Peppering your days with tiny creative acts can help improve your wellbeing
We all know creativity is great for our physical and mental health, increasing positivity, strengthening the immune system and even protecting against dementia. What’s less well-known is that small acts of creativity throughout the day can help you become more focused and clear-headed. Studies show that playing a musical instrument increases the connections between the right and left hemispheres of the brain, improving cognitive function. Meanwhile any form of enjoyable creativity releases dopamine, our bodies’ natural antidepressant. However, most of all, creativity puts us in a ‘flow’ state, akin to active meditation.
‘Conscious creativity is a physical form of meditation,’ says therapist, coach and Zen teacher Donna Booth (vitality-retreat.com ). Creativity forms a key part of her retreats in Scotland and she frequently prescribes everyday creative blasts for her private clients as well. ‘When you are being consciously creative, you use a different part of the brain than that which worries, overthinks and analyses. This has a reset effect on your analytical brain allowing it to focus more clearly on what it actually needs to be doing.’
Kate Taylor (katetaylor.co ) firmly believes everyday creativity is the secret key to success. ‘Being creative connects us to the deepest parts of our rich, wild landscape of inner wisdom and imagination,’ she insists. ‘Creativity is the way we share our soul and who we are with the world.’ She has worked with some of the world’s smartest brands, using the power of creative expression to power up their businesses. She calls her work Practical Magic and says you don’t need to be a high-powered start-up to benefit – we could all profit from regular doses of creativity.
The wonderful thing is that it really doesn’t matter what form your own creativity takes. You don’t need to be an accomplished musician or a Tate-worthy artist. It’s not about how well you dance or paint, or cook or craft – it’s simply about focusing on something you really enjoy. In fact, studies have even shown that once we try to ‘prescribe’ creativity, bringing in rules and regulations, all its benefits vanish like mist. That said, it doesn’t hurt to sample a few tried and trusted shortcuts. Donna and Kate suggest the following ways to jump-start your creativity throughout the day.
Small acts of creativity for clarity and focus
Write it out
‘I first read about Morning Pages in Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Way (Souvenir Press),’ says Donna. ‘I use them myself and I recommend them to all my clients. I think of them as ‘brushing your teeth for the brain’.’
First thing in the morning, before you do anything else (and certainly before you switch on any devices) simply write whatever comes into your head for three pages. Don’t censor, don’t analyse and don’t worry – nobody sees them but you. Donna even advises that you don’t read them back. ‘It’s a great way to clear out the clutter and get to the nitty gritty underneath – ideas will surface, stories will grow, things you are angry about will float up and pass on by.’
Create a creative corner
‘Have a ‘creative corner’ where you can keep some pens, paints, paper, maybe some mindful colouring books – whatever prompts you to have a play,’ says Donna. The important thing is that it needs to be visible and within easy reach. ‘If you have to take something out and tidy it away every time, you will reach for something easier, like your phone, and that moment for conscious creation will be gone,’ she warns. If you don’t like things lying around or you simply don’t have the space, then find a nice basket or box to keep close at hand.
Practice Mindful Minis
This exercise gives the analytic brain a pause and brings you back to focus. Have a stack of small pieces of paper at hand and practice mindful drawing. ‘The secret is to make it a little more difficult than just doodling, but not so difficult that you get frustrated,’ says Donna. ‘You can’t do it wrong so let go of the need to be ‘good’ in any way.’ Try making patterns from tiny circles, or draw a wave across the paper and then add lines down to the edge of the page. The lines should be close together but not touching.
Zentangles is another fun exercise – start at a point on the paper and, without lifting your pen, draw swirls and shapes. Now colour them in.
Connect to your hips
The sacral chakra is connected to our unconscious creativity, Kate explains. She likes to use Qoya (qoya.love), a wild and free form of movement and dance, to power up the hips and activate this centre in the body. To get a taste, simply move your hips slowly in circular movements, or in a figure of eight. ‘Put on some slow, sensual music to deepen the connection to the music and your body,’ says Kate. ‘Breathe deeply and let your hips lead the way with the movement.’
Release the throat
‘The throat chakra is the other main centre of creativity,’ says Kate. This energy centre governs our conscious creativity and making sound is a shortcut to activating it (as well as increasing our self-expression and confidence). Kate advises singing along to favourite songs. Humming is another simple activation technique that is also supremely soothing, or you could try chanting the throat chakra activation mantra: ‘So Hum’.
Get creatively mindful
‘Creative mindfulness is a way of tuning into the richness of the world within us and how we connect to the world around us,’ says Kate. Play with an everyday object such as a glass, and bring all of your senses online. Become really curious about it.
What can your start to see behind the obvious?
What can you hear? If it’s something that doesn’t have a sound, what do you imagine it would sound like if it did?
What can you feel? Really connect in with its shape and texture. How hot or cold is it?
What does it smell like? Taste like?
What else do you notice about it beyond your known senses?
Play with imagination
‘Take yourself down the rabbit hole of imagination with playful writing exercises,’ says Kate. She suggests pulling a tarot or oracle card (she uses her Practical Magic deck with clients) as a prompt. Just write about whatever comes up for you with the card. If oracle cards don’t appeal, try looking for images online.
