Every creative knows that they're happiest when they're ideating, making, creating, and in flow. When in a creative process, or in a channel, we are most whole and most authentically ourselves.

Even if you don't consider yourself a "creative," when you're most attuned to your needs and your own interests, you are your best self. 

11 years ago, I left a dream job working at one of the most famous brands in the world. I was flown around the world business class, met very awesome people, and athletes wore my designs as they competed in the Olympics. The job was amazing, but there was scant time to be creative. Most of my time was filled up with meetings, designing internal pitch decks, emails, and paperwork. Yes, some of this was creative, but not in the way that lit me up and used my talents. When I looked ahead at my path there, the higher up someone went, the less they were able to create.

Cut to 2023: a trifecta of the pandemic, burnout, and Long-Covid. These factors have affected my days in such a way that I haven’t made creative time a priority.* To play in a spacious way, make cool original shit, ideate and doodle and make stuff…just because. 

Small business owners, freelancers, caretakers, and busy practitioners…perhaps you can relate to what I am sharing here?

I am determined to get my groove back: to channel every day, not just on occasional nights and weekends. To feel lit up and inspired again, to enjoy copious flow states and communicating with/as my unbridled spirit, inside of the soul of a wild and weird art universe.

So, I created a plan: it begins with sensory deprivation.

“Sensory deprivation tank” was a theme I channeled for 2023 in Many Moons, as one of the themes of the year.**

Way back in December 2022, when that came through, I didn't really understand it, but now, I really do.

To be a clear channel and an effective creator, we need space to explore our own voice, impulses, intuition, and creative expression.
We need less inputs.
Less noise.
Less outside energy.
Less distractions and disruptions.

Sensory deprivation means that in being less exposed to the outside world, our internal dial can turn all the way up.

At the Moon Studio, we always reverse-engineer the circumstances for the thing we want.

In this case, it’s better flow hygiene.
Concentration+Intention+Lack of Self-Consciousness+Vibes=flow states.

Flow states and channeling states both require similar set-ups and energies.

Here are some of my current aligned actions:

• No unconscious screen time. Every time I pick up my phone, click a button, go to type in a url, it must serve a purpose beyond distraction, habit, or pseudo connection.
• Screen consumption must be for work or enhancement-related only. (No, reality TV star gossip doesn’t count as enhancement-related.)
• Carefully curated inputs: no television, and no podcasts that don't teach me something, or make me lol.
• More music or silence.
• Books, or long form writing in a journal.
• Best yet, nature: dialogues with the angels in the sky that people call clouds, and deep listens to the insects that visit the garden at dusk.

Then there’s the next level: being super conscious about what kinds of conversations I am having and who I allow in my space.

After that is the mystic ninja level: being incredibly conscious of the thoughts inside of my brain as much as possible. When in doubt, start with the mystic ninja levels. ;)

The key to clearing your channel is less inputs.

That’s the Sensory Deprivation Tank Summer Challenge.

Below, my brilliant students have shared their own Sensory Deprivation Tank Summer Challenge aligned actions. Why not try some and begin to reset? 

• Social media breaks 
• Digital organizing: cleaning out inboxes, unsubscribing, and deleting the messages that don't lit you up
• Permission to do absolutely nothing
• Sleeping closer to the ground
• Inviting my higher self into the proverbial room for conversation
• Cooking every meal 
• Cutting all the cords
• Rereading childhood journals
• Daily freewrite sessions
• Napping
• Returning to the exercises in Mary K. Greer's Tarot for Yourself book weekly
• Rearranging living spaces
• Spells and blessings to promote change to technology and consumption
• Chance Reading Sessions: put your pile of books in front of you, set your timer for 20 minutes, and randomly reading whichever section your intuition chooses for you.
• Choosing little dopamine breaks that are not from the internet
• Time spent in nature on a daily basis

 The Sensory Deprivation Tank Challenge is a surefire way to set yourself, and your channel, up for great creative and spiritual success. It's time to consider your flow hygiene, your everyday inputs, and make necessary adjustments in your awareness/habits. 

 

Are you looking for a retreat weekend to explore your authentic voice, reset any fears you have around promotion or marketing or setting up a newsletter or sharing yourself with others publicly? Then Clear Channels is for you.

​Sign up here.​

Happy resetting!

 

*My health and financial livelihood have had to come first. And that’s real for so many, and there’s absolutely no shame or judgement there! I have more thoughts on this that I’m still processing that I might share publicly at a later date. This is complicated, and involves much more than a mention.

​**Listen in to the themes of the year here. Patrons, you got the extended!