Boosting Creativity and Imagination

In my learning academy, we focus on boosting creativity and imagination.  

Do you have fond memories of making art as a kid?  Do you still create today?  Many adults haven’t ‘played in the paint’ since childhood.   Also, as we move out of childhood into maturity, many of us forget how to let our imaginations soar.   In my programs, the development of creativity and imagination are cornerstones in our exercises. 

And, there are additional benefits to doing these creativity exercises.   The active use of creativity and imagination in class help to make these capabilities more predominant in daily life.

Easily accessing imagination comes naturally to kids.  For instance, most of us played let’s pretend games as children.  Perhaps we even had an imaginary friend in our life.  Dr. Stephanie Carlson, an expert on childhood brain development at the University of Minnesota, explains.  She says that children spend as much as 2/3 of their time in imaginative play.

“To stimulate creativity, one must develop the childlike inclination for play.”-Albert Einstein

The ability to imagine things influences everything we do, think about and create.  The participants in my programs practice creativity every time we open our art journals and play.  In addition, we do imagination exercises to train ourselves to think beyond boundaries.

When you train your imagination to escape limiting beliefs,  this helps you to live your ultimate reality.

We often have the delightful experience of creating something surprising.  For example, we look at our art journals in wonder; “Where did that come from?  Did I make this?”  Somehow, we have tapped into an inner reservoir of creativity.

In imagination exercises, you give your rational mind a break.

Dr. Carlson explains that adults often stop practicing being imaginative. As we mature, we turn our attention to logic, reason, and facts.   In other words, we spend more of our mind time in reality, and less in creative imagination.

During my Vision Quest studies, I realized that my imagination had stagnated.  In business school and corporate life, I was a left-brain thinker.   As a result, I looked at the world from a rational, objective, logical standpoint.  

That began to change on my Vision Quest.  When I sought answers to ancient mysteries, I used creativity and imagination in my exploration.  The rational side of me often rebelled.  However, some of the most impactful experiences I had were imagination development exercises.   Moreover, I found that spending time in creativity always seemed to help me enhance my imagination.

 

 

 

Being creative spurs deeper creativity and imagination.

I believe fear is one reason adults don’t spend much time creating and imagining.  Adults don’t like to do things they aren’t good at.  In school, we were criticized if our artwork wasn’t perfect.   At work, we’re criticized for mistakes.   These powerful paradigms aren’t easy to overcome.

According to Sir Ken Robinson, an expert in creativity:  “If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.”

Being creative requires the willingness to try things and make mistakes.

Because we could possibly be wrong, we avoid engaging.  We convince ourselves of negative beliefs such as, ‘I don’t have an artistic bone in my body.’  

We often feel more grounded and secure in our rational and logical left brain functions.  Therefore, we allow our imaginative behaviors to remain underdeveloped.

You can also boost your imagination and creativity through meditation.

Another great way to increase imagination and creativity is through meditation.  Regular meditators are some of the most creative people I know.  

The notion that meditation enhances creativity has popped up in many note-worthy scientific studies.  For example, a 2012 UCLA study showed that meditation helps us become the best version of ourselves. Similarly, a study by Dutch researchers (Colzato et al) found that meditation stimulated crucial drivers of creativity.

Companies including Disney, Google, Apple, and Nike now offer meditation courses.   These courses help associates unlock meditation’s wide range of benefits.  Stress relief, greater access to intuition and imagination, more innovation, more creative ideas, greater access to problem-solving, and more freedom to think broadly, to name a few.

Imagination exercises can also help you discover your deepest desires.

What do I want?  What are my deepest desires?  These are examples of provocative questions we explore in my programs. 

On my Vision Quest, I imagined the life I could have if anything could be possible. 

I realized that there was an entire world of possibilities beyond my current perspective. The law of polarity says that every possibility exists within any situation.  Furthermore,  if you deeply explore your dreams using imagination, you can find paths to make them become reality.

 

To live your ultimate reality, train your imagination to soar. 

What if there were no restrictions?  If time, money, and health weren’t barriers?

Imagine that you had an infinite capacity to do anything and everything you would like?  How would your life change?  What would you do differently? 

As I incorporated imagination exercises combined with creativity and meditation, I was able to better tune into my intuition.   I got much clearer about what I wanted.  Some of my desires were mundane, yet others were big dreams.  I surprised myself with a long list.

I was amazed to find I had a long list of desires.  Exploring imagination through creativity helped me unearth them.

For example, through imagination exercises, I finally admitted I wanted to be an artist; a teacher; and a student.  I discovered that having fresh air and being in nature every day was a core desire.    I wanted a strong, resilient body and good, rejuvenating sleep every night.  Having a deep spiritual connection is a foundational yearning for me.  It drives me and is part of what makes me a seeker.   

An entire list of aspirations surfaced from my imagination exercises; from experiencing daily joy to finding my purpose.

I wanted to be joyful, more creative, centered, and grounded.   Making our good marriage great.   To have more passion in life.  Daily laughter popped up as important.  Moving west in order to see mountains every day was a longing that I finally allowed myself to put down on paper.  After years of accumulating things,  I had the realization that I was pining to significantly downsize.  I wanted to simplify and de-clutter.  The wish to find something deeply fulfilling to do in my retirement emerged.  I wanted to find my purpose and find a way to serve; to find a way to combine my two passions of art and meditation.

You can develop your imagination through creativity.  

When you are being creative, you are doing something.  And, that act of doing seems to spark imagination which sparks even more creativity.

For me, being creative often looks like making art.  I am often happily surprised at what is unfolding before me, and it causes my imagination to take the painting in new directions.

In The Element by Sir Ken Robinson, he explains that creativity allows us to do something meaningful with our imaginations.  In addition, when we are in the flow state of creativity, a dynamic cycle occurs; even more imaginative thoughts begin to emerge. 

Creativity and imagination are catalysts for one another. 

Through the power of creative thought, Albert Einstein allowed himself to move past limiting paradigms.  He is credited with saying:

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” -Albert Einstein

He believed that, through the use of imagination, we are capable of solving mysteries that hours of study cannot resolve.   Furthermore, what is possible in our imagination is possible in reality.

Pablo Picasso said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”

If you would like to boost your creativity and imagination, you can do that in several of the programs in my learning Academy. 

We would love to include you in The Soul Artist Experience.  If you would like to be seen as creative and lead your team to generate innovative solutions to problems, join us in Creativity, Imagination, and Innovation.  If you are nearing retirement, join us in Thriving in Retirement.

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Find out more about my journey through my book on Amazon: Vision Quest; A Journey to Happiness by Jane Ramsey.

Watch my YouTube video about freeing your inner artist.   

Watch my YouTube video explaining the courses I teach.

Why Meditate explains the benefits of regular meditation practice.

Interested in the Universal Laws?  The Blogs for each of the twelve Laws are found below:

Divine Oneness here.

Vibration here.

Correspondence here.

Attraction here.

Inspired Action here.

Perpetual Transmutation of Energy here.

Cause and Effect here.

Compensation here.

Relativity here.

Polarity here.

Rhythm here.

Gender here.

To find out more about me and our course offerings, please click the links above the Blog Post or here:

Learn about Vision Quest; a journey to happiness

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Namaste,

 

Jane