Want to know how to be more creative?
To tap into that deep well of inspiration you know you have inside you?
I’ll tell you the secret: Start listening to your intuition!
Creativity Lives Inside You
You would not be drawn to painting or drawing or singing or writing music or making amazing cheese boards if you did not have a stirring deep within you, directly from your soul.
You have a beautiful set of gifts right now, in this lifetime, and using them will bring you great joy. No matter what your mind might tell you, you are good enough and have plenty of ideas inside you, ready to come out into the world.
But how do you tap into them? To use those gifts and that intuitive knowing to be more creative? By tapping into your intuition, that’s how. (Yes, I promise you have one).
How to Use Your Intuition to Be More Creative
Here are the exact steps I use to access and use my intuition to create my watercolor paintings.
1. Find time for silence
The world is a loud place, full of distractions. So is your mind. If you want to be able to hear what’s calling out from within your soul, you’ll want to make time for silence. A meditation practice in which you focus on your breath or the energy in your body is a great place to start.
If you’re not ready for a full on meditation practice, simply start noticing all the ways your mind and thoughts are constantly popping in with opinions and diversions, then take a moment to separate from the noise.
This is incredibly important; your intuition (or inner voice, or heart) will have a difficult time communicating with you if your mind is constantly interfering and interrupting (which it is). Find some time for silence each and every day.
2. Disconnect (especially from screens)
We all love spending time online (you’re following me on Instagram, right?), but all that time staring at a screen isn’t good for your creativity.
For one, it causes you to compare yourself to other, possibly more “successful” artists and creatives. Once you see what other people are doing, it’s possible you’ll put yourself down or even give up completely.
Second, the more time you’re online or watching TV, the less time you’re creating! Sure, breaks and downtime are important, but so is time for creativity. Make sure you’re spending time doing things that actually make you feel happy and alive.
3. Spend time in or with nature
On a recent episode of the Ten Percent Happier podcast, host Dan Harris was speaking with happiness researcher Emma Seppala, and she specifically mentioned research that suggested when we’re out in nature for a few days, our creativity goes up by 50%.
You probably don’t have any plans to spend a solid chunk of time outdoors in the near future, but I believe any and all time spent outside or with animals (including pets!) enriches and expands our creativity. Not only that, but every single inner voice I’ve ever spoken to says they want their human to go outside and walk in nature more often!
Dr. Seppala also mentioned we do our best creative work when we’ve spent time with our brains in the alpha wave state, aka when we’re relaxed or practicing light meditation. See? It’s all connected.
4. Ask your intuition questions directly
Helping creatives get in touch with (and get answers from) their intuition is kind of my jam. In fact, I not only teach this skill in my one on one coaching practice, I also wrote a post about exactly how I get answers from my intuition.
I’ll give you the basic outline here:
Get yourself to a quiet place and space.
Think of a question you want answered (or just leave yourself open to receiving anything).
Exhale, breathe away the noise of the mind, and place your attention down into your heart or stomach area.
Wait and see what kinds of words you hear, images you see, or feelings you get.
Repeat.
This is a skill that takes some honing and practice, but you’re probably already getting messages from your intuition and don’t even know it. Have you felt a strong “no” feeling in your body when meeting a new person or getting a job offer? It’s your intuition. Have you ever felt a lightness and rightness, a simple knowing, when you’ve been working on a project or planned a trip? Also your intuition.
It’s there. Start communicating with it on purpose.
5. Check in regularly while you’re in the midst of creating
If you find yourself in the midst of composing a song or sketching out your latest art idea but feel stuck, try tapping into your intuition in that moment. Turn on some nice music, put down your phone, and breathe.
Give yourself some space. Keep breathing. Keep bringing your attention down and away from your thoughts. Allow yourself to explore and play and let go of the expectations you keep imposing on yourself.
You’ve Got This!
Get this free guide and mini class to start accessing that beautiful intuition of yours.
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