Rebekah Younger is a multidisciplinary artist with over thirty years of experience as a professional creative entrepreneur, designer and teacher. Her work has been exhibited in museums in the San Francisco, CA, and Boston MA, areas, as well as featured in magazines like Ornament, Fiberarts, Threads and The Crafts Report. Younger is trained as a Shambhala Art teacher. This program, based on the teachings of Ch?gyam Trungpa Rinpoche (and teacher for such creatives as Allen Ginsberg, Alice Walker and Meredith Monk), explores the creative process as a meditative practice and a means to wake oneself up to things as they are. In this training, art is viewed as a practice to cultivate an awakened mind and genuine expression beyond aggression. Younger completed an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts at Goddard College, with a focus on contemplative art, Buddhism and photography/video/installation. She lives in the San Francisco East Bay where she teaches photography, creating and meditation.
"Based on the popular meditation practice of mindfulness, Be,
Awake, Create offers exercises and advice that introduce us to
the wider view of 'wakefulness, ' where we learn to stop rushing
past our lives and instead open to a timeless moment that unleashes
our natural, creative brilliance. Rebekah's voice is wise; her
advice, practical; her insights, profound."
--Michael Carroll, chief operating officer of Global
Coaching Alliance; author of Awake at Work, The Mindful
Leader, Fearless at Work, and Mindful Leadership
Training; and authorized teacher in the Kagyu-Nyingma lineage
of Vajrayana Buddhism--Michael Carroll
"Be, Awake, Create is a useful and profound introduction to
the dharma art teachings. It offers a revelation of insight,
teachings, and experiential activities. The exercises are
contemplative, creative, and life transforming. This is a book
about making palpable the compassion and potency of creative
presence to heal our hearts and transform the world."
--Laura Simms, world-renowned storyteller, global educator,
worldwide performer, and author of Our Secret
Territory--Laura Simms
"Be, Awake, Create is full of inspiring exercises and
motivating quotations. Once you pick it up, you can't put it down;
and when you do put it down, you just want to rush off and do
something creative! This is a unique book, which expands the
boundaries of art and reveals the vital importance of being
creative. It will be an indispensable resource of ideas and
exercises for anyone interested in exploring the vast potential
hidden within their being."
--Seyed Alavi, MFA, artist--Seyed Alavi, MFA
"Be, Awake, Create is The Artist's Way for the
twenty-first century, a gentle and thorough guide to next steps on
the journey. For the artist who longs to land in the work more
deeply, for the contemplative whose creativity yearns to bloom,
Younger's book offers a beautifully designed combination of mindful
and creative practices which embrace playfulness as well as
discipline. Accessible enough for beginners, the book could also be
used as a template for depthful learning at the meeting place of
presence and artistic process, and a springboard for those powerful
transformations toward which all art beckons us. I'm excited to
begin!"
--Nancy Coleman, PhD, clinical psychologist and writer,
facilitator of Wide Open Writing, and international writing and
yoga teacher--Nancy Coleman, PhD
"Be, Awake, Create is sure to become a classic, for no other
book presents meditation and mindfulness as the complete ground
from which to access our creativity, while leading us through the
whole experiential path. Whether a seasoned or new artist or
meditator, this interactive practice journal will bring the magic
of creating out of everyday life. With simplicity, lucidity, and
wisdom, Younger reveals how being present naturally leads to the
reawakening of not only our awareness and creativity, but also our
true humanity--a view so needed in our world today. She is to be
thanked for heralding the way!"
--Patricia Donegan, MA, poet, translator, professor emeritus
of creative writing, Fulbright scholar, meditation teacher, author
of Haiku Mind, and coauthor (with Yoshie Ishibashi) of
Love Haiku--Patricia Donegan, MA
"The creative process and meditation are inherently contemplative,
but they are not the same. The creative process is about
discovering one's inspiration and then manifesting it. Meditation
is about developing mindfulness and awareness in order to discover
your own mind. Rebekah Younger's workbook, Be, Awake,
Create, through a series of exercises and the sharing of
Younger's personal journey, fuses the creative process with the
benefits of meditation."
--Steven Saitzyk, international director of Shambhala Art,
adjunct professor of humanities and sciences at the world-renowned
ArtCenter College of Design, and author of Place Your Thoughts
Here and Art Hardware--Steven Saitzyk
"Be, Awake, Create by Rebekah Younger is a must-read for
anyone interested in developing their own creative potential of
seeing and experiencing the magic of our ordinary world. Younger
leads us on a symbiotic, hands-on journey of self-discovery through
exercises enriching and developing our own creativity. Through
activities of presenting the potential of our sensory experiences,
new possibilities and insights arise. A guided source book
journaling us to the essence of creative thought."
--Michael Doucet, PhD, Louisiana musician, composer,
National Heritage Fellowship recipient, and Grammy Award
winner--Michael Doucet, PhD
"This book is filled with enough wisdom and joy and encouragement
to fuel an extended creative journey. Rebekah draws on her
experience as a teacher, fabric artist, photographer, and Buddhist
practitioner to produce language and activities that are
inspirational and accessible. (I especially appreciated the links
to audio instructions.) She reminds us that we constantly create
through our choices and actions, and that a journey begun in
stillness, conducted with attention, and enacted with compassion is
of benefit to self and to others."
--Laura Peck, MPH, MTC, coach and consultant to leaders
committed to creating a more just and compassionate world though
their word, deeds, and presence--Laura Peck, MPH, MTC
"Be, Awake, Create invites the reader to do just that,
offering a tremendous wealth of activities that bring fresh
perspectives to the creative process. Writing in a most accessible,
engaging style, Rebekah Younger charts a meaningful journey,
sharing her perceptive insights while gently guiding the reader to
be fully present and discover the heart of their artistic vision.
Wise, provocative, and playful, I highly recommend this book to all
those interested in exploring and deepening their awareness of and
creative response to the worlds in which we live."
--Ruth Wallen, MFA, artist, professor in the MFA
interdisciplinary arts program at Goddard College, and shastri in
the Shambhala Buddhist tradition--Ruth Wallen, MFA
"Rebekah Younger has composed an elegant, accessible, and profound
collection of practices, insights, and personal stories for those
who are curious about contemplating and creating. She deftly
manifests how the very act of creating can honor our
interdependence with the world. I am deeply inspired by her own
vulnerability, decades of experience, and innovative suggestions.
Younger says, 'When you are committed to your vision and awake to
reality, everything else is workable.' I will pick up this book
again and again, in order to return to this truth."
--Miriam Hall, coauthor of Heart of Photography, and
contemplative arts instructor--Miriam Hall
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