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INSPIRED CREATIVITY: IDEA OF THE MONTH
Here are ideas for getting your creative wisdom activated and working hard for you. When you feel blocked from ideas for a new product or presentation, or when you are frozen in fear over the need for a quick solution to a problem, come here for some ideas to “get out of your head,” so your intuition can get a word or image to you!
September 2008 Idea: Dance to the Brazilian Beat!
In his wonderful book, The Mozart Effect, author Don Campbell takes the reader through compelling data and stories that show how powerfully music can affect the brain. Campbell reports that research conducted by Dee Coulter, Ed.D., Director of Cognitive Studies at Naropa Institute in Boulder shows that jazz is the ideal music to be playing for accessing and strengthening creativity.Campbell prefers Brazilian music for boosting creativity because it “has the improvisational quality of jazz, but just enough pathos, sweetness, and drive to keep the listener attentive.” So take a moment to listen to some fun, Brazilian music, move your body to release any pent up energy or stress, then toe-tap your way to the creative aha’s you need.
Consider downloading a variety of Brazilian songs in order to find the right combination to play every time you need to get into a creative space. Or, sign up for Samba lessons, knowing that the physical and social rewards are only part of the benefits you gain from dancing to the beat!
ADDITIONAL IDEAS:
Take a Deep Breath:
You can’t possibly hear what your intuition is telling you if you’re wound up in worry or fear about how you’re going to come up with a solution. Even if it means walking out of a meeting to use the restroom or walking the halls, take a few moments to simply deep breathe. Let your belly hang out as you fill it up with air. Give yourself at least 60 seconds of quiet, deep breathing to center yourself.One breathing practice that is known to help give you better access to your creativity and to stimulate all areas of your brain is alternate nostril breathing (Nadi Shodhana). If nothing else, it will make you laugh when you try to do it or watch others try, so you’ll relax!
The idea is to close off one nostril, exhale and inhale through the other nostril, then close off that one and exhale and inhale through the other. For example:
Sit comfortably with your back straight. Place your right hand on the bridge of your nose. Use one finger to close off the right nostril. Exhale through the left nostril, as you would normally, then inhale through the left nostril. Now close off your left nostril with another finger, release the right nostril and exhale through it, then inhale through the right nostril and repeat this process, alternating nostrils for up to 15 times.
Why does this work? Your right brain (intuitive, creative) is associated with the left side of your body, including the left nostril of your nose. Your left brain (logical, rational) is associated with the right side of your body, including the right nostril of your nose. As you alternate breathing through each side of your nose, you are effectively stimulating one hemisphere of your brain at a time. The jumping back and forth gives your brain a good workout and heightens your receptivity to new ideas.
Ask Questions:
Your right brain loves open-ended questions that it can play with. “What if” questions are wonderful, as are questions that get you to dig deeper or search further. Remember when you were a kid and you were always asking questions, especially “why?” Put on your inquisitive “cap” and start asking yourself a question about whatever it is you need help with.A common challenge for people is to remember what it is they love to do, or what lights them up. They want to make changes in their life and “follow their passion,” but the problem is they don’t know what that passion is. If that describes you, this is a great activity for you.
Every night before you go to bed and every morning when you wake up ask yourself, “what lights me up?” If something doesn’t “pop” into your head right away, ask your nonconscious mind (the part of your brain that works while you’re sleeping) to “work on it” and give you an answer when you wake up. The next morning, ask the question again and wait a moment for the answer to come. Treat it as a game. Write the question on a sticky note and place it by your bedside to remind you to ask the question. Just when you think the answer will never come, it will pop into your head.
Dig for the Right Question:
If you’re not sure what kind of questions to ask to get the aha! you’re looking for, this is the activity for you. Start with a clean sheet of paper. Write the subject of your “problem” at the top of the page. Start writing down any question that pops into your mind to ask about the problem, situation, or product. Simple, obvious questions will come first. Be patient and stick with it. Keep asking questions.You’re looking for the key that sends a shiver up your spine, a flicker of heat in your gut, the hair standing up on your arms, or some other form of physical signal that your intuition is flashing you an insight. Even if you start to go off on a zany path (to your rational mind), stay with it and trust that there’s a reason you’re going off in this direction. Stay with it for at least 15 minutes and don’t throw away anything you came up with. Put it in a drawer and look at it fresh an hour or more later to see what pops up from your notes.