In my last post, How To Live A Creative Life – The Art of Sensuality, I spoke about the importance of indulging in our senses as a way to open the gateway to our fullest creative potential. Today I want to get more specific and talk about how things like art, writing, poetry, dancing, cooking, and music can greatly contribute to sensual living giving us even more ways to live a creative life.

We Were Born To Be Creative

We were born to be creative, and learning to carve out daily time where we are totally free to follow our instincts and express our soul is mandatory to sensual living. We have a force of creativity inside of us, and to express this part of ourselves is something I consider an act of holiness. When we take the time to honor our creative energy, we are actually building a bridge between the invisible and visible worlds, ushering Spirit into form.  When we hit that zone where time stands still, it can often be likened to entering another dimension beyond the dull and dreary monotony of habits and schedules.

When Our Life Becomes Our Art

When we allow ourselves to be creative, whether we are dancing, writing, drumming, cooking, singing, or painting, something happens whereby a powerful energy is transformed into a usable form. This happens when we surrender to our art in a way that is not learned, but rather is the intuitive seamless flow of our vital creative juice. In the deepest sense of what creativity means, our life becomes our art and what could be more sensual than that? When we allow our creativity to run freely, unimpeded by the need for approval or nagging thoughts of self doubt, we have the capacity to hear what I like to call ‘the still small voice’ which can provide endless guidance and solutions to any problems we may be challenged with.

Writing From The Soul Is Sensual Living

I love getting up at the crack of dawn to write in the dark, often with just the single candle flame burning. When the birds start to sing in the stillness something moves within me and I feel deeply in love with life and existence itself. To write from this place makes the soul do back flips of joy I think. Grounded in this inner sense of beauty and deep peace, we are open to let the soul speak and it somehow knows that this is it’s chance to pour out into form. When I think of sensual living, the first thing that comes to mind is expressing the soul, and writing is one of the many ways to do that. Whether we are writing poetry, a blog, in our journal, or for some kind of publication, the benefits are tenfold. Why? Because the action and movement of writing allows energy and life force to flow through us, and this can make us stronger and even heal us.

Do You Have Poetry Hidden In Your Soul?

I find reading poetry a sensual act, especially if I am reading someone like Rumi, Pablo Neruda, Walt Whitman, Mary Oliver, John O’Donohue…the list could go on forever! However, writing poetry can also open those deep caverns of sensual delight and I hope I can talk you into trying it out. We all have poetry in our soul and basically it’s about getting intimate and expressive with ourselves and listening to the soul.  The great thing about poetry is that it can just be short spurts of feeling and emotion. For example, I am moved and inspired by nature and the seasons. When I am out walking I am filled with both deep feeling and visuals. The trick to writing poetry is marrying the two in such a way that the reader is feeling every word. Here’s an example of a poem I wrote many years ago about autumn. In it you will see the visuals and get a sense of the emotion. Easy peasy. You can do it!

October Air 

Autumn, in its kaleidoscope of color

Reminds me of being wrapped up

In a golden honey butter blanket

All warm and cozy and happy to smell

The wood smoke in the air

As crisp as a McIntosh apple

In October

When Women Were Drummers

One of the most fun and easiest musical ways to add a sensual element to living is through drumming. I’m talking about hand drums here, like a djembe for example. Drumming creates the most primal sound and can instantly put us in touch with ancient times, from Egypt to Rome, when women used it as a way to commune with the Divine Feminine. The hypnotic and primal rhythm and sound was often used to transcend ordinary consciousness and to worship the Goddess within and without.  I have an African hand carved wooden djembe, and I love to just pick it up and begin whatever beat wants to flow through me.

Raw & Primal – The Language of Drumming

It’s better not to think or decide on a beat as you don’t want the head involved in this. Often what will happen is the drum begins to feel like it’s playing itself and a trance-like vibe starts to take over. I’ve always felt that this was the raw and primal feeling of pure creativity coming through. I have never had a drumming lesson and I’m glad about that, but I was told by an expert drummer once that whenever we drum, something powerful is taking place. There is a vibration connected to every part of our inner body and when we drum, our body absorbs the beat, sound, and rhythm that it needs to achieve a balanced sense of well-being. There’s a wonderful book on drumming (not instructional) called When Women Were Drummers that I highly recommend if you’d like to know more.

Dancing As An Expression Of The Divine

Many years ago, I first experienced something called Ecstatic Dance when I had signed up for a workshop with a girlfriend. In this workshop, we were taught how to allow ourselves to freely move the body and dance with the Divine. I do remember being scared to death as I had never done anything like this before. But when that music started, it took me only a few minutes to become completely and utterly surrendered to the sound, rhythm, and movement of my body. I was remembering something ancient within me.

Spontaneous Dance Is A Living Prayer

It was as though all fear and inhibition left me as I danced, and I was shocked at how little courage it took for me to feel that free. The music awakened something within me that allowed my body to become my voice and the expression of every beautiful and every hateful thing I had ever repressed or denied. This kind of free-form spontaneous dance can awaken a powerful healing force of wisdom which is both sacred and ecstatic. To me it felt like my body was prayer itself, as though I was dancing with God. If you ever want to feel cleansed, connected, and lighter, dancing is a sensual and powerful vehicle of transmuting our baggage into love, which graciously sets us back down on sacred ground once again.

The Alchemy Of Sensual Creating In The Kitchen

Part of sensual living can definitely take place in the kitchen.  Cooking is a labor of love that can be tasted in the food we prepare, and I believe it can also be felt. Have you ever heard that the cook’s emotions can be felt in the food? I think this is true and whenever I am preparing in the kitchen, I always do a quick check-in as to how I am feeling and to make sure that I am happy and enthusiastic about the task at hand.  We all know there are many times when cooking dinner just isn’t cutting it in the moment. Thank God for take-out at these times…as long it’s from a reputable and trusted restaurant.

Cook To Feed The Soul

When I cook, I am cooking from the soul for the soul, so having a garden in the summer months helps me to provide the freshest and healthiest ingredients possible. Gardening is also another way to add sensuality to our lives. It’s so tactile and hands on as we dig in the dirt, drink in the dew soaked lettuces on an early spring morning, or hold a just picked plump tomato in the palm of our hand, still warm from the sun. Preparing food is another fabulous way to invoke our creativity and to be part of the alchemy in mixing together our carefully chosen ingredients in order to feed the soul.

Sensual, Creative Living Is Not What You Do – It’s Who You Are

While I’ve provided you with some things you can ‘do’ in order add more sensuality to your life, the truth is they are simply ways to enhance, or perhaps to help you remember who you are.  It’s so easy to turn off our senses in favor of achieving, producing, earning, and getting lost in the details of life, however, to lose contact with the very essence of our soul and it’s language is to die a slow and numbing death while living. The soul is deeply nourished by what makes us feel alive, and all colors of the rainbow scatter in every direction with absolute joy when we respectfully honor this part of ourselves each day through sensual living.

I Love Your Questions

If you have any questions, feel free to connect with me in the footer below or in the comment section.

Wishing you much love & a sensual life,

Heather xo