All articles, tagged with “creative”

One of the places we visited on our national parks RV trip was Glacier National Park. Out of all the trails available to us from the Going to the Sun Road, we randomly chose the St. Mary waterfall hike. We were treated to 3 hours of incredible colors, delicate forest streams, unique waterfalls that varied in intensity and bobbing birds.

This Water Film features the signature waterfall of that hike — St. Mary Falls.

The idea behind Water Films is to give people an opportunity to take a break in their day to relax and become inspired by nature. One of the most effective ways to sustain focus during a work day or when working on a project is to take occasional breaks which allow you to refresh your mental energy. As musicians, we find that taking breaks is the key to consistency and creative inspiration in our craft.

One of the tools we use when teaching people how to improvise on the piano is to have them “solo” for a prescribed amount of time (maybe one or two measures of music) and then take a planned “rest” for that same period of time. During the rest, new ideas are allowed to arise within the creative imagination. The same idea applies to almost any task that requires sustained concentration.

These short films are also great to watch right before going to bed as they relax your mind and body.

We will soon be releasing a DVD of these Water Films so people can take them wherever they like and watch in full HD.

The soundtrack of this film is called “Hiking St. Mary,” a brand new ambient electronica tune that can be downloaded at here.

Press play and refresh yourself creatively.

You can also watch it on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6gMm-a2LI4

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle

That quote is all you need in order to understand the power of establishing a habit of practice in any creative discipline. This concept is also true in sports and business.

As teachers, we see that music students who enjoy playing the most are those who manage to turn their daily practice into a habit. I’m sure that’s no surprise to you.

Getting started is the hardest part for most people.

If you wish to be more creative, have more fun and experience greater focus, choose a time each day to commit to practicing and stick with it for 21 days. For a more powerful intention, write down your plan for practice and note the time of day in which you will install this new routine.

Once you hit that significant 21st day (without missing a single day), your habit will be in place. Distractions will be less likely to throw you off track and your subconscious mind will accept this activity as “normal.” Resistance will disappear and you will be more creative.

Think about it this way.

Many students put off starting to practice until a few days before the lesson. Sound familiar?

They try to “cram” their assignment into those few days, like many students who study for tests in school.

But, here’s the deal.

The information (or the music), doesn’t stick that well when you force it in quickly. How much do you chew your food when you eat? I chew my food 30 times for each bite because it helps me to digest my food and my body rewards me with great energy and health. That simple step can work miracles for your body.

Even if you practice 7 hours in one day, it isn’t nearly as effective as practicing one hour, every day for 7 days. You need to give your mind the time to absorb and process. It does its job beautifully when given the opportunity. Plus, everything feels easier.

Why?

Because your personal assistant, the subconscious mind, becomes a very effective ally when you feed it ideas regularly. In fact, if you feed it the idea that “cramming” is practicing, it becomes difficult not to cram!

I leave you with this…

Let’s say that you walk your dog 3 times each day and all three walks add up to one mile. If you do the math, the dog will get walked 7 miles in a week, 28 miles in a month and 336 miles per year. In an effort to save time and effort, you decide to walk him 336 miles in one day.

You might get far, but Fido’s health will suffer, you’ll miss the changing details of the outdoors with each day, you won’t bond in the same way with your best friend and you won’t have the chance to be creative with your routes.

If there’s something you want to improve and it’s important to you, start making your plan today by writing it down and committing to it for 21 days.

Fido will thank you!

This has to be one of the most beautiful places on Earth! Moraine Lake is this magical aquamarine colored lake, nestled in the Valley of Ten Peaks in Banff National Park. The new Water Film below gives you a taste of this unbelievable setting.

The soundtrack is brand new music, named after the lake. You can download it here.

Press play to see why this is a place that we visit year after year.

You can also watch it in HD on YouTube

We are frequently asked how to make a practice routine more habitual.

What about you? Are you ever baffled about how to reach goals without getting thrown off course?

Do you sometimes wonder how you could make each day more meaningful?

Are you seeking ways to effectively install creative activities into daily life?

If these questions interest you, keep reading . . .

Three Powerful Steps to Effortless Achievement

1. Write it down
When you commit any of your intentions to paper, your chances of following through are far greater than if you just think about them and hope to remember them later. By putting plans in writing, you crystallize the details. You also use your creative imagination to further energize the idea.

Write down the things that are important to you and plan ways to include these items in your life. This concept can be a life-changing exercise because you learn how to install the things that matter to you into your daily routine.

2. Visualize your goal and plan backward
You read that correctly! See your goal already attained in your mind’s eye, then write it down on top of a piece of paper. Just below the goal, write down the last step that needs to happen just before you reach the goal. Below that step, write down the second to last thing that needs to happen en route to your goal.

Continue this backward planning process until you reach the step that you will complete just after the moment of planning. This magical exercise clearly illuminates the path to your goal because your creative imagination is fully engaged throughout the process.

Many of us have been taught to plan from where we are to where we want to be. Try this process backward and watch the results come to you with effortless ease!

3. Quiet your mind at least two times daily
We could be talking about meditation, visualization, focus on the breath or any technique that allows you to “press pause.”

If you’ve never taken time out of a busy day to experience stillness, you will be amazed at how taking just a few minutes twice daily can center you, calm you, release stress and create deep peace.

Try this exercise:

a) Close your eyes
b) Visualize yourself in a darkened movie theater
c) Look up at the imaginary blank movie screen and just watch
d) Whenever a distracting thought enters your mind, just gently put your attention back on the blank screen
e) After about two minutes (feel free to use a timer), open your eyes and smile
f) Begin your next activity with a new sense of peace, creativity and clarity

These three steps work for us every day. We hope you find these tips helpful!

In the video sample below, you can watch the scenes that inspired the new CD, “Waterflow II.” Take in images of British Columbia, the Canadian Rockies, Sanibel Island, and Holden Arboretum in Kirtland, Ohio.

The soundtrack for the video is comprised of the music from “Waterflow II.”

Press play and enjoy!

Here is another Water Film that comes from one of our favorite places on earth, Lake Louise. This awesome glacial lake is located in the heart of Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada.

As with all of our Water Films, our intention is to create relaxation and stillness so that you may become creatively inspired. By sitting and watching these videos, you get in touch with the pace of nature and become inspired as the mind becomes quiet.

The quote at the beginning of this Water Film comes from Lao Tzu:

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”

The soundtrack for this video is Clear Stream from our new CD, “Waterflow II”.

Press play, sit back and enjoy images of gentle water, glaciers, streams, Icelandic Poppies and canoes.

You can also watch it in HD on YouTube

The soundtrack to the video can be downloaded here.

Thanks for watching!

Here is “Calm Rain,” the track that serves as the introduction to a brand new CD that we’ll release soon, “Waterflow II.” As with the original Waterflow, this CD will provide you with ambience for calm focus, meditation, a massage or yoga routine. Fantastic new recordings of water from the beach, rivers and a high glacial lake are blended with soothing sounds to put you in a relaxed and creative state.

Just press play and relax while you read about our latest news . . .

We’re excited to announce that the first Waterflow CD is now available on Omstream.com, a fantastic online music websie that features ambient, meditation and world music. Check out our new artist page on Omstream.com.

Coming soon…we’re gearing up for another CD release — Waterflow II. Like the first Waterflow album released last year, this CD features water sounds blended with original music.

This music is perfect for relaxation, meditation, body work or yoga. I’m excited about this CD because I was able to capture a wide variety of high quality water sounds around the country. This collection includes intro and outro tracks.

Take a listen to the outro, called “Clear Stream,” which features strings fused with a stream and birds. Studio Blog readers and our Facebook Fans get the first taste of this brand new music.

Just press play and enjoy . . .

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.

Here’s another new MP3 from GCMusic called “Dusk.” The Studio Blog is the only place to hear the complete track.

Just press play and enjoy this new, mysterious and cinematic track . . .

If you want to own your own copy for your iPod, click here to purchase it.

Also, for those of you who wish to hear my radio interview on Cleveland’s WHK 1420 AM on December 5, here’s the recording of the full interview with Nick Phillips, “The Advocate.” We discussed my musical background and the launch of our new GC Creative Studio product called the Creative Mentor. This exciting 21-day video program was developed for those who wish to find more time for creativity in their busy lives. Enjoy!