Meditation Antioch

Charlene Lutz encourages mindful creation and shares her own story of healing and self-discovery. She uses the phoenix as a symbol of rebirth and transformation, and emphasizes the power of gratitude and connecting with our core truths. She guides listeners in creating a vessel of truth and engaging in art-making as a way to express themselves freely. She also incorporates a guided meditation to help center the mind and tap into endless possibilities. Hello, my name is Charlene Lutz and I am here today to encourage the act of mindful creation. I hope that together we can play, explore, experiment, and be free in this moment of space and time. I will begin by sharing with you a short version of my own story. As a very young child, I wanted to be an artist. I went on to be an art teacher for many years, while also creating my own art. Ten years ago, I started a spiritual journey of healing from childhood trauma. Trauma that had manifested itself in my adult life as coping mechanisms, like constant doing, perfectionism, low self-esteem, and perhaps most debilitating, the lack of self-trust. I walked the path of healing and self-discovery that lasted for seven years. During this time, I created over a thousand paintings and drawings and accompanying journal entries. This work was the most difficult and inspiring of my life and has led me right here to this moment with you. Today, I help others on their journey to authenticity and wellness, inspired by my own spiritual truth. One of my favorite spirit items is a phoenix, who symbolizes rebirth, renewal, and healing. As the legend goes, a phoenix is a one-of-a-kind bird that lives for 500 years. When he is nearing the end of his life, he makes a nest for himself. The nest is made with aromatic plants, such as myrrh, cassia, sage, frankincense, and cinnamon. The phoenix then strikes his beak against a rock, which sparks flames. Then he flaps his wings like a bellows, setting his nest, and himself, on fire. The magic of the phoenix is that as soon as he perishes in the flames, he is born again in his nest. As the saying goes, the phoenix rises from the ashes. He then collects the ashes, rolling them into an egg, wrapped in myrrh. Next, he flies to Egypt and delivers the egg to the Temple of the Sun, which honors the solar god Ra. According to the legend, the phoenix possesses so much power that his tears heal anything they touch, and his ashes can bring the dead to life. We can connect to this story as we think of our own lives. Every day is a new opportunity to grow and change. We can go through challenges and transform into the next version of ourselves. The title of this session is Living a Magical Life. It sounds great, but how do we do it? How do we find the balance within our lives so that every day feels magical? The first thing we can do is reflect on gratitude. Remembering what we are grateful for provides us with the space to create. Do you want to create more time in nature for yourself? More self-care? Self-love? Art? Music? Joy? Sacred practices? Let's begin with a gratitude list. Take your time and create a list. No gratitude is too small. Please stop the audio for this. Now that we have written our gratitude list, we will create the vessel of truth. The vessel will hold our core truths, the practices we value that connect us to the deepest parts of ourselves. This deep connection to ourselves allows us to connect with others in our lives. Please draw your vessel using any materials. Pen or pencil will work well for this. Make your vessel any shape you like. Inside of your vessel, write down what you want to create more of in your life. I encourage you to reflect back to your vessel and change or add to it often, as doing this will remind you to embody the life you want to create. My materials today for the art-making portion are watercolor paper, watercolor paint, ink, colored pencil, pastel, glue, and collage papers. Any mediums or materials you have available to you will work for today. I also have sticks, feathers, leaves, and moss. The focus will be on feeling free to create from your heart. There is no judgment. As we work with the materials, I will encourage you to follow along with me in a guided meditation. Meditation and quieting the mind can help center us and open us to the endless possibilities that exist in the universe. For this meditation, we will begin with the breath and light movement. Soft music and my voice will guide you. After the meditation, the music will continue. Please feel free to continue working as long as you wish. Please gather your supplies and let's begin.