Meet Salma Price-Nell

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Salma Price-Nell. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Salma, we are so happy that our community is going to have a chance to learn more about you, your story and hopefully even take in some of the lessons you’ve learned along the way. Let’s start with self-care – what do you do for self-care and has it had any impact on your effectiveness?
It’s funny how most people expect things to go their way and when they don’t they get disappointed. How ‘life’s not fair’ when they don’t get what they want, but other people do. Shifting perspective and managing expectations might not seem like typical self-care acts but they can be fundamental to overall wellbeing. When our schema of life is programmed to only see things one way then there is very little opportunity to grow, and this is the case for many people. When we live life going through the motions with a mindset of ‘that’s just how it is’ then that’s the way it will be. Often times to gain perspective, a life event has to happen that moves us out of our comfort zones so much that it results in something that forces us to make change for example divorce, addiction, depression and any problem that pushes you to a rock-bottom. Most people see these events as a bad thing at face value, but rock-bottom is the place where all the excuses have floated away and you’re left to face your true self and decide who it is you’re want to be. It’s a moment to break-away from the autopilot we run on and to wake up to your consciousness and realise that you are in control of your destiny and everything you’ve ever wanted is possible to achieve and the only thing standing in the way of that is you. So at rock-bottom you make a choice. You can lie there in pity and wait for someone to come a long and ‘save you’ (and forever be reliant on others for your wellbeing) or you can dig deep and find that through doing the dirty work of introspection and facing your demons can you find the hidden treasure inside. With this introspection you can change your perspective from being a victim of your circumstance to taking responsibility for how you shape your life and yourself. The more you understand yourself the better you can take care of yourself. When you realise your responsibility to yourself you are better able to care for yourself. Nurturing and expanding our awareness grows our consciousness. Practicing true self-care is caring for yourself deeply and understanding what that means.

What do I do for self care? I practice Yoga and Zen and they have impacted my life tremendously. I started practicing meditation and Yoga when I hit a hard time in my life emotionally. The teachings broadened my awareness and allowed me the opportunity to study myself and the nature of existence at large which expanded my awareness broader than I ever could have imagined. My mind opened up to see passed myself to all the possibilities of life.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am a visual artist who explores the nature of existence through the natural world, metaphysics, philosophy, pattern recognition and meditation. I create visual illustrations in fine detail using ink because of its permanence and versatility and paper because of it’s fragile nature and ability to decompose very easily back to the earth. Fundamentally I’d like to awaken the viewers higher awareness to allow an opportunity for their spirit to more easily remember it’s connection to nature and all things. I use the medium of visual art because being captivated by detail and beauty inspires full presence in the moment, which is the first step to developing awakened consciousness.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
For me the three most important things are:

Number 1 mastering my craft. Putting in the hours and years of dedicated practice didn’t only allow me to sharpen my drawing ability, but it built discipline, patience, determination and a strong work ethic and transferred to other parts of my life because of the mindset it builds. The validation from the results of dedicated practice also builds a strong sense of self and confidence in hard work being worth the effort.

Number 2 would be ‘being a constant learner’. I spent the last 5 years ferociously learning as much as I could to answer all the questions I had after a difficult time in my life. Because of dealing with depression and anxiety, I read and learnt as much as I could about psychology, the nervous system, physiology, spirituality and myself. Then, wanting to improve, I read as many self-development books as I could. They helped me to get perspective, quit smoking, form better habits and reframe my thinking to be really positive.

Number 3 is patience. Developing the skill to allow for space in between can be very powerful. Through my yoga practice I was made aware of how our breath regulates our system and before our minds even realise something our breath is already responding. Catching this understanding made me notice when my breathing changes and if you can catch yourself about to take a fast breath it means you’re about to react to something. This was a game changer. Now instead of instantly reacting, often I can catch myself and give myself a moment to get back to centre and think before I respond.

What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?
I am in favour of focusing on strengths first because you already have an advantage here. Being able to do something well that comes naturally is a gift and is also often intrinsically tied to who you are so I believe that people should always nurture and harness their best abilities. Then if secondary skills need to be developed to support your main strengths it’s worthwhile putting in the effort. I believe that essentialism is a great practice. Unless the goal is to be well rounded for a specific purpose, spending time developing areas that won’t end up yielding great results might not be the best way to get the most out of yourself and your time. Spending your time focusing on your strengths and improving them will give you a competitive advantage and open a window that will allow you to possibly surpass what’s been done before if you dedicate your life to it.

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