Guided Meditations for Creativity. Mindfulness for Creativity

Introduction

Meditation and mindfulness have both been proven to have a huge impact on a lot of aspects of our day-to-day lives. According to many studies that have been conducted on mindfulness, its benefits include improved mental health, increased motivation and productivity, lower stress levels, decreased risk of burnout at work, and many more. Does it also help with creativity? How to boost your creativity with meditation and mindfulness? And maybe even more importantly, why is it crucial not to neglect your creative side?

For some time it was believed that creativity wasn’t a skill that you could learn, that it was a trait that  people were born with. However, it was proven untrue by many studies, and now it is believed that creativity can be acquired and developed through brain training techniques, the right practice and by developing a habit. It can also be increased with guided meditation for creativity and mindfulness. 

The importance of creative process

“Creativity is defined as the tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems, communicating with others, and entertaining ourselves and others.”

Many people don’t even realize how often they use creativity in their day-to-day lives. We associate creativity mainly with artists and art lovers, and while it’s true that creativity is their bread and butter, and that without it they wouldn’t be able to create anything, they’re not the only ones that can benefit from using their creativity. According to studies, even if your profession doesn’t seem to have much to do with creative thinking, creativity can help you achieve better results at work, be more productive and resourceful. For example, Energy Replenishment Meditation from our guided meditation app can help you restore your energy during work. Meditation can spike up your innovation, help you come up with unique solutions and new ways of accomplishing goals, and in turn, it can make running your business or doing your job more efficient. 

“Creativity is not just for artists. It’s for businesspeople looking for a new way to close a sale; it’s for engineers trying to solve a problem; it’s for parents who want their children to see the world in more than one way.” — Twyla Tharp

Moreover, creative problem solving and being successful at work due to your creativity will have a positive influence on your mood and on your mental health. This is why being creative is something you should strive to be even if you’re not an artist and even if you’re not working for a creative industry. Creativity is a skill that we may all learn and cultivate. However, if this is a side of you that you haven’t yet explored, you may be unsure how to start the creative process. It’s not something that happens overnight. Ideas don’t just come to us because we wished for them to come. So, how to become more creative?

One proven way in which you can open your mind and let creativity in is through meditation and mindfulness.

We’ll talk more about the connection between mindfulness meditation and creativity, mindfulness and creativity, as well as ways in which you can practice meditation for creativity in the next section of this article. Before that, however, let’s go back to the ways in which creativity can affect your life. 

Practicing creativity through writing, drawing, painting, working with clay, and even coloring can also contribute to your mental health. Creating art (professional or otherwise) has in itself a stress-reducing, calming effect and it can even be the first step to meditation since focusing and concentrating on the act of creation can free your thoughts and help you express them. Sometimes, in our haste to get rid of negative thoughts, we ignore them instead of working through them. This is when art can come in handy. You can project all of your negativity, your trauma or anxious thoughts, into art, and heal through it. Move your thoughts from your mind to paper or another tool, create an outlet for all of the stress and tension that is accumulating in your body.

Negativity has a damaging effect on creativity, it closes the mind and makes you anxious, so finding an outlet for all of the unpleasant emotions that cloud your mind is very important. However, sometimes those negative thoughts, stress, anxiety, and more are making it impossible for us to create as we're getting stuck in creative blocks. This is when meditation and mindfulness step in.

Guided meditation for creativity

Meditation has become extremely popular all over the world and thus many researchers started conducting studies on various effects and interrelations between meditation and other aspects of life and behaviors. Studies conducted over the years have shown, for instance, that open-monitoring meditation (the one where “an individual is open to perceive and observe any sensation”) boosts divergent thinking, a style of thinking that allows many new ideas to be generated. It’s been also proven that short-term meditation natures creative thinking, and you can gain more insight by staying in an alert and mindful state and grounding yourself in the present moment during meditation. Studies conducted by means of Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT), which, alongside the Remote Associates Test, is one of the most widely used tests of creativity, showed that participants who meditated performed better on the creative test than those who didn’t. 

Similarly to the meditation, the connection between various aspects of mindfulness, such as observation skills, attention with full awareness, powers of descriptions, and factors pertinent to creativity, such as innovation, frequency of ideas or cognitive flexibility, are being studied by researchers, and it has been proven that various types of meditation and mindfulness have an impact on these aspects of our minds. 

On the Internet, you’ll find a lot of materials, tips, theories, lists of methods and types of meditation and mindfulness. It is easy to get confused, especially if you are just starting your journey and have never before looked into this subject. Are you wondering where to start? What exercises will be best to boost your creativity? Here are a few tips. 

Time Alone

Every day we wake up and immediately start running. Run to the shower. Quick coffee. Maybe breakfast. Run for the bus or to the car or any other chosen transportation mode. We go through day after day running and hurrying, only perhaps slowing down on the weekends or in the evenings. We live fast. So fast, in fact, that we sometimes forget to take the time off. To shut everything down and just be. Just exist. Alone. Doing nothing. We focus so much on the outside world that we forget about the one that exists in our heads and hearts, inside us. 

Meditation shifts that focus inwards. Even if you’re not meditating alone, your attention is not on other people in the room, it’s on you. Your breathing, your body, the space in your mind. And as studies in neuroscience have shown, inwardly focused attention is what employs the brain differently.

When meditating, we use a different network than the one we use when we’re focusing outward, and this is one of the reasons why inwardly focused attention meditation can enhance creativity: our best ideas come to us when we are not engaged with the outside world. 

Focused attention: Stay in the present moment

Meditation for creativity is about staying in the moment. Anchor yourself with the breath, ground yourself in the present through it, unite your body and your mind. Relax. Drive focus. That way you’ll direct intention and affirm action. When you are anchored in the breath it’s easier to focus on the moment and flow with your intentions. Improving this skill will make it simpler to access flow states. Being in the present moment is a  pleasing and inspirational experience. With your mind at peace, you’ll feel happier, the challenges will be easier to overcome, and you’ll experience a bigger flow of imagination and creativity. It’s like Lao Tzu said:

“If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present.”

Try it all out

As we’ve already mentioned, meditation can be done in many different ways. You can practice silent meditation, group meditation, guided meditation. You can do it with music playing and in total silence. You can sit crossed-legged, on your knees,  or with your legs straightened before you, or you can lie down. You can practice meditation in many different places. You can only focus on your breath and body, or keep repeating a mantra, let your mind flow freely. Don’t restrict yourself. Try different ways, find what’s working for you. Be playful with it.And don’t forget to be mindful not only when you’re meditating but also in your day-to-day life. Creativity can be many things. It can be found in art, but also in your clothes, in the way you style your hair or even in how you arrange food on your plate. Be aware of when you are creative, train your brain to think creatively with constant awareness. 

More tips and exercises 

Most of the sites on the Internet will list meditation as the first and most important thing you can do to improve creativity in the brain. We’ve already mentioned that you can also practice creativity through art. Writing, painting, sculpting - anything that requires you to go through the process of creation. Some alone time, breath exercises and keeping your mind open to different types of meditation will help as well. But is there anything else you can do to practice? 

The exercises that are proposed are usually not only good for creativity but also for memory and cognition. 

Some other exercises that are listed frequently on the subject of creativity boost are: 

• Visualizing more 

  It is proven that visualization helps people organize information and make the appropriate decision. It can be as simple as imagining what you’re going to do next, how you’ll perform a certain action in vivid detail. You can also practice creative visualization meditation with Take3Breaths App. What is it and how does it work? It’s a “cognitive process that consists of forming vivid mental images. You consciously change the images, which in turn changes your emotions about the subjects of the images. As you practice visualizing the future you want, you create that future.” 

• Playing games, chess, solving puzzles, sudoku 

  Solving crosswords and puzzles is very stimulating for the brain.  Regular brain exercise like this one can not only trigger creativity but also ensure that once you get older, your mind will remain sharp and you’ll keep a great memory. 

• Learning a new skill or language

  Your brain is engaged in various ways when you’re learning new things, such as a new skill or a new language. Learning about different cultures and their traditions, reading foreign literature can make you more creative. It’s also a great brain exercise that connects different areas of your brain. 

These are just a few of the things that you may introduce in your day-to-day life to make yourself more creative. Even something as simple as socializing more, meeting new people, learning about their perspectives and ideas about life can boost your creativity. 

Guided meditation 

Whether you’re at the beginning of your meditation journey, or you’ve tried everything else, guided meditation can support you on your way to finding peace and happiness, and to boost creativity. Sometimes finding the right path is hard and sometimes you feel like you need a change in your routine. This is why so many people use guided meditation - if this is something you would like to try, you can find a lot of content on meditation for greater creativity in Take3Breaths App. It’s been created for workplace meditation, so not only is it designed to help you meditate but also to increase your work performance and the general quality of your professional life. 

Many companies are already introducing booths for meditation at their offices in order to ensure that their employees have the space to work on their mindset. At Profil Software we have a room designed for meditation in our office, as well as a fun room for our employees to relax in and socialize - all to not only create a great atmosphere at the office but also to give people the space they can go to if they need a moment for themselves to boost their creativity, motivation or energy for the rest of the day. 

Be mindful, be creative

As was already mentioned, creativity plays a bigger part in our lives than many people realize. Even if you’re not an artist, art lover and you’re not working in a creative industry, you can still gain a lot by becoming more creative. Meditation and mindfulness can boost creativity, reduce stress and anxiety, keep you motivated, productive and happy. It has a lot of mental health benefits, which is why it is so crucial for us to introduce it to our lives. 

If you want to learn more, try a guided meditation for creativity or if you’re looking for a way to increase your creativity, Take3Breaths has everything you need.

• ¹Human Motivation, 3rd ed., by Robert E. Franken (p. 396)
• ²Ding, X., Tang, YY., Tang, R. et al. Improving creativity performance by short-term meditation. Behav Brain Funct 10, 9 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1186/1744-9081-10-9
• ³Colzato LS, Ozturk A, Hommel B: Meditate to create: the impact of focused-attention and open-monitoring training on convergent and divergent thinking. Front Psychol. 2012, 3: 116

^{Updated: 14.10.2022}

• What is creative meditation?
  Meditation for creativity strengthens the mind, drives focus and helps you relax, as well as direct intention towards the subject you're musing over. It's about grounding yourself and staying in the moment by focusing on your breath.
• Does stress help creativity?
  No, research shows that the more stressed you are, the less creative you will be. This is one of the reasons why meditation is so helpful when it comes to creative thinking: it reduces stress.
• Does meditation increase creativity?
  Yes, the relaxed but focused state of your mind allows for a better flow of ideas and increases the creative process. A mindful approach to creativity is what you should be striving for.
• Is mindfulness good for creativity?
  Mindfulness meditation can have a very positive impact on creativity and innovation. It brings awareness, helps you enter a state of deep focus, and lowers stress levels.