Guest Post | Tending the Wild Heart

There’s still time to RSVP for Ruth Wade’s workshop on Gyrotonic and bone health tonight, July 26, and in the meantime I have another cool guest blog post and offer for Ann Arbor-area residents from breakthrough coach Eva Neuhaus!

When was the last time you came up with a brilliant, creative solution to a problem while feeling stressed?

Most of our breakthroughs happen when we’re relaxed—in the shower, for example, or while taking a walk. The most effective mindset is the one we have while playing, because we have focus, but it’s relaxed. If you think about children at play, they are very engaged but also open to new possibilities, highly creative and adaptable.

Yet when the stakes feel high, we find ourselves getting serious and over-focused. This is highly detrimental to the creative process and also to our productivity. We miss out on possibilities that are right in front of us because we’re stuck in an idea of what should be happening.

Albert Einstein famously said, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

The question is, how do we get ourselves into a place of abundance when we’re in the midst of the problem? We’re designed to approach challenges from a negative outlook because it is more effective for our survival in the short-term. If someone is attacking you, you want to run—not stop to contemplate the situation first.

But if we want to thrive (and not just survive), we must approach our problems from a long view—from a place of happiness, which is where we all ultimately want to live. We need to practice being happy when things around us are good AND when they’re falling apart. We can’t get to a place of being able to sustain feeling happy from practicing being unhappy all the time.

So how do we get happy when we’re not there? By being creative and allowing ourselves space to play—doing activities that feel like play to us, and also finding ways to play with the things that challenge us. Exploring obstacles from relaxation and curiosity gives us the freedom to turn things on their head, to dream big and consider outrageous possibilities. When we apply this expanded perspective to the areas in our lives where we feel stuck, we find the missing context that enables us to solve our problems.

Give yourself time to immerse in play, creative arts, journaling, and community at Tending the Wild Heart: A Weekly Mini-Retreat, which starts on August 6th. With the support of the group and a skilled facilitator, you will:

• Revel in your vulnerability
• Learn how to move through challenges from a place of abundance and power
• Discover your wild heart through journaling
• Find out what’s holding you back and unleash your full potential

Sundays, 3:30-5:30 pm starting August 6th at SUN SHEN, 2466 East Stadium Blvd, Ann Arbor MI 48104

Try a week for free!

For more information or to register, call (734) 707-7477 or visit evaneuhaus.com/tendingthewildheart.

Eva Neuhaus received her M.A. in Somatic Psychology; she offers breakthrough coaching to undercover superheroes who feel they’ve been holding back and want to unleash their power and creativity. Find out more at evaneuhaus.com.