Three ways to access your creativity.
Creativity is often thought of something that some people have and others don’t. That one group of people get to be artists and musicians or creators. The absolute truth is that we are all creative. As human beings it’s a foundational part of our nature. Our existence is one of deep creativity, how we made ourselves from a single cell or how we evolved over millions of year from the ocean to become creatures of the land.
We are life and life is creative and as humans we have a unique ability to express that creativity through many many mediums. When you sit with that for moment, isn’t that just the most incredible thing?
Creativity is also deeply somatic. So many times have ideas arrived in my mind when I have been moving or doing something that really grounds me to the present moment. It’s like my body is a portal for creative energy to move through. Just this weekend where I have been deep in a somatic movement training with Authentic Flow did I have a fresh stream of ideas and insights arrive.
So I thought I would share three ways that I access creativity.
MOVEMENT
This is probably the number one way that creativity finds it’s way into my body and mind. If I feel stuck or stagnant then I move. Dance in particular has given me the most access. I feel like there are two things playing out when I dance. The first is my bodies collaboration with music, it has been discovered that music can change the molecular structure of water and our bodies are 70% water so of course it is going to have a deeply profound affect on us. Music can create the container for our bodies to explore different movement patterns.
These different movements and the softening that can occur with dance creates more space and fluidity. So many of us are stuck in rigid movement AND rigid thinking. When you use a medium like dance you are gaining back that fluidity and creating space within the body, it’s inevitable that creativity it’s going to find it’s way in. Plus dancing is fun, it’s a form of play and even as adults we need play.
Dancing also doesn’t need to be choreographed or look like anything. It can be as small as lying on the floor listening to some favourite music while rolling your head from side to side or something bigger and more expressive.
If you are really resistant to dance then going for a walk or doing some yoga can also be a way to create space for creativity and music can still play a part here or perhaps leaning into silence.
BEING IN NATURE
Just as a note, I really feel like movement and nature go together always. You can always find ways to combine the two and this has been deeply important in my own process.
We are nature and nature is us. We have created ourselves to be in constant reciprocity with the world and other life forms around us. Take the breath for example, we breathe in oxygenated air that was created by the plants with light, water and minerals AND the carbon that we breathe back out as waste. Our lungs when we see them with their network of bronchus look like upside down trees. That is both deeply creative and inspiring.
And without even needing to go that deep we can find inspiration from nature by simply going and spending time with a tree, admiring stones on the beach, staring at the night sky or light on water. Nature has been collaborating with us and inspiring us for millennia and you can always access it.
LET YOURSELF BE BORED/DO NOTHING
Now lets be clear that this one might feel uncomfortable. For several reasons, boredom can be challenging if we have trauma alive in the body, it can also feel deeply uncomfortable because our poor bodies and minds are being relentlessly loaded with information and dopamine from overstimulation. It’s a real shame that we are unable to allow space for nothing, to let ourselves be empty and bored. Although, I feel like boredom is the resistance before finding ease in doing nothing.
I also struggle here. But when I have found my way to a relaxed body, maybe when meditating or just letting myself sit somewhere, no book, no phone then I have found access to the stream of creativity. This can absolutely be dissociative, yep I used a ‘bad’ word. Daydreaming is highly dissociative, as are trance states created from dance. Both are sources of creativity. Not all dissociation is bad.
Children are great at this. I remember when I was a child and I would imagine entirely new worlds and feel inspired to build them through art, writing, nature and movement.
I want to claim this back.
So maybe we can all find 20mins a day to stare out a window or sit on a bench.
Of course once you have accessed creativity you will want to action it…
Probably best not to overwhelm yourself here, you could keep a little ideas journal of things you want to play with but also feel ok with letting some ideas go so they can be implemented by someone else maybe.
I am trying to implement my creativity as much as possible. Many parts of my work, like creating movement practices, soundscapes and my 121 work gives an arena for my creativity but for 2025 I really want to try and have a creativity date just for myself once a week, whether that is painting, writing or collaging.
It’s also really important that we let go of the idea that our creativity needs to be good, especially with mediums that we are new to. Let yourself be shit at something because that is also where creativity lives.
I also just want to add that the world now more than ever needs our creativity. We are at a crucial point in our history where we need to exercise our ability to imagine different possibilities and worlds. Our creativity is an important tool in what comes next, it also connects and inspires us. How many times have you been moved by a piece of art, a photograph or a piece of music or writing? This is one part of how we save ourselves, so please go and play, better yet do it with other people.
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