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Be, Awake, Create: Mindful Practices to Spark Creativity
"One of the best new Mindfulness books" - BookAuthority
"The Artist's Way for the twenty-first century."
--Nancy Coleman, PhD, clinical psychologist, writer, facilitator, and teacher
Settle your mind, connect with the moment, and unleash your creativity with this unique and mindful art journal.
In our demanding, fast-paced culture, it's increasingly important to find ways to decompress and recuperate from the busyness and stress of life. More and more, mindfulness and creativity are being recognized as antidotes to the speed and overstimulation of modern society. This beautiful book combines the two, offering both creative and meditative practices to provide a guided journey into contemplative art for healing, relaxation, deeper connection, and greater well-being.
Rather than focusing on any one medium or art form, this unique guide offers basic meditation instructions, and a variety of creative prompts and activities--from collage and coloring to meditative mark making and sketching to photography and perceptual exercises--making it perfect for anyone who wants to deepen and cultivate their mindfulness and creativity.
With these artistic and introspective practices, you'll put meditation into action, and learn to view yourself and your own creative process without judgment or aggression. Using Be, Awake, Create, you'll see beyond habitual patterns, discover the richness of your world, and recognize the ordinary magic of your own creativity, with greater freshness of expression and spontaneity.
By cultivating awareness and allowing yourself to play in the open space of artistic creation, you'll come to discover all of the positive impacts mindfulness and creativity can have on every area of your life.
"The Artist's Way for the twenty-first century."
--Nancy Coleman, PhD, clinical psychologist, writer, facilitator, and teacher
Settle your mind, connect with the moment, and unleash your creativity with this unique and mindful art journal.
In our demanding, fast-paced culture, it's increasingly important to find ways to decompress and recuperate from the busyness and stress of life. More and more, mindfulness and creativity are being recognized as antidotes to the speed and overstimulation of modern society. This beautiful book combines the two, offering both creative and meditative practices to provide a guided journey into contemplative art for healing, relaxation, deeper connection, and greater well-being.
Rather than focusing on any one medium or art form, this unique guide offers basic meditation instructions, and a variety of creative prompts and activities--from collage and coloring to meditative mark making and sketching to photography and perceptual exercises--making it perfect for anyone who wants to deepen and cultivate their mindfulness and creativity.
With these artistic and introspective practices, you'll put meditation into action, and learn to view yourself and your own creative process without judgment or aggression. Using Be, Awake, Create, you'll see beyond habitual patterns, discover the richness of your world, and recognize the ordinary magic of your own creativity, with greater freshness of expression and spontaneity.
By cultivating awareness and allowing yourself to play in the open space of artistic creation, you'll come to discover all of the positive impacts mindfulness and creativity can have on every area of your life.
264 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 1, 2019
25 people are currently reading
1350 people want to read
About the author
Rebekah Younger
3 books21 followersRebekah Younger is a creator pure and simple. She has created artwork, knit clothing, interiors, businesses, communities and books. She brings her love of creating to all aspects of her life and shares it with others through teaching mindful creativity. She is also a student of Tibetan Buddhism in the Kagyu Nyingma tradition and teaches programs that combine the dharma art teachings of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche with meditation. Her greatest joy is witnessing others awakening to things as they are and expressing it through their creations. Her garments have been shown in major museum exhibits of art to wear and on magazine covers. She has a MFA in Interdisciplinary Art from Goddard College. You can see examples of her creations and testimonials for her coaching and classes at: https://rebekahyounger.com
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 9, 2019
Creativity is defined as "the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination" (Dictionary.com).
Ms. Younger has done an excellent job in developing exercises, activities and prompts that encourage creativity. She considers herself a "creator" and uses her creative talents in everything she does. This book is not limited to the visual arts. The author encourages the reader to discover creative ways to express herself in art, music, dance, writing, photography, sewing, and other activities.
Mindfulness meditation is used to develop an awareness of our environment and the world around us. Meditation helps the creator stay focused and be awake to things that might be overlooked. A creator has a mindset that is open to new ideas and ways of doing things.
A few years ago, Ms. Younger had heart by-pass surgery and spent many months recovering. During this time, photography became a tool for her recovery. She used her camera to record images of ordinary things around her that she had previously taken for granted. She developed a new way of looking and seeing things that brought her joy and fulfillment.
I think the ideas in this book will definitely spark creativity in the hearts and minds of the readers. The more you put into the activities, the more you will get out of this excellent book. Highly recommended!
Ms. Younger has done an excellent job in developing exercises, activities and prompts that encourage creativity. She considers herself a "creator" and uses her creative talents in everything she does. This book is not limited to the visual arts. The author encourages the reader to discover creative ways to express herself in art, music, dance, writing, photography, sewing, and other activities.
Mindfulness meditation is used to develop an awareness of our environment and the world around us. Meditation helps the creator stay focused and be awake to things that might be overlooked. A creator has a mindset that is open to new ideas and ways of doing things.
A few years ago, Ms. Younger had heart by-pass surgery and spent many months recovering. During this time, photography became a tool for her recovery. She used her camera to record images of ordinary things around her that she had previously taken for granted. She developed a new way of looking and seeing things that brought her joy and fulfillment.
I think the ideas in this book will definitely spark creativity in the hearts and minds of the readers. The more you put into the activities, the more you will get out of this excellent book. Highly recommended!
February 2, 2025
This book had some good stuff in it, but it was not what I thought it was going to be.
August 13, 2019
Whether you are experienced or beginning your journey as an artist or creator, Rebekah Younger’s book can inspire and help develop ways for you to be present and self-accepting in order to open your own unique pathway forward. She clearly explains different aspects of the creative process through engaging stories about her own life and a variety of artistic experiences. Referring to Buddhist traditions, Rebekah provides non-judgmental activities to undertake, and contemplations to deepen, expand, energize or build your art practice or inventive life. This new contribution to the province of creating opens the margins of growth and development in surprising and expansive ways. While I have not yet completed all the suggested activities and contemplations, I look forward to completing many more. I am inspired and have more faith and confidence in myself as an artist as a result of reading Rebekah’s book.
July 10, 2019
This title packs a lifetime of mindful practice wisdom in its pages. As an aspiring artist and environmental activist I often find it difficult to set aside the time to devote to meditation. The engaging exercises in this workbook encouraged me to integrate the mindful practices into daily activities. In doing so I found it very insightful and practical in my daily application.
So excited by the first reading I plan to go back for more and start a book club to have it shared in a group experience!
So excited by the first reading I plan to go back for more and start a book club to have it shared in a group experience!
July 15, 2019
For me, what initially comes to mind as an overarching discernment of Younger's book after a first read is that it communicates important qualities of insight, practicality, and catalystic possibilities. I won't summarize the text as that has already been made available (such as by other reviewers on this site), but rather attempt to offer a brief contribution via some supplementary comments. I appreciated Younger's seamless weaving of personal narrative, the Shambhala Buddhist lineage, and open-ended yet guided activities for the reader that incorporate invitations for reflection. With that, I found her highlighting of genuine experience in the here and now; inclusion of intuitive curiosity; centering attention on felt sense, not just thought sense; plus accompanying, supportive remarks regarding practice to also be beneficial. I do believe there could have been more valuable depth and breadth explored in her discussion about (contemplative) art(s), creating, and integration, including the relationships between processes, products/artifacts, complexity, perspective-taking, interpretation, identity, meaning, consciousness, awareness, and "reality," which for example might be in tandem with utilizing the timely relevance of an Integrally-informed approach and/or additional Metamodern sensibilites. So too do I wonder about Younger's degree of familiarity with discourses pertaining to polarities (such as perhaps agency and communion, as well as stability and change/impermanence), growth, development, progress, aliveness, and flourishing. Maybe she and I can continue delving into such issues amidst the Shambhala Art program in Chicago that she is currently instructing, and of which I am honored to be a participant Hence, I have been exposed to some of the offerings in her publication first-hand already, and having been able to engage with a number of the book's suggested prompts in that particular environment, wish to not only acknowledge their potency but praise Younger's facilitation for the manner in which her associated efforts have resonated individually and collectively in our workshop cohort + local Shambhala community. Younger has assisted my own reconnection with my creating self, and Be, Awake, Create enhances the rich pansophy I have already reaped from her and look forward to cultivating more on my journey. I remain buoyed by Younger's somewhat distinct focus on creating (such as in the sixth chapter), together with the nod at the beginning of her concluding chapter to the founder of Shambhala Buddhism, Chogyam Trungpa Rincpoche, in referencing how art may alter how people view the world and in turn how they live in it. Those two sections are reminiscent of the worldy re-framings from another inspiring figure to me, Christopher Small, who wrote in Music, Society, Education (Wesleyan University Press, 1996) that "The creator comes to know that there is a moment at the outset of a project when it is necessary to become utterly naif, to disolve all sophistication, all foresight, and even all criticism, in the creative intention" (p. 227). Moreover, elsewhere he poignantly pens, "The arts...can put us in mind of that potential society which does not yet exist" (p. 217). As Younger herself reminds and encourages us at the end of her own book, mindfulness and awareness matter to skillful creating. Indeed, and as she notably asserts, even gently challenges us, in literally her final sentence, "Your creative practice can be your contribution..., whether you create with others or alone" (p. 236). Let us all choose, and plant seeds, wisely.
September 16, 2019
Be, Awake, Create: Mindful Practices to Spark Creativity is a hybrid text. It provides both mindfulness techniques and prompts for artistic practice, in fact, it shows how inspiration can arise from mindfulness itself. It strikes a balance between rich descriptions of the author's artistic development (Chapter 6: Creating, and p. 205-207 "My Story of Creating and Viewing") and her spiritual growth in the practice of Tibetan Buddhism. She draws from a wide variety of contemporary artists, musicians and thinkers to elevate the exercises interspersed throughout the book. She emphasizes the importance of direct perception in contrast to our preconceived notions of reality. This book is useful for anyone who feels out of touch with their creative spark, worn down by routine, or simply burnt out. The exercises are simple and numerous enough that you can "flip around" to find a source of inspiration with ease.
Be, Awake, Create is not like any other mindfulness/artist practice books I have read. I particularly enjoyed the rhythm of the alternation between descriptions and exercises. The author draws deeply from her lived experience, which as a reader I found greatly beneficial, and lent credibility to the effectiveness of the exercises. So often, mindfulness books gloss over the difficulties or hardships one might encounter on the journey. This author gives honest testimony to the effectiveness of regular meditative practice, and the struggles she had to grapple with in order to get past the chatter of her own thoughts. She shows that one can live mindfully, even through hardships like illness, even hospitalization.
This book is valuable because it offers the reader a multitude of exercises, all of which can be done repeatedly with differing results. Some exercises are guided by audio tracks accessible through the publisher's website, and some are more free-form. She provides space within the text to write and draw, but I preferred to keep a journal so I can re-use the exercises again and again! The author suggests a media to work through the exercise with, often based in drawing, assemblage, or photography, but then provides the reader alternative media if they prefer to work outside of visual arts. This makes the book useful for writers, dancers, and even non-artists, because there is a great deal of focus on creating without judging, which is something that anyone who wants to improve their creative capabilities will benefit from learning.
I highly recommend Be, Awake, Create. I still haven't perfected my daily mediation practice yet, but I can already tell my creative practice as an artist is benefiting as a result of the exercises in this book, because I struggle with tunnel vision, and paralyzing perfectionism. Having a resource such as this book in my arsenal of tools to break out of my anxiety is incredibly valuable, and I cannot praise Rebekah Younger enough for this wonderful work of literary and artistic excellence.
Be, Awake, Create is not like any other mindfulness/artist practice books I have read. I particularly enjoyed the rhythm of the alternation between descriptions and exercises. The author draws deeply from her lived experience, which as a reader I found greatly beneficial, and lent credibility to the effectiveness of the exercises. So often, mindfulness books gloss over the difficulties or hardships one might encounter on the journey. This author gives honest testimony to the effectiveness of regular meditative practice, and the struggles she had to grapple with in order to get past the chatter of her own thoughts. She shows that one can live mindfully, even through hardships like illness, even hospitalization.
This book is valuable because it offers the reader a multitude of exercises, all of which can be done repeatedly with differing results. Some exercises are guided by audio tracks accessible through the publisher's website, and some are more free-form. She provides space within the text to write and draw, but I preferred to keep a journal so I can re-use the exercises again and again! The author suggests a media to work through the exercise with, often based in drawing, assemblage, or photography, but then provides the reader alternative media if they prefer to work outside of visual arts. This makes the book useful for writers, dancers, and even non-artists, because there is a great deal of focus on creating without judging, which is something that anyone who wants to improve their creative capabilities will benefit from learning.
I highly recommend Be, Awake, Create. I still haven't perfected my daily mediation practice yet, but I can already tell my creative practice as an artist is benefiting as a result of the exercises in this book, because I struggle with tunnel vision, and paralyzing perfectionism. Having a resource such as this book in my arsenal of tools to break out of my anxiety is incredibly valuable, and I cannot praise Rebekah Younger enough for this wonderful work of literary and artistic excellence.
April 15, 2019
Thank you to NetGalley and New Harbinger Publications, Inc. for providing me with a copy of "Be, Awake, Create" in exchange for an honest review.
As a creative individual who has more recently been dappling in painting, I found this book to be thought-provoking and helpful in getting the intuitive-creative juices flowing. Essentially, through exercises and meditations, the book defines what it means to be (to exist), awaken (be conscious and alert), create (to bring into existence), and relate (to connect). Noticing the “gaps” within moments where hidden creativity lies, recognizing the connective “flow” towards your present physical state, and enhancing our sensory experiences all contribute to creative expression. Most importantly, the book highlights the importance of appreciating everyday life, collaborating with others, and telling a story through your art in whichever form that may be. I will likely refer to the practices in this book again. An interesting read!
As a creative individual who has more recently been dappling in painting, I found this book to be thought-provoking and helpful in getting the intuitive-creative juices flowing. Essentially, through exercises and meditations, the book defines what it means to be (to exist), awaken (be conscious and alert), create (to bring into existence), and relate (to connect). Noticing the “gaps” within moments where hidden creativity lies, recognizing the connective “flow” towards your present physical state, and enhancing our sensory experiences all contribute to creative expression. Most importantly, the book highlights the importance of appreciating everyday life, collaborating with others, and telling a story through your art in whichever form that may be. I will likely refer to the practices in this book again. An interesting read!
June 25, 2019
This is a companionable book useful for makers of art or the reader who seeks to make their life vivid. This is a calm, focused method for translating personal discovery to art of any kind: painting, writing, dance, film, music. Knowledge of Buddhist practice is not a requirement. Ms. Younger guides the reader through phases of work with a clear structure, textual and graphic cues and on-line voice over instructions for the activities.
Through the book the author builds up a telegraphic memoir of her own path, the people she has loved and respected, the “surprises” she has shaped into inspiration and not defeat. People from her life become other characters in this map to becoming fully human.
Be, Awake, Create is a pleasure to read! It is carefully crafted and finely detailed by a writer whose quiet, gentle manner makes one want to join her in this fascinating project of being and making.
Through the book the author builds up a telegraphic memoir of her own path, the people she has loved and respected, the “surprises” she has shaped into inspiration and not defeat. People from her life become other characters in this map to becoming fully human.
Be, Awake, Create is a pleasure to read! It is carefully crafted and finely detailed by a writer whose quiet, gentle manner makes one want to join her in this fascinating project of being and making.
August 3, 2019
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Be, Awake, Create, and look forward to trying many of the exercises.
I was impressed by the variety and sheer number of creative exercises outlined in the book. They range from quiet meditation to observation to movement to sensory awareness to photography to drawing and much more. While there were some that didn’t grab me (at least right now), there were many more that were intriguing and accessible.
Such a nice mixture of reflective and hands-on activities, all presented in a clear and easy to follow way. As someone who often has a hard time getting started and finding inspiration, I’m ready to dive in and try some some of these right now. Highly recommended
I was impressed by the variety and sheer number of creative exercises outlined in the book. They range from quiet meditation to observation to movement to sensory awareness to photography to drawing and much more. While there were some that didn’t grab me (at least right now), there were many more that were intriguing and accessible.
Such a nice mixture of reflective and hands-on activities, all presented in a clear and easy to follow way. As someone who often has a hard time getting started and finding inspiration, I’m ready to dive in and try some some of these right now. Highly recommended
June 24, 2019
“Be” is my challenge now that I am retired from professional life. I was an analyst for eleven years, so learning to perceive without making assumptions is a new adventure! I liked visiting with Rebekah, since the workshop gave me a deeper conception of how to approach the exercises. I will explore the book throughout the next year to glean more wisdom. The regular use of the book may facilitate some of my faith activities with adults and children, also! The last section of the book is not included in the title: relate.
February 6, 2022
A fabulous, inspiring book that encourages readers to incorporate the practice of creating into their daily lives. It achieves this through recognising the challenges and opportunities of creating and doesn't limit its advice to a specific art/design/craft/literature medium. It includes great quotes and the title acts as section names. Each highlighting different activities to explore to build habits and remove self-imposed barriers to creating. A great programme to cultivate artistic expression, mindfulness and creating. A title I will dip into again and again and re-read.
November 27, 2019
still reading ...on Chapter 8 ... working thru this book and activities.
started in book club at library.
many insightful reminders on BEING AWAKE.
excellent tools that help with writer's block.
started in book club at library.
many insightful reminders on BEING AWAKE.
excellent tools that help with writer's block.
May 1, 2019
This is a necessary volume of excellent teaching AND creative ideas for anyone who is creating anything and who wants to incorporate or begin to incorporate a practice of mindfulness into their creative practice. I especially liked the chapters on seeing things as they are, Practicing the practice, and contemplating your creations.
Each chapter contains inspiring quotes, creative activities, and guided meditations to guide you in your creative and mindfulness practice. This is a book to be savored and enjoyed bit by bit.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Each chapter contains inspiring quotes, creative activities, and guided meditations to guide you in your creative and mindfulness practice. This is a book to be savored and enjoyed bit by bit.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews