Life is art in motion, lets explore it together – Helen Bradshaw
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Exploring Well-being Through Art: The Therapeutic Power of Creativity

Allowing my fears to be woven into something comforting and beautiful

Camping alone, not a soul in sight, allowing my fears to be woven into something comforting and beautiful. I’ve always wanted to do a vision quest, preferably in Africa as I’ve met a few people who say it was life-changing…this is not that extreme, no hyenas creeping out the bushes (lol) and I’m camping in my bus, however a necessary taste of being with oneself in the wilderness, more stillness, the mind chatter that comes with this and the unknown that lies in the dark as the sun sets (my biggest fear). I challenged myself in many ways; walked through thick long grass carrying Teddy to get to the river for a swim to cool off (another fear of mine is snakes, even though I know they are probably more scared of me than I of them!), struggled down steep slippery slopes to the river, cried a few times as I’ve processed ‘stuff’,…
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Photo of a person with facial bruises, standing in front of an art piece

An experience. A message. A warning. A miracle.

‘I’ FEEL LIKE A MIRACLE! An experience. A message. A warning. A miracle. 2 weeks ago I saw my life pass before my eyes as my face headed for the tar when my bicycle came to an instant stop when my yoga mat caught in the spokes of my front wheel. I went head first over my handle bars going about 20-25km/hour, the last thoughts before I hit the ground was, “this is it!”. It was a spontaneous decision to go to yoga that morning. I have been really enjoying being able to ride to the things that I love to do in my community…coffee, swimming at the beach, walking with friends, markets, doing small shops… 😵‍💫MY WARNING is please DO NOT carry things on your handle bars. ANYTHING that may get stuck in the spokes of your bicycle wheel will impact its flow in some way! Doh, You may…
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👉🏽’I am here’👈

👉🏽’I am here’👈 As we are now exactly half way through 2021, I felt it fitting to reflect on the last 6 months and will be expressing my reflections in some art therapy shortly. Before I did this, it occurred to me to revisit my creative art expression and blog from the end of last year as a platform to gauge my journey into this year so far and wanted to share. 🖼 The image shown here is my 2020 intuitive therapeutic art piece created on New Years Eve day…an expression of my journey through last year. It is a map that begins at the bottom of the painting travelling up to the top…to ‘I am here’… a simple space to contemplate the new year… 🤯 It was a frenzied creation (a little bit like last year!!) that took about 1.5 hours. Like always, when I allow myself to drop…
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Meetup womens art therapy workshops

A Different Way To Re-Discover Your True Colours

Hello curious soul. Have you ever wondered “who am I? What makes me ME?” We are all survivors of many things and through some experiences we lose touch with our true essence, the unique colours that make up our authentic selves. You know that sensation you feel when you hear upsetting or shocking news? The feeling of energy draining out of you, like part of you is washing away…like your colour is draining from your mind, body and soul and often you can be told “you look as pale as a ghost”. Metaphorically it is as if you have lost some of your colours; the colours that describe your authentic vital energy and essence, that makes you the unique individual that you are. Very often, we experience difficulties in revitalizing those colours with just words. This is the power of Art Therapy: its ability to help you tap into and…
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Soul art tour programs and tours in India

Navigating an adventurous life that is ease-full?

LIFE IS AN ADVENTURE! Sound exciting? Yes! I LOVE ADVENTURE! However it does not always flow in a way that feels good. Sometimes it is joyous and magnificent; sometimes it is hard going and challenging; and sometimes it is a kaleidoscope of everything in between! We are all thrown curve balls from time to time. That’s life! However, it is how we deal with these curve balls that either keeps us on or off our path (and by the by, I believe we have several life pathways at one time to choose from, ALL of which can be amazing adventures! But that’s a discussion for another day :-)). Both personally and professionally I am aware that when these curve balls hit, it is usually our wounds that are triggered and from this wounded place we deviate away from what feels good. We lose perspective, alignment and our unique sense of self. Believe me, I know!!…
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Creative expression and letting go of the fear of Judgement

As I put pen to paper to write this article, I am checking in with myself knowing that I may be judged for what I write. How can I write from a place fearing judgement about my concept of love? I stop to tap into myself. I breathe and go within, feet grounded on the earth, still my mind and connect to my ‘home space’ (gut) and heart. I ask my highest self, “is expressing my passion for expanding my self-love and supporting others to do the same worth being judged for? I hear a resounding, ‘yes’! I believe self-love comes most easily when we are at peace with ourselves, a place of self-acceptance and feeling comfortable with who we are, how we express ourselves and connect with our world. It feels easy being ourselves. However, many of us have made agreements with ourselves that hinder our full expression and…
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Queensland Art Therapy workshops

What if Creativity was more than just Paintings & Drawings?

My Southern African upbringing was vibrant, eclectic and sometimes unstable. Living alongside many different cultures and witnessing their diverse qualities of life made me deeply curious about people, especially women, surviving in a harsh and mostly male dominated world. What they taught me, was their capacity to embrace and live a creative life.  Creativity is a powerful way to begin to explore wellbeing in your life, to see a different way of ‘being’ and ‘doing’ even when you have very little. Connecting to our creative self, means the ability to perceive the world in new ways, to find hidden patterns, to make connections between seemingly unrelated experiences, solve problems and to generate solutions. It means taking risks, ignoring doubt and facing fears…our self-doubt and fears being one of the biggest causes of dis-ease in our mind, body and soul. Many of us believe we are not creative but we do…
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Growth through Art Helen Bradshaw Sunshine Coast

What is Creativity

Being creative means the ability to perceive the world in new ways, to find hidden patterns, to make connections between seemingly unrelated experiences, solve problems and to generate solutions. It means taking risks, ignoring doubt and facing fears. We do it every day i.e. cooking, decorating, work, driving a new route to work and our clothing, yet many of us believe we are not creative. Anyone can be creative! The greatest misconception is that creativity is related to how well we can paint or draw. For many thousands of years, we have utilised our creativity resulting in invention, progress and is evident today on cave walls as a form of primitive storytelling. When we surrender to our creative self, we free our mind, opening exciting doors we didn’t even know were there, and inspire a more authentic and joyful life.   
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Helen Bradshaw wellness and wellbeing creative workshops

You are never wrong

It’s time to let go of ‘wrong’ and surrender to our limitless imagination; to opening up to new possibilities and ways of ‘doing’ and ‘being’ without the fear of being ‘wrong’.  What is ‘wrong’ anyway? Right and wrong are merely a perception usually derived from self-talk as well as expectations and judgements we place on ourselves or take on from others. Most of the ‘wrong’ or false beliefs we live by set us up for suffering…I know. In the past I have put myself through so much pain with false beliefs. The sad part is, those beliefs are usually untrue or what I have been worrying about never actually happens. Imagine how poisonous this can be to our mind, body and soul? I have spent many years of creative self-development learning techniques and strategies to strengthen my personal values and beliefs so I can build a solid and resilient foundation…
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