Articles Written By: Shamini Naidu

This month, I experimented a little with the concept of freedom. I was working on an art piece on this theme, and around this time we also honoured Swami Kriyananda’s journey to Moksha (on the day of his passing, April 21st). His inner freedom and joy was easily perceptible to anyone who had the blessing to…

Staying Radiantly Healthy Through Color I hope you are doing very well, dear friend. How have you been spending this time at home? It has been so inspiring to watch people being so creative with their time (cooking interesting things, cherishing family time, just listening to the birds, working out at home, learning a new skill,…

For those constantly trying to let go of the many inner tendencies, attitudes and thought patterns, Shivratri is an exciting time! It is a time to focus on destroying, removing, letting go! And a “difficult situation”, one that takes us out of our comfort zone, can help us see ourselves more clearly. “I can look back…

What are you thinking when you paint? Have you ever paid attention to what you are thinking while you paint, or when you are alone? I was painting the other day and all of a sudden the music I was listening to stopped. Out of sheer laziness I didn’t bother to restart it and instead continued to paint in silence (which is really…

Forget yourself! This month, I have been dealing with discouragement. For instance, I was working on a painting which turned out very dull, then I felt some people didn’t really seemed interested in a few events we organized. Also, a dear friend was acting very cold and I noticed myself reacting and not being able to live up to the high ideals…

“You can really see a painting when you step back a little bit and see it in proportion”: these words by Swami Kriyananda have been on my mind this month! A couple years ago I came down with a bad flu. So I was in bed for a day or so feeling weak and awful….

I recently heard of an artist who experimented in a workshop by encouraging automatic responses to the music playing and found that: “Music that irritates the artist listener often has a detrimental impact on the painting results. Unpleasant music often produces dark, strong marks or, at its extreme, a blank stare at a blank canvas.” This…

Feeling Tired… make art! A few weeks ago I was feeling tired and struggling to keep my energy up! It was strange because it wasn’t about proper food, or rest or the fact that we had just come back from a lot of travelling! I was trying to get back into a rhythm and pushing…

I write to you from Ananda Village in California where many of us just spent a week honouring and celebrating 50 years of Ananda, cooperative community living and Swami Kriyananda’s life! Over 900 people gathered together from all around the world and it was an indescribable experience. At the end of the week Sadhana Devi was…

I was recently thinking about how to keep moving forward with my art! It’s so easy for something we love and need in our lives to take a back seat because we are too “busy” with all our responsibilities and deadlines! But if it makes us happy, and keeps us balanced and positive we must…