What is the first thing you do in the morning? Well. if you are like most people.. you roll over to check your phone. I used to do this every morning too but then I realized that I was spending at least 20 minutes each morning with my phone in the air doing random clicking and scrolling in a zombie-like trance.This was not a good way to start the day.
Something had to change and so last year I deleted soul sucking apps (like facebook and two dots) from my phone and added a meditation app.
I have been meditating daily for over a year now. So after a cursory glance at my inbox (which is pretty lean since I an obsessive filter user) I turn on one of my meditation apps.
Affirmation play lists
At first, I started with affirmation audio by Louise Hays and also guided meditations from the Law of Attraction franchise. However, these grew a bit old and tiresome especially since I didn’t care for the saccharine sweet background piano music.
guided meditation apps
Last summer, I discover a meditation app called “Calm” and have been meditating daily ever since. I sing praises to the effects of mediation to anyone who will listen as I have noticed both long term as well as short term benefits to meditating.
Short Term Affects
I haven’t missed very many days since I first started. However, I find that on days that I have meditated in the morning I am calm and focused the rest of the day and it is easier for me to focus on long stretches of working in the studio.
Meditation combined with the exercise and a daily journal practice is the trifecta of my art productivity system. I know many other working artists who rely on these three critical components each day as well.
Long Term Effects
Meditation has also helped me “let go” of negative thought patterns. This helps me while I am painting to quiet the inner critic.
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| Moon Child, 12×12″ by Miriam Schulman, www.SchulmanArt.com In this art, a young girl meditates on the moon. Find out more about the story behind this art on my website. |
Want to get started meditating too? I’ve compiled a list of meditation resources that will help get you started.
>> click here to download your free guide
In case we haven’t met yet…
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| Miriam Schulman, founder of The Inspiration Place |
In case we haven’t met yet, I’m an artist and founder of The Inspiration Place, where I help other artists learn how to profit from their passion or become better artists. Through online classes, business coaching programs, and a top-ranked podcast, I’ve helped thousands of artists around the world develop their skill sets and create more time and freedom to do what they love. My signature coaching program, The Artist Incubator, helps artists go from so-so sales to sold-out collections.
A graduate of Dartmouth College and M.I.T, I initially pursued finance but after witnessing 9/11, I abandoned a lucrative hedge fund job to work on my art full time. Since then, my art and my story have been featured in major publications including Forbes, The New York Times, Art of Man, Art Journaling magazine as well as featured on NBC’s “Parenthood” and the Amazon series “Hunters” with Al Pacino. My forthcoming book with HarperCollins Leadership on how to make it as an artist is scheduled to be released January 31, 2023. When I’m not in the studio, you can find me hanging out with my husband, adult kids, and a tuxedo cat named Ebony. I’d love to invite you to check out one of my free resources for art lovers (of every passion level) at schulmanart.com/freebies
A study by UCLA found that people who practice meditation in the long run , have “less old” brains than people of the same age who do not. Participants who have meditated for more than 20 years have more gray matter volume. “We expected the difference to be minimal,” said Florian Kurth, author of the study, “however, we observed a wide range of effects of meditation on different areas of the entire brain,” he added.