When was the last time you were mind-full?

When was the last time you were mind-full? With your mind too full of what you were doing in the moment to contain anything else? No worry. No stress. No thinking about that amazing comeback you wish you'd thought of yesterday. No thinking about tomorrow's deadlines. Absorbed in the present.

It's a very restful place to hang out that is wonderful for your mental health. And it's a place that's relatively easy to visit, if you know the way.

All it takes is some kind of focussed activity that you do with your body, whether that's baking scones or colouring in a mandala or dancing or writing a poem or planting tomatoes or climbing a tree. Your body is only ever in the present, so when you're focussed on something your body is doing, your focus is also in the present.

There's another thing that's only ever experienced in the present - music. When you combine the two - focussed activity and listening to music (or a podcast, or an audiobook) - the experience of being mind full tends to be amplified (there's a reason we play music during our art making time in our online art group! It helps us land a little deeper in that sweet creative flow that's so beneficial for mental health).

So, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to give this a try - take one creative activity, some music or something you like to listen to, and combine the two for half an hour.

And when you're done, pause and notice how you feel.

If you'd like to try this in a friendly creative community, come along to the next online art group on April 11th. Click here for more details and to save your spot.