Smart Healthy Women Magazine© 2013-2017 Smart Healthy Women Magazine. All rights reserved.Smart Healthy Women Magazine was created for smart women everywhere who want the latest strategies for living a life of health, wellbeing and happiness.CONTENTS09WHY CREATIVITY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN BALANCEby Catriona Pollard Recovering a sense of equilibrium in a busy life goes deeper than merely finding balance. 14EMBRACE YOUR CREATIVITYby Anna Parker-Naples Why we should never ignore our creative impulses and the benefits we gain from embracing them instead. 06FROM THEEDITOR'S DESKWelcome to Smart Healthy Women Magazine - in this issue we look at bringing more creativity into our life through various means - some of them surprising! 07OUR CONTRIBUTORSThis issue we bring you stories from our experts who share their creative expertise and who discuss the importance of creativity to happiness and joy. 20HOW TO CREATE YOUR DREAM LIFEby Catherine Plano You can create the life you dream about, so dream big and keep the commitment to yourself - it's the most important commitment of all. 25WHY CAN'T MUMS HAVE FUN TOO?by Sue Lester Why it's important to create time in your day to play - especially when there is no time for even the busiest of mums. 38RELEASE YOUR CREATIVE SPARKby Corry MacDonald Sometimes what we teach is the very thing we need to learn for ourselves - it's useful for the teacher to also be the student. 31PLAYING WITH PURPOSEby Allie Chambers Looking at play time in the light of it's practical purpose rather than merely passing time is a useful perspective. 44PERMISSION TO CREATEby Estelle Williams Do you often tell yourself you're too busy to take time out and create out of the pure joy of creating? There are lots of benefits to creative downtime.50by Dr Leandra Brady-Walker We really do have a say in creating healthy habits around food, and this includes the way we teach our children about food choices.CREATE REAL HEALTH58FIND YOUR OWN CREATIVE RETREATby Lisa Murray Why burnout is a sign it's time to find out what kind of creative retreat will soothe your soul and bring you back to joyful experience. 6312 SIGNS OF CREATIVITYby Estelle Williams When it comes to creativity, each Sun sign has it's own way of approaching their art - what is your special gift? CONNECTShareSubscribeGet in TouchFollow UsEditor's DeskEditor's DeskHello from Smart Healthy Women Magazine!There are many ways to let your hair down, to connect to that creative part of yourself that often doesn't get the freedom to express what truly lights you up. With the pace of modern life, it's not surprising that the parts of ourselves that don't appear to be economically viable or making a contribution to our bottom line are often pushed into the background and largely forgotten about. We need to more bring joy, balance and vigour to our existence - and if we don't give our creative spark its due, then we can expect to encounter a myriad of troubles, even a decline in our mental health. So I invite you to examine ways this month that you can invite the child in you to come out and play more often - and to make it a priority at least part of every day. We offer many more tips and strategies this month that will ensure you have some new ideas on getting lighter, clearer and happier as we head even further into 2017 - and my isn't this year flying along! I trust you'll enjoy this issue - feel free to drop me a line at editor@smarthealthywomen.com to say hi! In love and light, Estelle Williams Editor -in-ChiefWelcome to our 41st Issue - I love this topic and it's something that as adults, we don't get to do enough of. That is right - play and create!Catriona PollardAnna Parker-NaplesCatherine PlanoSue LesterAllie ChambersContributorsCorry MacDonaldDr Leandra Brady WalkerLisa MurrayContributorsEstelle WilliamsNext >