How to Meditate to Boost Your Creativity

Would you like to be more imaginative? Next, it's time to start practicing meditation. If only entering your mind during meditation felt as easy as it does, it truly is that simple.

Since I work in the creative industry, I have to be creative all the time, not only when an idea or insight occurs. In addition, I teach yoga. Since then, the connection between my meditation practices and creativity has become increasingly evident to me. In reality, both of those assertions came true more than ten years ago.

For instance, I'll go over how to meditate in this blog post, as well as its advantages and how it can boost creativity. An increasing corpus of studies on the subject validates my personal experiences. If you're on the fence about starting to meditate, you'll find by the conclusion of this essay that there's a lot to gain and not much to lose (maybe ten minutes or so)!

Can You Become More Creative in Ten Minutes of Meditation?

Ten minutes a day of meditation is undoubtedly preferable to none at all, and it may even spark your creative juices. After just a brief period of meditation, you can begin to observe changes in your emotional state. Meditation techniques frequently help clear the mental clutter that gets in the way of our creativity and make way for fresh concepts.

Similar to how physical activity trains your body, meditation practice can help you train your mind and brain over time. It can assist you in lowering stress in the short term, which will enable your brain to function more clearly. Starting with just ten minutes of meditation is a low-risk investment, regardless of your goals—improving creativity on a temporary basis or turning it into a habit.

Twenty or even forty minutes are suggested durations if you want to become serious. The issue I observe is that some people find it difficult to commit to 20 minutes or more, especially at first, and as a result, they end up not doing it at all. Alternatively, it's simple to start with just a 10-minute meditation, and as your fitness increases, you can always aim for longer sessions.

Originality and Health

Both you and I have some wonderful news to share. Increased wellbeing is one of the main advantages of creativity, according to research. Furthermore, studies indicate that one of the best ways to be more creative is to prioritize one's wellbeing. As a result, I'm letting you schedule some self-care for today!

I'm not only talking about bathing in bubbles to boost creativity, though showers are a great place to generate ideas. I'm referring to lowering your stress levels, getting quiet, and practicing self-compassion.

We believe that creativity matters because it will make a positive impact on the world or because it is becoming more and more valued in the workplace. Even if those statements are accurate, they're also significant since they make us happy, peaceful, joyful, and in the flow. It is worthwhile to practice for those health benefits.

How Being Mindful Boosts Originality

The benefits of mindfulness on creativity are numerous, although they might surprise you. You may believe that when you practice mindfulness, creative thoughts should flow. In actuality, you cultivate awareness to foster an atmosphere that is conducive to the generation of original thoughts.

One of the things I always do when I teach creativity is to discuss the things that prevent us from being creative. Often, we are too fearful, too busy, or too anxious to be creative. There are mental health concerns like identity, environmental concerns like time or space, and our old friend Resistance, which Steven Pressfield refers to in his book The War of Art as that comforting voice of self-doubt.

We can become more aware of our attitude, mentality, and restrictive ideas on our path and how to face our concerns by practicing mindfulness and meditation. What prevents you from becoming artistic? As we discuss how to address some of those concerns and how meditation exercise can be the ideal kind of training for you, keep that in mind. (Read this article to learn how to unlock your creativity.)

Mindset and Limiting Beliefs

According to research, we get more set in our ways as we age. We take fewer chances and are less willing to be adventurous. That implies, as you might expect, that we are less creative and that we no longer identify as creative people.

One of the first things we need to do, if you're reading this because you want to be more creative, is let go of the restrictive notion that says you're not creative enough or that you don't deserve to be creative. Being mindful can make us more conscious of our thoughts, feelings, and desires, as well as more mindful and in the moment. We can begin to take actions to alter our mental patterns if we begin to observe how we speak to and judge ourselves.

We may eliminate the identity of being uncreative and replace it with something more constructive by altering the way we think about our creativity. It's the idea of adopting a growth mindset, as put forth by Carol Dweck, or making decisions regarding our personality traits, as discussed by Benjamin Hardy in Personality isn't Permanent.

Creating a Creative Space

We will become more aware of our surroundings the more mindful we are of our thoughts. As we become more conscious of our surroundings, we can identify both the things that support and obstruct our creativity. Clutter is one environmental concern that could push us toward minimalism. However, the individuals we spend time with could also have an impact on environmental challenges.

We require a less hectic, less stressful environment around us, as well as a greater number of encouraging individuals. Examine your physical surroundings and your calendar as well. Can you eliminate or minimize any tension or clutter to create more space for creativity? It all boils down to priorities and values.

Our calendar and surroundings reflect when our priorities and ideals are in sync. Therefore, we may need to take a close look at our surroundings, including the media we consume on a daily basis, if our sense of creativity and well-being are priorities.

Diminishing Fear or Judgment

The reduction of anxiety and judgment is one way that mindfulness training enhances creativity. Fear and judgment are two of the main things that prevent many individuals from being creative. This is impossible; what if I fail?

By practicing mindfulness, we gradually learn to recognize these kinds of cravings, thoughts, and feelings and take control of them instead of letting them rule us. Instead of trying to control or repress our emotions, we will try to comprehend and guide them. Anger or irritation can inspire the best ideas or the most inventive solutions to problems.

Fear is only detrimental when it prevents you from taking the necessary action. Rather, we can experience tremendous progress if we accept our fear and learn from it.

Rewiring the Brain and Training the Mind

As previously said, the practice of meditation trains the mind in the same way as physical activity trains the body. We're constructing fitness, which is why we refer to it as meditation exercise or meditation practice. A basic meditation instruction will tell you that your only task is to bring your mind back to the point of focus when it wanders.

The key to focusing and developing focus is to exercise mental control over your ideas, making decisions about them as they arise. Because mindfulness and focus include paying focused attention while being in the present moment, it differs from mind wandering. A more long-term approach to creative practice is to become conscious of our thoughts, feelings, and concentration, allowing our minds to wander aimlessly in search of inspiration.

Although emotions aren't bad, we can rewire our brains to be more accepting of them by paying attention to our breath and being aware of what's going on.

Encouragement of Original Thought

To what precise end are we educating the mind? To achieve that lovely yet elusive condition of flow, we want the mind to facilitate creative thought. When we're too mired in our thoughts, it's difficult to encourage imaginative thinking, divergent thinking, and wild or insane ideas. We must reduce stress and our obsession with success if we wish to improve our creative abilities.

When we're listening to and preoccupied with tension, it's difficult to find the clarity or serenity necessary to identify a solution. The capacity to focus our minds on the here and now

How to Meditate: A Beginner's Guide

There are many different types of meditation, ranging from transcendental to mindfulness. There are two types of meditation: loving kindness and moving. You may want to experiment with other forms of meditation as you get more familiar with them and aware of the advantages of awareness.

A common form of meditation is mindfulness meditation, which you may practice on your own without any guidance because the instructions are quite straightforward. It requires awareness and focus to practice mindfulness meditation. As an observer, you are in the know.

Originating in Buddhist philosophy, mindfulness meditation also has the precept to not judge what you perceive. I'll go over some fundamental guidelines for beginning mindfulness meditation below.

Select a time and a place.

Making meditation a habit is, in my opinion, the most crucial thing. Choose a time and location where you can accomplish it to help it become a habit. This is similar to leaving your running shoes beside your bed to force yourself to go for a morning run even when you're not feeling like it.

You'll discover that the hardest part of meditation is getting started, but once you do, you've already succeeded since you've brought yourself into the present. Throughout my life, I have committed to meditation at varying degrees, and I have found that having a dedicated time and place has helped me stick with it as a practice.

For instance, before life starts to go out of control, a lot of meditation students feel that it is beneficial to meditate first thing in the morning. I adore this since you're taking advantage of the morning's beauty and tranquility. Remember to be compassionate if you miss a day, regardless of when you decide to do so.

Suitable Position

When you imagine someone meditating, you probably see them in full lotus position on a snow-covered hilltop. While I do believe that sitting outside is the best way to meditate, what matters most is that you find a comfortable position that allows you to remain attentive and erect. You can think about doing some yoga for a few minutes before your meditation to help your body feel more comfortable if sitting still causes you discomfort.

It will be simpler to continue your practice for extended periods of time the more you find a position that is both sustainable and pleasant for your body. Try sitting up straight and stacking your spine. For example, try sitting on a meditation cushion or pillow to raise your hips.

Be mindful and kind if your legs start to sleep or if you need to make adjustments. Everything, even how to handle a bothersome fly or a persistent itch, may be a lesson, a part of the practice, or a process.

Focused Attention

You simply sit down to meditate at the time you've chosen and find a comfortable position. Instead of just sitting there, everyone is preoccupied with learning the proper techniques for meditation and figuring out whether they're doing it correctly. It's your job to do nothing except sit.

It goes without saying that additional guidance is beneficial, and you might want to give guided meditation a try. If not, a straightforward procedure could be as follows: Begin by taking note of your body, then your breath. Try focusing on your breath in the here and now, and if your thoughts stray, recognize them and return them to the present.

Some folks may rather concentrate on a candle or a mantra. The goal of practicing mindfulness meditation is to intentionally pay attention to something so that you may become aware of your thoughts when they stray. It's not a terrible thing or an indication that you're doing something incorrect when your thoughts stray. Rather, this is a normal aspect of practicing mindful meditation and teaches us how to redirect our attention.

Absence of Judgment

I think that practicing non-judgment throughout your meditation is the most difficult aspect of mindfulness meditation. When our minds are overly occupied, we feel as though we are failing, and we are harsh with ourselves for it. Take note of the verdict there as well.

This daydreaming, in my opinion, always brings us full circle to our creative selves and our critical self-talk. Even when it's untrue, we allow our minds to replay ideas that suggest we lack creativity or that our meditation techniques are flawed. Being mindful during meditation will help us become aware of these harmful mental stray thoughts.

We may train ourselves to focus on what we desire, be it thankfulness, awareness of the present moment, or breathing exercises. We can either alter or channel our self-judgment into creative energy as we learn to identify it.

Beyond Originality

I discussed the connection between creativity and wellbeing at the beginning of this essay. Additionally, there is a connection between mindfulness meditation and healthiness. Perhaps you are merely searching for a method to manage pressure and stress, or perhaps you are interested in mindfulness techniques to boost your creativity.

Mindfulness activities that teach us to be present could benefit us in ways other than creativity. The advantages are only now starting to be highlighted by study, and as long as meditation, mindfulness, and creativity are studied more, I have a sense that the benefits will only mount up.

However, results might not materialize right away, which is why practicing non-judgement is crucial.

A Snippet of Breath

If practicing mindfulness meditation seems too difficult or overwhelming, I advise beginning with a basic breathing exercise. Even though meditation can sound very severe, I think you can manage it if all I ask is that you focus on your breath. Teaching my children the power of their breath—we do box breathing, kitchen breathing, mountain breathing, and many other entertaining and kid-friendly breath exercises that promote calmness—is a far easier chore than teaching them about meditation.

You will understand the power of meditation once you begin to observe your breath because, most of the time, our bodies are affected just by our focus. We can benefit from mindfulness just by inhaling deeply. If meditation intimidates you, I would even contend that merely paying attention to your breath is a form of meditation.

Sometimes, when I'm agitated, I find it difficult to sit on a meditation cushion and perform an official exercise. I can, however, deepen, lengthen, and count my breaths. Being aware of our breath stops negative thought spirals and mind wandering and helps us stay in the present.