Mindful Thoughts for Makers Review & GIVEAWAY

Live your best creative life! Mindful Thoughts for Makers by Ellie Beck is a lovely little book about bringing a mindful approach to your making, regardless of your craft. Making things with our hands provides opportunities for nurturing mindfulness. Australian textile artist, life-long maker and teacher Ellie reflects on living fully in the moment. Musing on topics like Finding Solace in your Making, Being Gentle with your Perfectionism, The Importance of Taking a Break and more. All 25 topics are listed below in the table of contents. Learn how to bring awareness to your thoughts, feelings, body and environment - without judgment. Offers plenty of encouragement on your creative path. Measuring a compact 11.2 x 13.5 cm (4.4 x 5.3 inches) it can be taken anywhere. Leaping Hare Press will release this 160 page hardcover on September 3, 2019. It is available now for pre-order. A Kindle edition is also available. Get your copy below!

Contents

INTRODUCTION

On Being a Maker

The Heart of the Maker

Honouring the Rituals

Remembering to Breathe

The Quiet in the Making

Experimenting

Creating Time

Making & Ego

Being Conscious of the Environment

Learning Slowly and Patiently

Working in the Flow

Nature - the Greatest Muse

Mono-tasking

Making Mistakes

Centring Ourselves

Motivation for Making

The Monotony of Making

Repairing the Broken

The Seasons of our Creative Life

Finding Solace in your Making

Community and Connections of Being a Maker

Being Gentle with your Perfectionism

The Importance of Taking a Break

The Journey of Making

Clearing Up

Contentment & Meaning

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Remembering to Breathe

One of the downfalls of our modern lifestyle is the speed with which we do everything, including breathing. Increasing stress in our society has seen an increase in thoracic, or shallow, breathing. Every day we race about, sucking air in through our mouths and puffing it out – in a fight or flight mode of living that results in stress, anxiety and numerous medical conditions, and doesn’t allow for connecting to slower thoughts or moments.

Finding Solace in your Making

Some days life can be hard, and finding our way through our emotions can be draining, but immersing ourselves in the work that our hands can do can be very satisfying. Emotionally and physically, the process of making gives us a chance to slow down and step away from the turmoil and stress of life. Using our hands for meaningful, mindful purpose gives our pent-up feelings and emotions a healing outlet. By physically slowing our bodies down in order to sit down and make something with our hands, we are taking the first step towards allowing ourselves to process any grief or hardships that we might be experiencing. If we take the time to focus on our difficult thoughts, rather than rushing around trying to outrun them, we give ourselves the chance to heal, through our crafts, our hands, and our practice of making.

Community & Connections of Being a Maker

Being a maker, we can choose to sit with the quiet of ourselves and our internal voice, shutting out the world to further understand who we are and who we might be. Or we can open ourselves up to connect with a wider community of makers, to find that we are all travelling similar paths in this world, and that our passions can unite us and help us better understand each other. Whether you are a woodworker or a baker, a potter or a knitter, you can easily find a local community that will share your love of your craft and want to connect on a deeper level. You might find that you can swap tools, materials, patterns or recipes, or that someone is happy to teach you that tricky stitch you’ve been trying to work out. Or you might simply find someone to share your baking creations with, and a conversation about the challenges of finding the right ingredients in your part of the world.

My copy.

Mindful Thoughts for Makers: Connecting head, heart, hands ISBN-13: 978-1782408833 is available worldwide at Leaping Hare Press, an imprint of The Quarto Group. Check out their unique catalog at Leaping Hare Press. Quarto has generously offered to giveaway a copy! One winner will be selected at random. Open until September 9, 2019. Canadian and USA addresses only. Good luck!

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