Malicha Publishing: mindfulness

INTRODUCTION

Mindfulness in this context, can be accurately described to be a mental state attained by focusing on the present, and acknowledging one’s feelings at the time. The art of mindfulness is carefully laced with sufficient calmness. Any reaction other than this, invalidates this sober activity. In other words, while practicing mindfulness, there should be no self judgement, guilt, feeling of being overwhelmed, or anything that can take this activity away from the borders of due gentleness. Mindfulness in its entirety, has been, and is still notorious for helping to enhance creativity in individuals. Because creative blocks can stem from a variety of reasons like stress, anxiety, loss of focus, etc, all of which mindfulness takes perfect care of, it is only natural that when the mind is no longer clogged with distractions, there is room for passage of other things, creativity included. We must however be wary of starting out this mindfulness practice with the sole aim of boosting our creativity. When approached this way, there is a very high likelihood of putting the cart before the horse, and getting half baked results. Rather, if you are looking to enhance your creativity through mindfulness, you must not first approach the process with a mind ready to be freed from all distractions including your aching need to get creative. As hinted earlier, Creatives all over the world have a lot to benefit from mindfulness when they practice it. In many ways, mindfulness helps build and sustain the creativity in individuals of all kind. One of such ways, is by helping to streamline our attention and focus to only things that truly matter. Because mindfulness itself requires a lot of present attention, only things that really matter will survive the streamlining process. When this attention is finally given, it can be proper to say the ball is set to roll.

Foundational Principles That Link Mindfulness to Creativity

Some of the foundational principles that associate mindfulness to creativity include:

Emotional intelligence
Divergent thinking
Visualization and imagination
Attention and focus
Flow
Open mindedness.

Mindfulness techniques for creative exploration

To further enhance creativity using mindfulness, one can try any, or all of the following:

Breathing: In this exercise, the doer is expected to focus on his/her breath for a few minutes while letting go of any distracting thoughts. It brings the mind to a calm, and helps boost self awareness to a large extent.
Observation or questioning: Creatives can try this step to boost their divergent thinking and allows them see all the options possible in the bigger picture. It involves focusing on a particular idea and trying to dissect it with thoughts.

How to break through creative barriers with mindfulness.

Mindfulness is a proven way to overcome creative blocks, because when the mind is very well rested, so much can be achieved. Improved focus and attention, increased creativity and imagination, reduced stress and anxiety, increased resilience and adaptability, access to intuition, better decision making, stress relief, etc. In this article, a number of ceos, shared their stories on how mindfulness has helped them in a number of ways.

See how to integrate mindfulness into creative process.

Because mindfulness should be a routine rather than a one-off, we have to find ways to make it a regular practice for us as humans, and creatives even. This is where incorporating it into our daily routine comes in. Mindfulness has been proven to enhance the neural pathways in the brain which are responsible for concentration and focus, so the following are curated ways of incorporating mindfulness into our daily routines:

Take short breaks in between work to relax. This is very effective for brainstorming processes that involve sitting in a single position for a long time e.g writing. Creatives should normalize taking short breaks away from their work to allow for some refreshing before going back to it.
Gratitude for the small and big wins. Doing this helps you acknowledge how far you have come, and give you strength for the work ahead. Such that even when you feel like you didn’t hit your exact target, you will be able to find something good in the one you have at hand and be grateful for it.
Allow yourself to soak in your environment, and your mind wander in curiosity, for as many times as you like. This is specifically for writers. They would also find it helpful to normalize writing for a long time without focusing on grammatical errors or trying to edit anything. Coming back to take a look at the work from time to time, also gives room for fresh ideas as often as possible.
Leveraging on meditation apps: There are actually a number of them to try, such as headspace, calm, gratitude, etc. Some of these apps have personalized plans and reminders embedded within, to be able to meet your need no matter the kind of person you are. So with them one has lesser issues with consistency because they do the work of putting systems in place to ensure compliance.

If you ever find yourself being obstructed in this practice, say by a lack of interest, remember to continually remind yourself of the benefits of mindfulness to your creative process. That way your interest is rekindled, and you will be back on your feet in no time. More importantly, there is no person that can convince you more than the experience you have had for yourself, so be intentional about giving it a try. In conclusion, it is important to note that the road to making mindfulness an habit, is not a short smooth one. Do not be too hard on yourself while trying to make it a a habit. Just start with shorter times of the day, then move on to longer. Don’t forget to celebrate milestones as you encounter them. It is process over outcome, never forget that. Your creativity will be ever grateful for this routine.