Creativity

2005-09-01T04:03:00.000-07:00

Stimulating your Creativity

The mind needs stimulation to be creative. Sensory inputs get stored in your memory where they combine with new inputs to trigger new ideas or perspectives. By giving your mind fresh inputs each day, you increase these building blocks for creative thinking.

How do you get new memory inputs? Do something new each day. Eat different foods, listen to different radio stations, read different magazines, take a stroll through a busy shopping centre. Keep your all your senses open to experience the sight, taste, touch and smell of things.

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2005-08-31T04:01:00.000-07:00

Affirmations and Creativity

Affirmations are a useful method of "programming" your mind to act in a particular way. For example, you can use them to increase your confidence in your personal creative abilities. Select some affirmations that "speak" to your concerns or self-doubts and make it a habit to read them every morning and evening during a quiet time. Better yet, carry a notepad with the key affirmations with you. You can also place reminders on your desk, the fridge, etc. to remind you to say them during the day.

Some affirmations you may want to try to increase your creativity are:

I have rich creative talents
I am willing to experience my creative energy
I am a brilliant and successful artist
I deserve a rewarding creative life

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2005-08-29T03:59:00.000-07:00

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)

Most people are familiar with acupuncture. Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT is a form of "emotional acupressure." EFT works by removing negative emotions or beliefs that can have a profound effect on our attitudes and self-perceptions. The process itself is simple to learn. Basically it involves tapping different acupressure points while stating the problem that is holding you back. The technique has been used successfully for a wide range of problems, ranging from eliminating phobias to improving sports performance. It can also be used to enhance your creativity by getting rid of negative attitudes that stifle the creative process. For example, many people sabotage themselves by convincing themselves that they are not creative or will never be able to come up with a really innovative solution to a problem. By applying the EFT technique you can overcome these obstacles and open the door for great new ideas.

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2005-08-26T12:53:00.000-07:00

Doodling to Creativity

Doodling provides a way of dipping into our unconscious mind to engage our creativity. It allows us to access the symbolic language used by our subconscious to help us see solutions that might otherwise escape our notice.

To practice doodling, simply focus on the problem that you are trying to solve. Hold this thought in your mind and allow yourself to go into a blank stare or soft focus, preferably on a neutral background (the sky, a white wall, neutral carpet). As ideas and feelings come to mind simply doodle them onto a piece of white paper.

Another approach is to discuss the problem with a friend. While you are discussing it, doodle on a piece of white paper. Continue to doodle as you talk and listen. Don’t interpret or inhibit what you are drawing.

When you are finished doodling, set the paper aside for a period of time. When your mind is fresh, look at what you’ve drawn. Pay attention to the thoughts and feelings that come to mind as you look at the drawings. Relate these thoughts and feelings to the problem that you are trying to resolve to see what solutions appear.

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2005-08-24T04:58:00.000-07:00

Brainwaves and Creativity

The brain normally operates at different frequencies depending on the type of mental activity involved. These frequencies are divided into four main types of brainwave patterns:

Beta waves (between 13-40 HZ) are associated with peak concentration, heightened alertness and visual acuity.
Alpha waves (between 7-12 HZ) are associated with deep relaxation and are considered the gateway to our creativity
Theta waves (between 4-7 HZ) are associated with the twilight state that we experience fleetingly as we drift off to sleep and are strongly linked with creativity and intuition.
Delta waves (between 0-4 HZ.) are associated with deep sleep.

As we slow the brain wave patterns from beta to alpha to theta to delta, there is a corresponding increase in balance or synchronization between the two hemispheres of the brain. Scientists have noted that these slower brainwave patterns are accompanied by deep tranquillity, flashes of creative insight, euphoria, intensely focused attention, and enhanced learning abilities.

Several audio programs are available that make it easy to control brainwave activity. The programs work by using a series of tones at precise frequencies to induce the desired brainwave activity. Many of these programs use a “binaural beat” where different frequencies are delivered to each ear. When listened to using headphones, the two hemispheres of the brain work together to integrate the two sounds & guide the brain into specific frequency patterns.

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2005-08-22T12:40:00.000-07:00

How Glucose Levels Affect Creativity

Glucose, the form of sugar that circulates in the blood, is critical to optimal functioning of the brain. Indeed, glucose is the brain’s exclusive source of fuel. Deficiencies in glucose levels can cause the brain to slow down and malfunction. This blood sugar comes from the foods we eat, particularly from carbohydrates such as sweets and starches. The trick is to make sure that we produce the right amount of glucose to suit our brain’s requirements. For instance, there is evidence that more glucose is burned when the brain is working hard to solve a problem. So in some cases, a quick boost in blood sugar levels may be helpful when the brain is active. However, the bigger problem for most westerners is having too much glucose since the diet of most westerners includes many carbohydrates that are quickly converted to glucose.

The key to proper glucose control is to pick foods that are converted to glucose slowly. In particular, it is important to carefully choose the carbohydrates you eat. Some carbohydrates create sharp rises in blood glucose while others break down gradually and help regulate the flow of glucose to the brain. Not surprisingly, the “fast” or “high glycemic” carbohydrates include items like refined sugars and cookies. But the list of high glycemic foods is not obvious and includes most breads, rice, packaged cereals, and potatoes. On the other hand, foods such as legumes, nuts, pasta, low fat dairy products, most fruits and vegetables are good at delivering a controlled amount of glucose to the cells.

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2005-08-18T00:36:00.000-07:00

Edison’s Secrets to Inventing

Edison was one of the world’s most prolific inventors. One of the reasons for his amazing creative output was the system of inventing that he developed. The key components of this system were:

Form a mastermind alliance
Assemble a team of people with different areas of expertise and work together to develop innovative solutions to problems

Set yourself an idea quota
Set yourself clear targets and deadlines to force your brain into high gear

Be persistent
Follow your idea relentlessly, one step at a time

Accept failure as part of the process
Embrace your mistakes. Learn from them and move on.

Keep a record of your ideas
Keep a journal or notebook of all your ideas as they come to you. Often one idea will spawn another in an unrelated field

Commit to your goal
When you make a commitment to succeed you find the energy, ideas and “good luck” to support you

Be playful
Enjoy a childlike sense of curiosity to keep your mind flowing freely

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2005-08-16T04:46:00.000-07:00

Antioxidants and the Brain

Free radicals are formed when glucose and oxygen are burned. Much has been written about the damage that free radicals can do to the body. However, the brain is particularly susceptible since it burns more oxygen and glucose than any other organ. (and produces lots of free radicals). Free radicals cause problems in the brain by eating through the defensive layers of the brain cells and destroying neurons. It doesn’t help that the neuron membranes are made of fatty acids that react strongly with the free radicals.

Antioxidants are substances that neutralize the free radicals to stop this cell destruction. They include vitamins C & E as well as beta-carotene and many others. The best way to get these antioxidants working for you is by eating lots of fruits and vegetables. In particular the top ten sources of antioxidants in foods are:

Prunes
Raisons
Berries
Garlic
Spinach
Brussel sprouts
Plums
Alfalfa sprouts
Broccoli
Beets

Other important antioxidants include:

Lycopene (found in tomatoes and tomato products)
Tea
Wine
Chocolate

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2005-08-14T12:26:00.000-07:00

Factors that Limit Creativity

Many common personality traits limit our ability to be creative. Some examples include:

Stress - Stress acts as a distraction and drains energy which could otherwise be used creatively
Routines – Entrenched routines limit our exposure to new experiences and close our minds to new ideas
Beliefs - Having strong beliefs limits the way we perceive and process information from the outside world
Ego - Having a strong ego can cause us to aggressively defend our beliefs and limits our receptivity to new concepts
Fear - Fear of being judged by others can severely limit our creativity and capability for self expression
Self criticism - Negative thinking and self criticism are powerful limiting factors of creativity

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2005-08-12T16:19:00.000-07:00

Improving Your Creative Writing

Want to improve your creative writing abilities? Try these techniques:

Develop a large vocabulary

The average person uses about 1000 different words when writing. Shakespeare, perhaps the world’s most famous writer, used over 25,000 different words in his writings.

Play with words

Make connections between words. Take two words at random and try to think of all the ways they might connect. For example, book and ladder, cat and window, etc. Make your own poems.

Invent new words and phrases

Many famous authors enhance their works by inventing new words. Combine two or more words or run an existing word backwards. Play with words until they sound right

Know your audience

Understand what your audience relates to. Try making your point with humour. Humour allows people to accept even the most confronting topics.

Study the great communicators

Learn how the experts do it. Read the works of William Shakespeare. Study the speeches of people like Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King and JFK. Look at how great motivational speakers like Tony Robbins captivate their audiences.

Live with passion

Learn to express your passion. Compose a song, poem, letter, painting or melody to convey the depth of your feelings.

Practise writing

Continually practice your writing. Writing gives you the ability to link your ideas, experiences and sensations and make them concrete.

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2005-08-09T12:07:00.000-07:00

Finding New Ideas

Where do creative people come up with new ideas? Chic Thompson, a popular speaker on creative thinking compiled the following list of places where people get their ideas:

Taking a bath or a shower.
Driving
Sitting on the toilet.
Falling asleep or waking up.
During a boring meeting.
Reading.
Exercising.
Waking up in the middle of the night.
Listening to a church sermon.
Cutting the grass.

The least likely place to come up with a new idea was at your desk at work!

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2005-08-04T01:14:00.000-07:00

Killer Phrases for Creative Thinking

Most people, when presented with a new idea will immediately find what’s wrong with it, effectively killing it in its tracks. Chic Thompson, a popular speaker on creative thinking compiled the top ten "Killer Phrases":

It'll never work.
I don't have time.
It's not in the budget.
The boss will never go for it.
We tried that before.
That sounds like something my kids would say.
Let's get a committee to look into this.
Because I said so.
Great idea, but not for us.
It's out of the project’s scope.

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2005-08-02T00:04:00.000-07:00

Three Important Steps to Creativity

Chic Thompson, a leading authority in creative thinking suggests the following key steps to stimulating creative problem solving:

Step One - Be Curious First
The next time you hear a new idea, spend the first 60 seconds just thinking about what is right with the idea. Being critical first focuses on what is wrong with the new idea and stifles the creative thought process.

Step Two - Add Creative Stimuli
Add creative stimuli that will help you generate new ideas. For example, try:

Thumbing backwards through a magazine while just looking at the pictures
Trying out your competitor's products or services
Picking a word out of the dictionary at random and see what insights it offers.

Dr. Lawrence Katz in his study of "Neurobics," also recommends the following activities to break ingrained patterns and stimulate your thinking:

Brush your teeth with your other hand
Listen to a new radio station on the way to work
Move your watch to your other arm
Sit in a different seat in meetings or at the dining table
Mix and match your clothes combinations
Drive to/from work a different way
Use the mouse with your other hand
Start a new hobby.

Step Three - Ask Great Questions

Get the creative process focused by asking questions such as:

"What's unique about this problem?"
"What do we have to be more open-minded about to solve this challenge?"
"What isn't our problem?"
"How can we profit from this problem?"

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2005-07-28T21:08:00.000-07:00

Training the Brain with Meditation

Scans taken of Tibetan Buddhist monks show that meditation alters the structure and functioning of the brain. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Wisconsin showed that long time practitioners of meditation showed brain activation on a scale not seen before. It demonstrated that meditation can allow people to achieve new levels of awareness. According to the head researcher, the mental practice affects the brain in the same way golf or tennis practice enhances performance. He said it "demonstrates that the brain is capable of being trained and physically modified in ways few people can imagine."

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2005-07-26T10:01:00.000-07:00

Glucose and Mental Function

One of the main challenges in the western diet is to eat foods that break down slowly into glucose (so-called “low-glycemic” foods) so as not to overwhelm the insulin-producing pancreas as it attempts to deal with the high glucose levels in the blood. However, there are times when a relatively quick increase in glucose is useful to increase mental function.

Research has shown that participants who ingested a glucose drink had test results showing improved memory. A recent study at the University of Toronto also tested the effect of mashed potatoes and barley because they are easy to digest and have a high glucose content which reaches the brain in 15 minutes. It showed that these foods improved the memory of elderly participants minutes after consumption. In the experiments, test subjects improved their memory retention by 37% after eating barley, 32% after eating mashed potatoes and 8% after consuming the glucose drink.Glucose appears to help brain function because it aids production of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that enables one neuron to communicate with another. People with impaired memory seem to benefit in particular since they tend to have a deficient supply of acetylcholine.

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2005-07-21T12:25:00.000-07:00

Using Chi-Kung to Enhance Creativity

Chi-Kung (or Qi-Gong) is a system of physical movements and breathing exercises from China. Like Yoga, it works to improve health and energy levels as well as enhance concentration and mental processing abilities.

For example, here’s an exercise to improve your mental powers:

Sit upright on a chair
Locate the point about midway between your belly button and your genitals and hold your left palm about 2 inches in front of it
Hold your right palm about 2 inches in front of your heart (on the left side of your chest)
Breathing naturally, silently count your inhalations while visualizing a radiant warm light flowing from your seat to the crown of your head
During exhalation, visualize the warm light flowing out of the back of your head at the mid-point between your ears and also flowing from your right palm onto your heart. Do this up to 120 times
Then move your left hand slowly up until it’s over the crown of your head. Slowly rotate your hand in an anti-clockwise direction 49 times while visualizing the warm light being drawn back from the crown of your head
Slowly lower your left hand back down to a point about 2 inches below your belly button and imagine the warm light flowing back down to your abdomen.
Place your right hand on your left and just imagine the warm radiant light gathering in your abdomen
When you have finished, massage your face and then walk around the room vigorously for about 20 seconds.

You should feel mentally revitalized and ready for new creative thinking.

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2005-07-19T20:55:00.000-07:00

Tapping into the Genius of Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci is often considered one of the most creative people who ever lived. What was his secret? Michael Gelb, in his book “How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci” suggests these seven keys to genius:

Develop Your Curiosity - An insatiably curious approach to life and an unrelenting quest for continuous learning.
Test Everything - A commitment to question everything and test it in your own experience combined with a willingness to learn from mistakes.
Develop Your Senses - The continual refinement of all your senses, especially sight, to enliven your experience of life
Embrace Ambiguity, Paradox, and Uncertainty - A willingness to accept the ill-defined or contradictory by exploring mysteries, puzzles, paradoxes and ironies
Balance Arts and Sciences - The development of the balance between science and art, logic and imagination, "whole-brain" thinking.
Develop the Body - The cultivation of grace, ambidexterity, fitness and poise.
Appreciate Interconnections - A recognition of the interconnections between all things and an appreciation of the need for systems thinking

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2005-07-18T12:28:00.000-07:00

Increase your Creativity with Exercise

In addition to a balanced diet and relaxation, the brain needs regular exercise to work at peak efficiency. Rhythmic exercise such as running, walking or swimming is best. Exercise helps our creative thinking in a number of ways, including:

Increases the amount of oxygen that is delivered to the brain
Increases the bloodflow to the brain which provides the brain with more of it’s main fuel source – glucose
Increases the nerve connections to the brain
Releases “feel good” endorphins into the bloodstream
Quiets the mind, allowing your imagination to flow

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2005-07-16T04:21:00.000-07:00

Controlled Breathing and Creativity

By controlling your breathing, you can affect a number of factors that facilitate creativity including the levels of oxygen, neurotransmitters and negative ions in the brain as well as the type of brainwave activity. For instance, breathing directly affects the amount of oxygen delivered to the brain and indirectly controls the level of the neurotransmitter serotonin that promotes relaxation and improved intuition.

You can clear your mind and enhance your creativity through the following controlled breathing techniques:

One method is take slow deep breaths, holding the breath momentarily between each breath. Yoga practitioners have used slow deep breathing for centuries to calm and focus their minds.

Another method is to breathe through alternating nostrils. It is not commonly known but we normally only breathe through one nostril at a time. The Chinese believe that the nostril you habitually breathe through relates to the side of the brain you favor. Alternating between the two nostrils facilitates cross-hemispherical thinking. You can practice this technique by simply holding one nostril closed, breathing in and then breathing out through the other nostril. Alternate this process for up to ten minutes to calm your mind and improve your mental clarity.

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2005-07-15T07:56:00.000-07:00

Take a Break to Kickstart Your Creativity

Creativity often works best if you allow your subconscious mind an incubation period. After thinking about your problem intensely, give your mind a chance to work on it at a subconscious level by taking a break and putting your mind in “neutral” for a while. This could by going for a walk, sitting by the water, etc. Often, the best ideas come during this period when you have “primed the pump” but are not actively trying to solve the problem.

A variation of this idea is the quick 'pregnant pause' that can be used under any circumstances to restart your creative momentum. Whenever you are stumped by something that needs an immediate solution, just stop and go into a “mindless” state for a moment. You can do this by staring at a neutral background like a white wall, the ceiling or out the window, allowing your eyes to softly defocus. After experiencing this mild trance for a minute or so, you will likely have some fresh insights when you go back to conscious thinking.

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2005-07-13T02:38:00.000-07:00

Creating Your “Creativity Place”

In order to be creative, you need an environment that nurtures the creative process rather than fights it. The exact nature of this environment depends on the individual. For many people, it’s a relaxing, dimly lit room that is free of distractions. Others prefer a bustling shopping mall or some rhythmic exercise like swimming to get the creative juices flowing.

One thing that we do know, however, is that the wrong environment can stifle creativity. Sudden noises like the phone ringing, distracting TVs, unpleasant odours etc. can all make it very difficult to be creative.

So what is the ideal creative working environment? Well, here are some things that work for most people:

A quiet space that is free of distractions
A relaxing seating position
Aromatic oils and incense
Relaxing music
Exercise involving rhythmic movement
Natural lighting
Plants

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2005-07-10T05:27:00.000-07:00

Creative Triggers

An easy way to access your creativity on demand is to connect to the feelings of inspiration associated with a great creative insight that you’ve had in the past. You can do this by devising a personal trigger or reminder that you can use to immediately evoke those creative feelings. Once you have developed this trigger, you can use it wherever and whenever you want.

This is how it’s done:

First decide what personal trigger you chose to use. (eg. putting your index finger and thumb together, or touching your forehead)
Sit back and close your eyes. Relax and vividly remember a time when you had a difficult problem to solve.
Then remember the moment the solution came to you. Focus on the feeling of elation and relief you felt when the insight appeared and the problem was solved.
Now use the personal trigger to connect with that feeling. For example, as soon as you vividly remember the moment of inspiration, touch your forehead and hold that feeling.

Once established, you can use this trigger to transport yourself to an “aha” state of mind that sets the stage for a repeat of your earlier creative successes.

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2005-07-10T05:21:00.000-07:00

Lucid Dreaming to Enhance Creativity

Lucid dreaming means that you are aware that you are dreaming when you are dreaming. Once perfected, it allows you to control the direction of your dreams. This is an enticing prospect for creative problem solving since when dreaming, you are restricted only by your imagination, not by the “realities’ of physical constraints or social customs. Imagine being able to develop new ideas, chat with Einstein, or get golf tips from Tiger Woods.

The key steps in teaching yourself lucid dreaming involve:

Focusing your intention to experience lucid dreaming
Create a strong intention to experience lucid dreaming. When going to sleep, tell yourself: "Next time I'm dreaming, I will remember I'm dreaming", repeatedly, like a mantra.
Practicing seeing yourself becoming lucid during a dream
Imagine that you are in a dream and you recognize that you are dreaming. Then imagine yourself being able to take control of the dream, directing the dream to unfold as you wish.

The best way to learn about lucid dreaming is to start with a book like Dr. Stephen LaBerge's "Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming" which will give you a good background. If you want to speed up the learning process, there are also CDs available that enable you to experience lucid dreaming in just days. These audio stimulation CDs incorporate special beats and prompts that, when played as you go to sleep, help you become lucid when dreaming.

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2005-07-10T05:16:00.000-07:00

Creative Dreaming

Many famous inventions are the result of inspirations that occurred while dreaming and provided the inventor with the answer that had eluded him through conscious effort. For example, after struggling for a long time to find a practical way to make the lock-stitch sewing machine, Elias Howe had a dream that gave him the crucial idea of putting the eye of the needle at the tip rather than at the end. Also, Robert Louis Stevenson conceived the idea for his famous story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in a dream. Even the physical structure of the atom was identified through a dream.

You can use the mind’s subconscious to work on a creative solution to your problem while you sleep. The key to creative dreaming is to:

Prime your mind – Before going to bed, repeat the problem you want to solve and suggest that the answer will come to you while you’re sleeping.
Remember your dreams - keep a dream journal beside the bed and write what you remember about your dreams immediately after waking from the dream
Interpret the dream- dreams normally involve some form of imagery which needs to be decoded in order to make sense of the dream. Look for clues by thinking of the action involved, the context of the dream, the shape of people or things and any strong emotions or sensation.

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2005-07-10T04:54:00.000-07:00

Simple Ways to Increase Your Personal Creativity

Many techniques are available (like lateral thinking, brainstorming, mind mapping, etc.) that use a systematic approach to help generate new solutions to a problem. While these methods are often useful, their effectiveness is still limited by the person's underlying creative abilities.

So, how can you increase your basic creative abilities? Individual creativity is a function of many factors including:

The ability to concentrate and think clearly
Effective interaction between the left and right hemispheres of your brain
Adequate oxygen and glucose to fuel the brain
The ability to tap into your unconscious insights
A belief in your ability to be creative

Ways to enhance these underlying factors include a range of techniques including breathing exercises to improve concentration, creative dreaming to allow the subconscious to solve the problem and brainwave entrainment to attain the alpha brainwave state that is associated with creative thought.

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2005-07-10T02:02:00.000-07:00

Image Streaming Creative Visualization Technique

Image streaming is a technique developed by Win Wenger PhD to activate the creative process by increasing the interaction between the right and left brain.

The technique uses a form of imagery that involves thinking of a problem you want to solve and allowing images to appear in response. Unlike other imaging techniques, however, it is essential that you describe the story out loud as it unfolds. It is also important to engage all of the senses when doing so, describing not only the physical appearance of what you see but also the smells, tastes, sounds and feel of objects in your image.

By using all the senses, you engage the different parts of the brain that control those senses. This interaction between the different brain areas causes the brain to make new neural connections crhemisphericalally. Speaking out loud reinforces the process by proving a type of auditory feedback. If practiced for about 20 minutes a day for at least three weeks, you should notice a marked improvement in your creative and problem solving ability.

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