CHAPTER 17: USING MEDITATION TO TAP INTO CREATIVITY
The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and
the rational mind is a faithful servant.
We have created a society that honors the servant
and has forgotten the gift.
– Unknown
This whole program of mine started all because some graphic arts students asked me about creativity, where it comes from, and how to develop it.
My answer was, “Use meditation.”
Go back to chapter eight and revisit the brain wave frequencies — go to the section that explains the Theta frequencies.
You will see that this state is associated with — among other things — meditation, intuition, creativity, inspiration, heightened receptivity, fantasy, imagery, visions or hallucinations, memory…
The Theta state is overall a very positive — and the most creative — state that is reached when you slow your brain waves down to between 4 to 8 Hz — or cycles per second.
And how, you might ask, does one do this?
Through meditation, of course!
You also reach this level when you sleep — this is the dream state, or REM state.
If you are already practicing meditation, you may be aware that sometimes it feels like you are dreaming.
At this stage, the noise of the conscious mind is quieted, so the creativity of the subconscious mind is free to create.
For those of you who are artistic on any level — whether you draw, paint, sketch, write poetry, stories, music or lyrics, play an instrument, sing, or dance — I recommend that you keep a pencil and paper next to your bed.
When you are first waking up in the morning and already in a relaxed state, you may be aware that some wonderful ideas are running through your head. It may be the perfect chord, an image of something you want to create, an idea for a short story, a song lyric, etc.
Don’t wait until you are fully awake and out of bed — write it down. Don’t worry about trying to make sense of it, write it down. Don’t worry about spelling, or sentence structure, write it down.
You can sort it all out later.
— ♦ —
Creativity On Demand
You can “program” yourself to think of something specific.
More times than I could count, I would look over the specs for a job I had been commissioned to do — the objective of the company, the target demographic, the preferences of the client, and so on — and I would sit quietly, drift into a meditative state, and go through these details in my mind. Then, I would just wait.
Before long, I would be writing or sketching out ideas on the note pad (meaning a pad of paper, not the electronic version) in my lap.
When you want to create something, write down as many details as you can about what it is you want to create.
For example: you want to create a poster for the wall in your room. Begin by writing down ideas for what you want the poster to include. Will it be just words or pictures? Realistic or abstract? Specific colors or shapes?
Be as specific as you can with the direction you want to go with this poster.
Read through your notes a few times. Next, get your note pad and pencil, and sit in a comfortable chair (or on the floor), and let yourself relax.
Breathe. Focus on your breath.
As you begin to find yourself in a relaxed state, begin to review the notes you wrote about your project.
As thoughts begin to pop into your head, write them down. If it’s an image, sketch it out.
Again, don’t worry about perfection at this stage; just get it down on paper. Don’t try to make sense of it now — just write it all down.
When the ideas or images stop, look over what you have written down or sketched out, and begin to sort it out.
By staying in a relaxed state, the sorting out part will go more smoothly than if you try to force it.
Before you know it, you will have the idea for your poster!
This also will work for students who have to be creative for a science project, English composition paper, or art project, but who may not be creative by nature.
Use the same process of planning what you need to work on, writing all the details down, then getting into a relaxed or meditative state, and let the creativity flow.
— ♦ —
I like to share a story about Thomas Edison with my students, about how he came up with some of his ideas for new inventions. He would sit in a chair and place metal plates (like pie tins) on the floor, on each side of the chair. He then would hold ball bearings in his hands, and let his arms hang down at his sides, with his hands positioned just above the metal plates.
As he relaxed and started to fall asleep (going from the Alpha state into the Theta state) he would reach what is known as the hypnagogic state — or stage 1 of the sleep cycle — the precise point where one transitions from wakefulness to sleep.
At this point, his hands would relax, he would drop the ball bearings, they would hit the metal plates, and he would awaken.
More often than not, he would have an answer to a problem, or a new idea, or inspiration for a new invention, or a method of solving a conundrum that had him perplexed.
Clearly, this was an effective tool for him to use — Edison was one of the world’s most prolific inventors.
— ♦ —
Meditation is a wonderful tool for any artistic soul — not only for the creative process, which is released in a meditative state, but also because the artistic soul may find it easier to achieve a state of meditation.
Students who are creative by nature will find it easier to get into a meditative state much easier than others — and find meditation to be quite beneficial to their creative process.
— ♦ —
THINK TIME:
How will you use meditation to expand your creativity?
PART TWO
THE HOWs and WHYs
and OTHER LESSONS
Science is not only compatible with spirituality;
it is a profound source
of spirituality.
– Carl Sagan,
scientist / astronomer