scan, and consider how each part of your body is involved in the act of walking and the interaction with the air/earth/sunshine etc.

Doing the washing up? Well while you’re stood there anyway… check in how you are feeling top to toe.

My other fav ideas for body scan meditations were while swimming or having a bath, sunbathing and hugging a tree.

Have you ever tried a full body scan meditation outside of a sitting/lying position? Let me know in the comments.

Shonie x

07/09/2023

If, like me, you find it really difficult to ‘still your thoughts’ then koan meditations are super helpful.

A koan is basically a riddle or an enigma - usually in the form of a question or a fable. You simply sit, stand or walk (sitting is more traditional but I have ants in my pants as well as bees in my brain) and think about the koan.

For example, what colour is the wind?

There is no answer and a million possible answers, your task in this form of meditation is simply to follow the train of thought and see where it leads.

Here’s some other koans that I like:

Listen to the sound of one hand clapping

When you forget a thought, where does it go?

How do you know what is real?

Which came first, plant or seed?

I love that the aim is not to find an answer the question, but just see where it takes you.

Give it a try and let me know how you get on!

Stay cool,

Shonie x

06/09/2023

In metta meditation, we begin by directing loving kindness and compassion inwards towards ourselves.

We then turn our gaze outwards in an expanding circle.

First direct kindness and compassion towards a person that you already love (pets work too!). Think about them fondly for a couple of minutes, and wish them well.

Next think about a person you are neutral about, and repeat the process.

Then turn your loving kindness towards somebody you don’t like or find difficult to deal with. Wish them well.

Finally send well wishes to all living beings everywhere, loving kindness and compassion for every living soul.

Isn’t that a beautiful meditation?

Stay cool,

Shonie x