The Power of Art & Healing

The key ingredient for transformation is the courage to jump into life! Nothing can come to you unless you invite it...Just as we need the darkness to see the light, noise to recognise silence, fullness to understand emptiness, we need ugliness to appreciate beauty, and need the ego mind to become conscious of our being. When we grow up we begin to compete with others to proof our self-worth, thus experiencing both success & failure. When we experience victory we feel strong & superior, when we experience defeat we feel weak and inferior and begin to struggle with our initial self-centred attitude that the world should evolve around our needs and give us what we need. Our wounded ego then keeps us small and fearful, and unfortunately most people live in this state of wounded ego-mind that has a poor self-esteem/image, that is full of negative and self-defeating thoughts and emotions. They see themselves as victims and life being a struggle. When we don't receive unconditional love we think others are against us and we begin to shrink. Our wounds inhibit us & cause our energy to leak out. Healing is the antidode and that painful process that is necessary to close these holes. Remember, in order to transform coal into a diamond, great pressure, pain and suffering are absolutely necessary. In this way suffering helps us to learn the needed lessons to grow in intelligence and consciousness. Because unless we suffer, we don't see the need to come out of suffering. Therefore we must be willing to embrace our painful wounds face them, accept them and take full responsibility for them. We need to forgive those who have hurt us and learn the lessons that where contained within that experience. It is important to be aware that all experience is neutral and in order to heal fully we must be willing to let go of all our believes, conditioning, judgements, negative emotions (jealously, greed, envy etc.) and allow our old ego to die. Our physical bodies are full of suppressed pain that keep us from seeing that we are infact already perfectly powerful, beautiful & extraordinary! However, with forgiveness and understanding of the needed lesson, the pain, sorrow, regret fear, anger and blame that we've experienced as a consequence of trauma are transformed into compassion, forgiveness and gratitude...and our energy is restored into wholeness. When we feel whole, our life becomes more creative and joyful, and we become more relaxed, present and content. But for that to happen we need to fix our personal problems first and make correcting our mind pattern your main priority in life. Feel what you feel. If you feel depressed, feel it, look at the physical and mental reasons and then release it. Do not stop until you are successful. You are the only one responsible for everything in your life. A person must be happy within him/ herself. No other being can make you happy if you are not already happy. Our biggest enemies are really our greatest teachers, without them we would not know our fears and hate. That is how you know it and then transmute it. Everything that you'll ever need is already within you. Be aware of it and apply corrective applications. Always move forward, never give up. Consciously remove all victim mentality, abusive thoughts, low self- worth, need for insulation and feelings of lack. Each person on earth must gain control of his/her own minds to find out who and what they truly are within Godmind and teach others to do the same.

www.annett-bank.co.uk

'True Colours' - portrait painting retreat at Hawkwood College

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Hawkwood College is a residential centre for holistic adult education and personal development.           An integral part of the Hawkwood mission is to bring people together from many streams of social, artistic and spiritual learning and to honour its founding anthroposophical impulse. www.hawkwoodcollege.co.uk

If you live in the UK, then you are probably aware of popular TV series like 'How to look good nacked', or 'Faking it'. Today's society seems to be obsessed with self-improvement entertainment programmes, and better still, people are actually willing to expose themselves & come forward to make positive changes in their lives infront of a national audience. This is very impressive to say the least.

 It is my understanding that we are here on this planet to evolve and to release blocked energy - meaning that we have to face our own dark, ugly, inner shadow which plays out physically in the outer world as confusion, resentment, disease, doubt, hypnosis and pain. We have chosen that in order to help us end the 'Duality Integration Game'  to come out of separation and return to Oneness as divine creator beings! This is not normally known and we need to accept first that they are an aspect of us... then look at it objectively for for what it is, before finally releasing the situation and taking control over our lives. For that to happen we need to give up all victim hood, forgive everyone who has ever hurt us and trust ourselves intuitively in order to start loving ourselves & others unconditionally again.

A lot of new age teachings nowadays talk about the importance of using guiding imagery and repetitive affirmations to bring about such a personal transformation. You might have heard of various principles such as creating a 'Vision Board' and writing down an 'Ideal Life Letter' in the 1st person to yourself to help define your goals and visualize positive outcomes that will help manifesting your idea of an empowered life. Painting is one way of achieving that & also an amazing tool to attain a maximum of self-awareness through which you can increase your reality

Day 1
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17:00 - 17:30    Introduction
17:30 - 18:00    Life coaching questionnaire
18:00 - 19:00    dinner
19:00 - 20:00    create a collage/ vision board, using affirmations
20:00 – 21:00   write your ideal life letter "What do you really want?"


Day 2
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9:30  -  11:00 am   photo session in pairs
11:00 – 11:30 am  break
11:30 – 1:00 pm    selection of images/ identifying your colours
1:00   -  2:00pm    lunch
2:00  -  3:30pm     warm up sketches / painting techniques
3:30  -  4:00pm     break
4:00  -  5:00pm     developing composition


Day 3
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9:30  - 11:00 am  start on final portrait
11:00 - 11:30am  break
12:00 - 1:00pm    painting
1:00   - 2:30pm    lunch
2:00  -  3:30pm    finishing touches
3:30  -  4:00pm    exhibition

Beforehand:
- complete an astrology report (astrodienst) and Pamala Oslie's aura colour test @ www.russellrowe.com to evaluate your dominant emotional, physical and mental colour personalities.

- bring magazines, old photographs etc. for vision board collage
and digital camera, props and clothing for photo shot;
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You are a powerful being, beautiful and extraordinary!

It's time we set clear goals for ourselves and our world. We need to establish balance and harmony with our bodies, our lives, with each other & our surroundings in order to build the beauty of our true selves. It begins with improving our world and for that we must learn to improve our conditions, our character, our deeds and to be honest with oneself. Ask for strength, courage, faith, guidance, healing—whatever you need. How much of your will are you going to put behind your request? Just a little or your entire being? You are here to be happy, to learn, to grow, to evolve, to love, to laugh, to serve—and to experience the joy of your limitless Being! ...simply put, when we learn to build our goals and intentions on the positive emotions - we are healing our world!
Here are a few things you can do ...

• Be love 
• Quieten Your Mind     
• Detox your body & mind with lots of time in nature         
• Use steam, sauna, charcoal, clay, raw food, herbs, bark, wheatgrass          
• Create a low stress lifestyle
• Have lots of lush plants to absorb electromagnetic radiation      
• Eat spiritually-blessed clean healthy food/ pH balanced diet          
• Drink lots of springwater    
• Release Emotions     
• Overcome Fear
• stop watching TV
• Heal past trauma
• Eliminate limiting beliefs
• Lead a healthy physical, mental, emotional & spiritual lifestyle

Furthermore, beautiful art is having a big influence on the flowering of human consciousness. Remember, by introducing bright, vibrant, energetic feng shui colours to your home, you'll stimulate creativity and add lot's of positive 'chi' to your life! Additionally, in order to overcome any issues about yourself that are bothering you, you need to show the Universe exactly what you want. You must write it down and bring this statement to life with an inspiring image that illustrates your wish,
before releasing it ...

We need a new vision of an empowered female. We need more vibrant, stimulating, exciting art in this world that makes us feel good - art that celebrates our vital life-force and lights up our lives! Such art should combine power with gentleness and strenght with feminine beauty, as it will remind us of our original fluid, pliant state that is capable of easy sensual movement, expansion & interconnectedness.

Things we will be dealing with in the retreat:

1. how to conquer your internal war
2. learn to make peace with your body
3. create a vision of dynamic wellbeing
4. Receive guidance on artistic compositions
5. an exhibition of work to review your success

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Essentially, this weekend will be an introduction to the power of harmonious colours and forms, reflecting on spiritual awakening and the return of the divine feminine energies. Created in a fresh & fun way, this course will teach you how to balance your life through looking at your aura colours and astrological portrait. From that you will learn how to create an empowering self-portrait that reflects on your true self... guiding you towards self-love, self-acceptance and authentic being.
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Does it work...?
My own artwork is essentially a response to a life time of suffering and personal trauma and has helped me tremendously to see the light inside. My paintings gave me the incentive to re-sculpt my body, which I hated so much until then. I realized upon seeing an actual example of how I wanted to look like, that I can indeed attract this as a definite reality into my life! I now want to inspire others to achieve the same.

To be part of the next 3-day course, get in touch under info@annett-bank.co.uk. You can also check out: www.annett-bank.co.uk

Art that makes you feel better

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All spiritual teachings demonstrate to us that we need to find our true human potential – to strive to be all that one can be and recognize our own “true beauty” that emanates from within. It was from that notion that I felt inspired to transform myself not only physically, intellectually and in ethical terms, but also in psycho-energetically respect. As a typical woman I sought peace, harmony and cosiness and cared for all things sensual, especially since they were crudely lacking in my life until that point. I used this situation to my advantage and developed an artistic language that aims to ”ennoble” others to get the Creative Spirit’s idea of perfection. In my work I thus hope to inspire people to reflect on the experience of spontaneous joyful, mindful living that makes one feel good. It is my conviction that we need more art in the world that promotes health, positive energy and stability– art that calms you down, yet simultaneously lifts you up - raising your consciousness along the way. My work has all that in mind; it is very intriguing, warm and mature, and designed at the core to enhance one’s energy. Characterised with a great amount of sensitivity, musical rhythm and visual decadence it embraces dynamic movement with stillness.
I firmly believe that any piece of fine art possesses the qualities of its author and by using my own personal standards as an example; I have chosen to produce paintings on the subject of the expressive human being whose strength radiates from the inside out. The figures in my work therefore show a capability for balance, wisdom, purity of mind, tranquillity, control over one’s senses, fitness, goodness, truthfulness, light, poise and equilibrium.

When we are aware in these inner areas - predominantly in the psychic nerve system and the super-conscious nerve system - the cells of our bodies respond and we begin to look more refined too. Also, if a woman is going for perfection, she has to supplement herself with masculinity – meaning absorbing the best qualities that the best of men possess; in the same way as a man who is going on to perfection has to supplement himself with femininity - seeking the best of female qualities. When you manage to bring together these male & female principles into one single, successful artistic composition, the artwork will then be enhanced by a powerful ascending, actinic and contemplative quality.

Conclusively my paintings are about combining these masculine powers with feminine gentleness & male strength with female beauty - conveying a certain attitude that women possess a divine faculty of separating within mankind their good intentions from evil thoughts. In this way the artwork becomes symbolic for purification and heals the surroundings in which they are displayed in.

The artist Annett E. Bank works and lives in Brighton, UK where she can be contacted at info@annett-bank.co.uk, or 0044-01273205251. She currently completed 2 successful solo shows and can be seen again at the Affordable Art Fair in London later this year. All her current works and accomplishments
can be viewed at her website: www.annett-bank.co.uk