All articles, tagged with “calm”

I’ll get to the New Water Film in a moment. Our CD, “Waterflow,” is now being sold at Whole Foods Market in University Heights, Ohio! If you’re in the Whole Body Department of that Whole Foods and you wish to buy the CD for yourself and another person (makes a great gift), the second CD is half price. Click here for samples from the album.

We’re also presenting this New Water Film entitled, “Vocalise.” This video features images from the end of winter. You’ll visit Shaker Lakes, Brandywine Falls and Euclid Creek in Cleveland in this video and view scenes from Banff and Niagara Falls in Canada.

Candice’s lovely solo piano rendition of Rachmaninoff’s “Vocalise” is the soundtrack. Press play, sit back and enjoy.

You can also watch it in HD on YouTube

The soundtrack to the video can be downloaded here.

It’s now even easier to follow our new GC Creative Studio Facebook page because we have a “become a fan” icon to the right of this blog post or on our home page. That icon is located just below our most recent Twitter post.

Have a creative day!

All of us can use ways to find calm, right? Well here are just a few ideas that can help you experience peace and relaxation.

1. Calm your mind with meditation or breath awareness. When you wake up or just before you go to sleep for the night try one of these techniques:

a) Follow the movement of your abdomen as you breathe calmly. Just observe without feeling the need to control your breath. Whenever your mind drifts and you become aware that you’re no longer observing your breath, just gently come back to focusing on your breathing and the rise and fall of the abdomen. Start with 5 minutes and increase by one minute each successive day. Use a timer if you desire or just do it for as long as you want. With practice, you can get to 20 minutes each day. You will find that this practice will become a part of your active, waking day as well, bringing you tremendous calming benefits.

b) Practice visualization for five minutes a day. Create pictures in your imagination that reflect your life as you desire it to be. Feel the feelings of already having the life you desire as you imagine your mental movie in great detail. You can build details into your imaginary film every day. Try this for 21 days in a row and observe any changes you experience in your ability to think about things in your life as you desire them to be (even when you’re moving through your day). Also, remember Einstein’s great quote:

“Your imagination is your preview of life’s coming attractions.”

c) Observe your thoughts without judgment. Pretend that your mind is the sky and that thoughts are like passing clouds. There’s no need to label thoughts as good or bad, just allow the thoughts to come into your awareness and pass through without you getting attached to them. When you resist the thoughts you don’t want, you give them power to stay around and become stuck in your field of consciousness. When an unwanted thought comes about, just observe it with a “there it is,” unattached approach. This practice is really great for helping you to develop greater clarity of focus. Try it for 5 minutes a day.

2. Fully engage yourself in a creative activity. Whether it’s practicing piano, learning a language, developing a business plan or playing with your kids, engage in these activities on a regular basis with your full attention. Turn off your cellphone and put away your electronic devices (unless your creativity is taking place on the computer) to help put you in a dedicated mental space. Plan time for this activity every day for 21 days so that it becomes an effortless habit.

3. Take a walk outside in nature. Few activities calm the mind more effectively than the act of communing with nature. You become connected to something larger than yourself when you open your focus to the variety and connectedness of the outdoors.

4. Listen to relaxing music or watch videos that make you feel tranquil. If you’re in the middle of a hectic day, music can be that “take it anywhere” elixir to help soothe your stress. As readers of the Studio Blog already know, we make videos specifically for that purpose called, “Water Films.” “GCMusic” is also a good resource for relaxing music.

We hope you find these techniques helpful as you journey toward greater peace in your everyday life. All of these ideas give you greater benefit with regular practice because you’ll find what works best for you. I find that something as simple as looking at a picture of a flower (like the one below) can immediately raise my vibration. Enjoy!

For more hibiscus photos, check out our Hawai’i Hibiscus album on our Facebook page. Click here.

While we were vacationing in Florida at the end of 2009, we witnessed some amazing sunrises and sunsets. This Water Film features some really cool shots from the beach on Sanibel Island.

The video is accompanied by a new composition, “Sanibel Sun.”

You can watch the new movie, also called “Sanibel Sun,” here:

Watch it in HD on the full screen on YouTube!

Or you can go to our Water Films website to watch this movie or any of the other relaxing Water Films.

If you like the music from this video you can download “Sanibel Sun,” you can download it here.

Watching films like this can put you in a place of calm focus (an upcoming blog topic — stay tuned).

Here’s another new relaxing Water Film to share with you called, “High Lake.” There is this stunning lake, nestled in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta, high above the infamous Lake Louise. It is named Lake Agnes. The spot is so peaceful and magical that one is instantly transformed in its presence. There is a lovely tea house that overlooks the lake which sits at around 6,500 feet. The aerobic 75 minute uphill hike is quickly forgotten when you rest on the shore of this pristine lake.

We recommend turning on your external computer speakers or putting on some nice headphones to get the full effect of the deep, resonant tones mixed with the natural sounds.

You can watch this new movie here:

Watch it in HD on the full screen on Youtube!

Or you can go to our Water Films website.

If you like the brand new relaxation music, “High Lake,” you can download it here.

Enjoy!

We are happy to introduce the latest project from GCCreative Studio — Water Films.

Water Films can help you experience peace while being inspired by nature. If you’d like to take a break from a busy day, these films can give you a powerful boost. Most of us get that we live more inspired when we’re relaxed. We’re more creative, we harness the power of the present moment and we have the ability to uplift others.

These short films also give viewers an inside look at the inspiration for the music that we create. When we remember the sights and sounds from spectacular natural areas, creative ideas effortlessly flow though us. We hope that you have the same experience when you get out into nature or watch these Water Films.

If you wish to watch them in high definition, just press the “HD” symbol at the bottom right part of the screen (it takes a a few minutes to load this way but it works well if you have a fast connection). For even greater impact, you may also watch them in full screen by pressing the icon just to the right of the “HD” symbol.

You can watch the films as many times as you like for free. After a while you may wish to download the MP3 from a film and you’ll see that the images will pop into your head even when you’re not watching the video.

All of these films are on YouTube. You may even subscribe to our YouTube Channel for all video updates at GCCreativeVideos.

There are five films on the site right now for you to explore — two from Kaua’i, two from the Canadian Rockies, and one from a peaceful lake in Michigan.

Enjoy Water Films!

As readers of this weekly blog already know, I like to share ideas that have helped me to be more creative, calm, happy, enthusiastic, joyful and powerfully centered in the present moment. I share them with the hope that readers may find inspiration for themselves.

We all know that being in the present is the most powerful way to live. It’s more powerful than mourning the past, feeling regret or fearing the future. Being in the present doesn’t mean that you don’t have fond memories or make plans, it’s just that this moment is the only moment you’ll ever experience. So, I’m always looking for ways to make it better.

I’ve learned a lot of great techniques from a variety of books, videos, audio programs and people who are living life to their highest potential. I’m certain that this study played a huge role in a major realization that occurred to me last week. This insight may seem incredibly simple when I reveal it…and it is. But, this powerful realization allows me to “Feel Better Now.” That phrase has become my new reality.

Here it is.

Every day, all of us have things to do that fall under the category of chopping wood and carrying water. That’s an old term for daily chores and requirements that relate to our survival. The survival tasks have evolved over the years, but that term nicely illustrates the errands of the day. You know, I’m talking about washing dishes, driving the kids to music lessons, yard work, working at a job you don’t love, sorting through the mail, etc.

Well, I rarely enjoy chopping wood and carrying water because I always want to be doing “something else.” I have a list of items each day that I desire to do — all of us do.

So, you see, if I’m always wanting to be somewhere else while I’m cleaning cat litter, I start to become impatient. When I’m not accepting or enjoying the moment, I lose creative power (or happiness, or peace, or joy). It almost sounds silly to talk about it even as I write.

But here’s what happened last Tuesday. I had a long list of things to do that day and the grass was long. There was a threat of rain for the next day, so I figured it would be better to cut it now before it got wet and longer. I made a decision to cut the lawn and to try some of the techniques I’ve learned while engaged in the yard work.

As I mowed, I began to notice and appreciate the beauty of the blooms in our flower bed. I appreciated that our lawn looked so green. I kept reaching for things to appreciate in the present moment and even began to say some positive mantras in my head while I walked back and forth with each newly cut row. Thoughts about people I love popped into my head, excitement about the summer weather came up and a general swell of positivity came over me. I was totally in the present as the positive momentum gathered…all this while cutting lawn (i.e. choppin wood).

It gets better.

The yard work felt like it took three minutes (actually, it was timeless). I couldn’t believe I was done. As I put away the tools and the mower, a new idea for a creative project flashed into my head from out of the blue. I was really excited! After I put away the tools, instead of rushing inside to take care of my next item on the “to do” list, I went back to the front yard and just observed it. It seemed to look better than ever and I felt really peaceful.

I’ve read probably 1,000 times or more that the way to live your best life is to be in the now — when you eat, just eat, when you walk, just walk. Intellectually, it has always made a lot of sense. To add to that, I’ve never had a problem staying in the present when relaxing on the beach in Hawai’i or skiing down a mountain. Yet, out of the 365 days in each year, how many days am I in that situation?

Think about it…every day, you’re likely engaged in chopping wood and carrying water. Rather than seeing these activities as obstacles, they become your opportunity to transform, grow and experience life in a new way.

Think about the implications here. Instead of being resentful that you have to wash the dishes, try using that time as a vehicle to increase the power of your focus. By focusing on the present moment, you get better at being in the present. You also get better at focus. Focus brings more effective results to your life.

Rather than scattering your thoughts and attention to everything that enters your mind or your immediate environment, you begin to take control of the direction of your life. Rather than needing external stimuli like television to give you a rest from your thoughts, you get better at directing your thoughts.

This is what we teach when we show people how to practice piano. Never mind that you didn’t practice yesterday, focus on what you can do right at this moment to improve the piece, to enjoy the sound of the instrument, to be here now. Students are always amazed at what they can achieve when they have 45 minutes of undivided attention devoted to the task at hand, practicing their piece.

Oh, another thing . . .

My first student of the day came in one hour after I finished mowing the lawn and said, “Wow, you’re yard looks beautiful. It looks like it could be in a magazine.” I thought that was pretty cool and it added even more positive energy to a day that was continuing to feel good. My positively oriented presence began having ripple effects throughout my day and even to other people.

That’s one way to “Feel Better Now.” Feel free to write to me if you have ways to be in the present. I love hearing about them from other people. You can even post a comment on the blog so others can read your ideas. Thanks!