Cultivating Inspiration

This exercise is a mindfulness practice that will support you in cultivating inspiration in your life! This guide will walk you through a brief mindfulness exercise aimed at increasing your awareness of what it FEELS LIKE to be inspired and what contributes or detracts from that emotional experience. As your awareness of the experience of inspiration increases, it will help you to make decisions based on what contributes to feeling inspired and how to cultivate environments and relationships that lead you to a more inspired life. I chose the word INSPIRATION because it relates to both joy in the present and motivation/hope for the future in a way that really resonates with me. If there is a similar word you wish to substitute (joy, hope, happiness, fulfillment, meaning, purpose etc…) give it a try and see if the exercise still fits!

MINDFULNESS EXERCISE:

Close your eyes and imagine a life that inspires you and brings you joy. It could be based on experiences you had in the past, an activity you enjoy, or a hope or dream for the future. Once you have chosen a source of inspiration, visualize it in detail. Where are you? What does the environment look like? Sound like? Smell like? Feel like? What are you doing in your joyful life? How are you spending your time? Who are you surrounded by? What do your relationships feel like? How do you spend your time and what activities do you engage in? What does that feel like? Try to stay in this visualization for at least 2 minutes if you can with your eyes closed but you can continue with it for as long as you like.

After you have visualized your inspired life for a few minutes, slowly bring your awareness to your body. Do you notice any positive feeling attached to the visualization? It might be joy, inspiration, hope, contentment, peace, happiness or something else. What sensations do you notice with your joy/inspiration? Where in your body do you feel it? What is the size, weight, quality of the feeling? Be specific. Is it a feeling in your chest or your stomach? Is there a calmness? Is there an expansiveness? Is your heart racing quickly or beating slowly? Are you breathing deeply or shallowly? If you are having trouble describing the sensations in your body, perhaps there is a metaphor that describes what you are feeling?

The goal of this mindfulness exercise is to try and access a feeling of inspiration and joy through visualization but if you are unable to access the actual physical feeling that is OK. You can try the visualization again at another time or you can observe when/where those feelings come up for you and try to describe the feelings and sensations when they do arise.

When I do this visualization, I experience my inspiration like a balloon, It’s a peaceful, yet energetic feeling that is expansive and feels like an inflated balloon in my chest. The questions for exploration are based on this metaphor but if you experience your inspiration differently (feels like a waterfall, butterfly or a purring cat etc.), feel free to substitute your own metaphor into the exercise.

QUESTIONS FOR EXPLORATION:

Imagine your inspiration as a balloon. Observe this week as you are going about your daily life when your balloon becomes inflated (when you feel inspired by something!). What thoughts, feelings, experiences and interactions inflate your balloon? Make a list (be specific):

Notice the experience of your balloon deflating. What thoughts, feelings, experiences and interactions deflate your balloon? Make a list (be specific):

Does it deflate quickly or slowly? Does it depend on the situation? Are you able to inflate your balloon again after it has deflated? Are there circumstances that make your balloon more resilient?

Do you ever find yourself letting go of balloons for other balloons? Maybe you feel inspired by so many things but have trouble following one source of inspiration?

CULTIVATING INSPIRATION:

Pay attention to the somatic (body) experience of inspiration as you are going about your day and as you are engaging with your sources of inspiration. Notice what thoughts, feelings, experiences, interactions cause your inspiration to grow or shrink. See if you can revive your inspiration after it has deflated or if you can cultivate it when it is absent. Notice when your inspiration moves quickly from one balloon to the next. Increase awareness of what contributes to your balloon inflating or deflating.

Use this increased awareness about what impacts your inspiration to create situations for your inspiration to thrive. Who would you surround yourself with? What environments would you interact with? What objects, resources or encouraging statements do you keep with you?

Make a list and try putting this into practice this week! Ask yourself as you are making decisions each day whether the choices you are making bring you joy and feed your inspiration.