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 Ideas and Tips
to Boost Your Creativity
March 2008 | |
Why do we get some of our best ideas in the shower and while driving? Because those are right-brain activities!
 In the 1960s the Nobel prize-winning psycho-biologist, Roger W. Sperry found that the two hemispheres of the human brain have two very different ways of thinking. What does this have to do with creativity? A lot!
The left hemisphere of your brain processes information logically and sequentially. It looks at details rather than the whole. Highly verbal and intellectual, it likes to measure, compare, plan, analyze and make decisions. It's also competitive and can be judgmental. Your inner critic lives in your left brain.
In contrast, your right brain is visual and cooperative, processing information in an intuitive and simultaneous way by looking first at the whole picture then the details. It sees connections between things whether they are physical, emotional or intuitive. It likes to imagine and create.
Our Western world highly values left brain thinking, so that's where most of us function most of the time. By learning to think more from our right brain, we can enhance our creativity. |
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Here are some right-brain activities to try:
 1. Walk a Labyrinth
This is definitely a right-brain (and stress relieving) activity--and yes, there's probably one near you! Check out the worldwide labyrinth locator.
2. Meet new people.
Take a risk. Chat up the person behind you at the grocery store or explore a new coffee shop. You'll fire up your right brain, and you might just make a new friend.
3. Draw a Picture Upside Down
Turn a drawing upside down with the bottom of the picture facing you, and then take a separate sheet of paper and draw it just as you see it. Black and white line sketches work best for this, and you can find a lot of good ones if you Google "right brain drawing." Because your left brain will be confused as you draw, your artistic right brain will kick in. The results may just amaze you. This would be fun to try with kids too.
4. Hang out in a Museum
Allow your mind to wander around works of art, exploring the colors, edges, textures and shapes. My favorite museum for this is the Mingei Museum in San Diego's Balboa Park. Enjoy the art on their website if you can't get there.
5. Attend an unfamiliar event or activity.
Your problem-solving right brain will kick in to help you respond to the new situation. How about a rodeo or a circus?
Alternate Nostril Breathing is an easy, do-anywhere technique to balance both sides of your brain--and you don't have to be into yoga to do it.
If you can't do any of these things, then just try using your non-dominant hand for things like brushing your teeth, spooning your cereal or moving your mouse. It really works!
Next Month's Topic: Creativity and Your Inner Critic |
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Wisdom of the Body Workshop
April 19 at Inner Strength Yoga
Join Janice Motley, HHP and Healing Touch Practitioner, and me for this powerful expressive arts workshop and learn why listening to your body is both wise and essential-and how heeding its messages can lead to greater awareness, self-acceptance, and even better health.
Complete information on this workshop can be found on my website. Hope to see you there! | |
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Creativity Quote of the Month
"I like nonsense; it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope, which is what I do. And that enables you to laugh at life's realities."
Dr. Seuss |
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Artist's Way in the Daytime?
I've had several people ask me about facilitating an Artist's Way group in the daytime. If you would be interested, please call or email me. |
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About Excoveries
Excoveries is a word I coined when I was looking for a name for my creativity consulting and marketing business. It's a combination of the words explore and discover which is exactly the way I think of the creative process.
For more information about Excoveries or the classes I teach including The Artist's Way, please visit my website.
I also send out a monthly marketing tips newsletter designed especially for individuals and small businesses. If you'd like to be on that list, please email me or sign up on my website.
To contact me, email jbalian@excoveries.com or call 760 436-8848. |
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