In the Exploring Poems mini course, I share my suggestions for creatively exploring poems! And I walk you through the process as we explore a poem together. Throughout the Beyond Burnout workshop, I'll encourage you to do this as a practice each week. I do this because exploring poems this way has been meaningful and powerful for me and for many of my students. I've found that it helps "unlock" more of the wisdom in the poems I love. It's also a great way to cope with stress and avoid burnout!

You can use any art supplies you have ~ watercolors, markers, pen, pencil or whatever else. 

These are the steps to exploring a poem (I walk you through them in the video above):

1. Read the poem to yourself, silently, two times.
2. Read the poem out loud two times (and/or listen to the audio I share each week). 
3. Close your eyes and sit with the poem for a minute. See which words or phrases or images your attention is especially drawn to. Choose a word, phrase, or image to explore further.
4. Choose your own adventure ~ inspired by what you're exploring further, begin to draw, color, paint, make marks, or hand letter words on your paper, journal or sketchbook. If you feel drawn to journaling or reflecting on what the poem evokes or stirs in you, do that. If you feel drawn to taking a photograph or making a collage that gives you a way to explore what you're drawn to, do that. Or if there's some other form of creative expression that feels right ~ do it! Try not to judge what you're doing from an aesthetic sense ~ this is just for you.
5. When you feel finished, sit back and look at what you’ve created. Notice how you feel.
6. Put your creation somewhere visible, so you can be reminded of this self-compassionate word, phrase or image throughout your day. If you'd like to share your creations, I'd love to see. You can email them to me!

The poem I share in this video:

Alba
by Derek Walcott

Dawn breaking as I woke,
With the sweat of the dew
On the green, new grass.
I walked in the cold, quiet as
If it were the world beginning;
Peeling and eating a chilled tangerine.
I may have many sorrows,
Dawn is not one of them. 

 And if you're looking for more self-compassion poetry to explore, click here to visit the Self-Compassion Poems page on my website!

🌈 Welcome to Create A Color Wheel!

When we feel overwhelmed or depleted, it sometimes helps to return to something simple, hands-on and grounding. That’s exactly what this practice offers.

This gentle creative exploration invites you to mix, experiment and discover what's possible with just three colors. It’s not about precision or perfection ~ it’s about play, presence and noticing how beauty can arise from what we already have.

✨ Before you begin: Make sure you've done your pre-work and set up your journal pages so this color wheel can be part of your ongoing creative self-compassion journey. It helps to have a space ready to receive your reflections and your colors.

You can return to this practice anytime you want something simple and meditative. Try choosing any three colors and see what happens when you build a wheel ~ no pressure, just curiosity and play.

This isn't just about painting ~ it's a quiet act of self-kindness. So let yourself slow down, enjoy the process, and let the colors remind you: You have enough. You are enough. ❤️