This process can be a thrilling ride. It can connect you with that incredibly powerful place inside yourself that allows you to be you, without fear. It can unleash strong feelings, so be ready. Keep the phone numbers of your support people handy.

1. Prepare: Gather an assortment of painting tools, canvas and a bucket of thinned black paint (tempera or kids paints are good media to start with if you are intimidated).
2. Center: Stretch to release tension. Stand facing a direction that is meaningful to you, close your eyes, and feel yourself connecting to the earth through your feet to find your center and stabilize.
3. Relax: Use whatever meditation you like. I like this one: Imagine a beautiful golden light inside you and feel it slowly swell with each exhalation until it fills the room, the neighbourhood, the city, the state, the country, the world, the universe. Ahh, doesn't that feel grand?
4. Open the channel: Remind yourself that your deepest inner self knows. Ask it to guide you through this process.
5. On your mark: Open your eyes just long enough to orient yourself to the canvas and let your inner voice guide you as to which tool to use.
6. Let it flow: Listen to your inner voice tell you where to place the paint, how much, with what sort of strokes, everything. Only place the paint where it feels right. Feel your way through the process and stop when you feel ready. This can take hours. Open your eyes at anytime during the process to choose tools, but try not to look at your painting, and especially not to judge it.
7. Re-center: Open your eyes and relax. Re-center by repeating step #2-4 at anytime during this process, particularly when you feel that your conscious mind is trying to take over and impose patterns or rules on your painting. You want the painting to rise up from deep inside you. Now observe your painting from close up and far away, with your eyes wide open and scrunched up, with the painting upside down, sideways or at an angle, and any other way you like. When you see an image that resonates strongly with you, work with that and see if there are related images in your painting. One thing that I found invaluable during moments of considering the painting was to address my inner light with the request, "Tell me a story."
8. Dream: That night, before you fall asleep, ask your dreams to tell you whatever they need to tell you. Take notes the next morning, adding any insights you may have gained.
9. Prepare again: Next painting session, prepare a bucket of thinned white paint. Remember the dream messages if there were any. If none, that's just fine. Re-center by slowly repeating steps 2-4.
10. Find the painting: Once again observe your painting looking for images that are meaningful to you. Cry if you need to.
11. Sketch: Start to bring those images out gently with the black and white paints. Limit the time on this step. It's just to get a general feeling for what's in the painting.
12. Wash: Let your inner voice tell you which colour to use for the wash. Tempera doesn't mix in the usual way, so if you are trying to create a particular colour, it will be approximate at best. This is just fine. Thin this colour (you don't want it to override your black and white). Cover the entire painting. Using a colour wheel if you need it, choose a complementary colour. Use it to bring out the images you feel are right.
13. Fly: From this point on, use whatever colours you need. From time to time during the painting process, step back and observe your painting from every perspective, as before. Remember that your inner self knows, so ask it to guide you. It really does. And if you let it speak, you will so totally rock.
14. Wrap: When you feel finished, have someone take your photo standing beside your painting. This is a moment you will not want to forget.