What to Do When You're Creatively Stuck - By Larry Mager (Guest Writer)

Photo By: Mihai Surdu (Stock Snap)

In a world where physical activity is performed in abundance, it is all so easy to forget how to nurture your mind as well as your body. Just like the muscles of the body, your mind is indeed a muscle that needs to be exercised daily in order to function to its best ability. Creativity is the driving force of passion behind many people, and when it runs through your veins and body, it can be the most exhilarating experience. However, when creativity runs dry, it feels as though that little flicker of light within has burned out. Fortunately there are several methods and exercises you can implement to relight that flame and get your creativity back up to par!

 Practice stillness

A lot of people get so caught up in deadlines, meetings and the day-to-day hustle and bustle that they rarely find the time to just be. However, taking a few minutes out of your day to relax your mind by practicing stillness will indeed reboot your brain function and allow more creativity to flow. This activity is so simple, you can manage to do it just about anywhere —even at your desk while at work. Take five minutes, plant your feet firmly into the floor to ground yourself and close your eyes. Breathe in deeply through your nose, hold your breathe for two seconds, then exhale loudly through your mouth. Repeat over the course of 5 minutes. When you ground yourself, you give your brain a chance to settle and not worry about other tasks and projects on your to-do list. When your brain is not muddled with the ongoing list of what needs to be done, you will find yourself in the relaxed state in which creativity thrives. Also, creating a clean space for you to just be alone helps to boost mental health and get your creativity flowing.

Morning Pages

Another great way to allow creativity to flow is to write morning pages. Morning pages is a concept written about by Julia Cameron, in the book The Artist’s Way. The idea is that your brain is in its most creative state, first thing in the morning. Each morning, upon waking up, you should dedicate a few minutes to write down any and everything that comes to mind in 3 pages. Writing without thought behind it will provide glimpses into the real you and what may be hiding beyond the surface. Writing will release any creative blocks as ideas flow endlessly from your mind, through your pen and onto the paper. Also, when you go back to review your morning pages, you may find some common threads that  you may have otherwise overlooked.

Allow yourself to daydream

Daydreaming is a very effective way to inspire creativity, as you will be allowing your mind to go into places you otherwise wouldn’t visit. Take a few minutes away from the computer or phone screen and just zone out. Go wherever you mind wanders and see where the feeling takes you. A lot of inspiration and creativity can stem from taking  your focus of off the present moment and allowing yourself to daydream.

Boosting your creativity doesn't have to be a hard, painful process. Just accept the droughts and blocks as they come, without being too hard on yourself. Give yourself a few minutes away from whatever you are currently enthralled with and implement one of the aforementioned exercises. There is no limit to how many times you chose to perform these exercises —you can do them weekly, or as needed. However if you really seek to see a spike in your creativity, it is best to practice daily. As stated earlier creativity is a muscle that has to be used daily in order for it to grow!

Larry Mager is passionate about the study of how to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease. He believes in regular exercise of the brain as a means to do just that. Give yours a workout with some fun, brain-stimulating games at ReadyBrain.net.

You can contact him through is email at: larry_mager@readybrain.net