Mindfulness Wall Art

Still 8x10 watercolor print by WindGullDesignCo on Etsy

I ran across this lovely watercolor print today on Etsy.  It is always interesting to me how saying the same thing in a different way can help us understand and connect with its meaning.

Aromatherapy, Mindfulness, and Panic Attacks

Aromatherapy Mindfulness Reminder Necklace

One of the other things besides practicing Mindfulness techniques to help with my panic attacks has been essential oils.

The Mindfulness Reminder necklace above includes a lava bead, which because of its porous nature makes a wonderful diffuser for essential oils.

I was excited when I ran across this study from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) on Mindfulness Meditation in combination with essential oils to help reduce anxiety.  It was brought to my attention by the Tisserand Institute.  Robert Tisserand is one of the leading experts on the study of essential oils and wellness.

Here is the link to the notice from the Tisserand Institute

and the study from the NCBI.

http://tisserandinstitute.org/learn-more/mindfulness-meditation/

Inspired by the Little Bird Tracks

 

Mindfulness Reminder Necklace with Little Bird Tracks by CenterRings on Etsy

Yesterday was a snow day in Minnesota.  (Yes, many of us here were groaning a bit that is was April and we still had snow.)  At our house, we also had an abundance of little Juncos in and out and all around our bird feeder.  I just love the little prints they made in the snow--so much so that it was my inspiration for the pattern on these new hammered brass rings.

Slow down

Take a breath

Be in the Moment

Hold your thoughts and feelings as gently as you would a baby bird

Let them go

Just be

Mindfulness Like Celadon Must Be Experienced to Be Understood

When creating a listing on Etsy, one of the things you do is add tags that describe your piece, such as  color, shape, usage, etc. so people can find it more easily in a search.  It is often difficult to decide what colors to use.  Do you just use the word "green" when it is really a lime green?  If someone is searching for a green necklace are they that specific?  Needless to say, the answers are quite illusive, and you just use words that seem to be the most direct.

Describing the color of the little green-blue bird on this necklace yesterday I had to stop and really think what words to use.  One issue is that describing color can be very personal.  What looks like blue to one person might look like purple to another.  It is actually quite difficult to find true colors.

 

Mindfulness Reminder Necklace with Little Celadon Bird

Then the color "celadon" popped into my head. Yes, the little glass bird was celadon in color.  I typed it in with the other tags and posted the listing.  But I could not help wonder if what I thought the color celadon looked like was really the same color in the little bird charm, so I googled "celadon" in Google images.  Above is a picture of the necklace with what showed up in Google images, which confirmed I had found the right descriptive color.

It was interesting to read a bit more about celadon.  It is actually used most to describe a certain Asian glaze in pottery.  (I know the little bird charm is actually glass, but it is the same color as many of the celadon glazed.)

I was quite struck by this description I found for celadon green in Wikipedia:

These pots have blue-green glazes and are made in elegant shapes and were produced in kilns from all over China. Korean celadon pottery has been described by ancient Chinese artisans as having a quiet elegance whose color is "beyond description", in that it must be experienced to be understood, and its simplicity of form and style has been compared to the spirit of Zen Buddhism.^[49]

I really like how they describe celadon as:

"having a quiet elegance whose color is beyond description"... "that must be experienced to be understood..."

That really is another description for mindfulness, and it is really not as illusive as it seems at first.

Giving Ourselves a Soft Place to Land

Colorful Textile Mindfulness Reminder Necklace

Yesterday, I tried something new and different adding a some color.  As I created this necklace, these are a few thoughts that streamed through my mind:

• What does it mean to offer ourselves a soft place to land?
• What does it mean to accept all our thoughts and feelings--the good, the bad, the easy, the hard, the right, the wrong?
• Do we even need to label them or judge them?
• By giving our thoughts and feelings a soft place to land, will they never go away?
• Is giving our thoughts and feelings a soft place to land in a way a metaphor for acceptance?
• We don't cling to them or shoo them away.  We just let them be there.

I wrapped the metal rings with embroidery floss to make this necklace.  It is much more colorful.  I notice that when I give myself to the present moment, I notice things I would not notice otherwise.  Sometimes, what I notice more is color--the different greens in a leaf, the pink of a blooming gerber daisy, or the turquoise of an ocean bay.  Yes, all these are a soft place to land.

May you all find your own soft place to land.

Mindfulness Reminder Necklace with Hand Stamped Ring

I had some fun stamping brass yesterday.  The brass circle is not a "perfect" circle, yet isn't that how our lives really are?  Today, I am embracing my wonky circle.  So many times beauty really is in the imperfect nature of things. 

May you hold yourself gently today--wonkiness and all.

Leaves on a Stream Mindfulness Reminder Necklace

Leaves on a Stream Mindfulness Reminder Necklace by CenterRings on Etsy

When I received these rings with holes in them in the mail the other day, I started playing around with different designs. After I looked at this leaf combination, I was reminded of a visualization practice my therapist taught me years ago. The idea is that visualize a stream with leaves floating by and place your thought or feeling on a leaf and watch is float away. 

There is quite a bit of information on this practice on the web.  This one from YouTube is one of my favorites.

As with so many of not all Mindfulness practices, the key is to practice.  It is always best to practice even at times when you are not necessarily stressed.  Frankly, I had sort of forgotten about the Mindfulness practice using leaves on a stream.  This necklace will be another reminder to practice observing my thoughts and feelings and just letting them go.

Little Blackbird Mindfulness Reminder Necklace

This song may or may not apply to the practice of Mindfulness, but it went through my mind when I was making this new necklace.  :)

Little Blackbird Mindfulness Reminder Necklace

CenterRings Little Etsy Shop is filling up!

CenterRings on Etsy

Slowly but surely,

I have been listing the Mindfulness Reminder Necklaces in my Etsy shop!

Come take a visit! 

Other Mindfulness Reminders on Etsy

The other day I ran across one of these leather bracelets with a ring on Etsy, and I thought how many things could be used as mindfulness reminders if that is our intent.

Etsy no longer has a Treasury, which allowed you to make picture boards of your favorites with direct links to the items.  But this is a screen shot of leather circle bracelets I put in my favorites.  I think I want one of these!

Here are the links to the Etsy shops for the bracelets above:

Aquila Leather

Asenath Designs

A Viking Princess

Thumbprints Leather

hender sweet

Key to Style

Recovery Works Co

Bella Blue Art Studio

Lenssen Way

The Great Dismal