10 Ways Meditation Enhances Creativityaboutmeditation.com /meditation-enhances-creativity/

Thomas Dixon

Everyone knows that meditat ion can reduce stress and calm your mind, but the many ways thatmeditat ion enhances creat ivity is one of its lesser-known benef its. From liberat ing you from f ixedhabits of thought to reducing your need for sleep as you work on your latest masterpiece, there aremany ways that pract icing meditat ion can improve your paint ing, writ ing, singing, dancing, of f icebrainstorming, and other creat ive endeavors. Here are ten of our favorites.

10 Ways Meditation Enhances Creativity

1.) Meditation Creates Space

The reason meditat ion is so peaceful is that it gives you some distance from your thoughts andfeelings. But any meditator knows that when you open up space within, all kinds of things comebubbling to the surface–including many of your most creat ive insights. Often you’ll f ind yourselfresist ing the urge to leave your meditat ion in order to go write down the bright idea that just came tomind. Meditat ion creates space to discover what is ordinarily buried beneath the busyness of yourmind.

2.) Meditation Makes You More Focused

Even the most successful art ist has to contend with a fast-paced world compet ing for his or herat tent ion on a daily basis, but meditat ion makes it easier. By teaching you how to focus yourat tent ion, meditat ion allows you to stay connected to your creat ive vision and inspirat ion, evenwhen the act ivity of both the world and your own mind seem to be trying to distract you from it . Andin the midst of creat ive engagement itself , there’s no subst itute for bringing deep focus andattent ion to what you’re doing, as you do it .

3.) Meditation Enables You to Embrace More Complexity

Life is complicated, and trying to pursue any creat ive endeavor of ten takes a backseat to moreseemingly pressing concerns. But because meditat ion gives you more inner space and focus, it alsoallows you to embrace more complexity–in life, in art , and in the at tempt to f it all of it into your dailyschedule. It may seem paradoxical, but when you can handle more chaos, you can also express moresimplicity. And that ability can signif icant ly enhance your creat ive output and expression.

4.) Meditation Enhances Your Perception of Beauty

Meditat ion is the art of awareness, and by cult ivat ing your sensit ivity to everything that ’s happeningwithin you and in the world around you, your senses become heightened and more subt ly ref ined.You start not icing things that most people don’t , hearing sounds that others unconsciously tuneout, and perceiving beauty in pret ty much everything–including the most seemingly mundane objects,or in the ordinary act ions of your fellow human beings.

This is the secret of Zen, and it has informed and inspired meditators throughout history–fromJapanese calligraphers to Steve Jobs, who consciously modeled Apple’s design sensibility on his ownZen pract ice and philosophy.

5.) Meditation Teaches You How to Be Unattached

If you’ve ever seen a Tibetan Buddhist mandala made of sand–burst ing with vivid color, intricatedetail, religious signif icance, and sheer creat ivity–then you probably know what tends to happen withthose part icular works of art . Af ter a while they sweep them up, forever erasing them from existence.It may seem like a shame to destroy so much hard work, but that ’s just part of the pract ice.

Tibetan sand mandalas exemplify one of the core Buddhist principles–the law of impermanence–which any meditator awakens to, as well. When you meditate, you have to let everything go–sounds,sights, thoughts, feelings–over and over again. But learning to become unattached in this way is alsoone of the best ways to let your creat ivity f low, because if an idea isn’t working, you’ll be able todrop it more easily, move on, and be ready for what emerges next. Meditat ion teaches you how tobe f lexible and unattached, never holding onto anything so t ight ly that you obstruct the natural ebband f low of life.

6.) Meditation Awakens You to Depth

Superf iciality is everywhere these days–in pop music, in art , on TV, and even in the kinds ofconversat ions that many people have with f riends and coworkers on a daily basis. But the pract ice ofmeditat ion awakens you to the importance of depth. When you are calm, st ill, and awake, doingnothing and holding onto nothing, you will soon sink into a dimension of consciousness that is fardeeper than your ordinary state.

As you become more grounded in this meditat ive depth, it can provide a new foundat ion for yourcreat ive endeavors–giving them more grounding, more weight, and more profundity all around.Awakening to depth can also make you less f ickle, so you can stay commit ted to seeing even themost complex projects all the way through to complet ion, remaining rooted in your creat ive vision likea strong tree that can’t be moved.

7.) Meditation Gives You More Energy

One benef it of meditat ion that doesn’t get nearly enough at tent ion is its remarkable ability to giveyou energy in ways that cof fee, Red Bull, and even good old-fashioned sleep do not. In fact , onceyou reach the point where you can meditate for more than an hour at a t ime, you’ll begin to discoverthat the more you meditate, the less sleep you require. For creat ive individuals, this is extremely goodnews–because staying up all hours, night af ter night, compelled to express your creat ive inspirat ionin every spare moment you can f ind, can of ten lead to exhaust ion and burnout.

But if you meditate consistent ly and deeply, you can plug direct ly into a mysterious reserve of energythat can bring the moments of rest that your body and mind require, while also fueling you in waysthat unconscious sleep does not. Of course, you’ll have to sleep sometime, but adding meditat ion tothe mix can give you more hours in the day for your creat ive pursuits, while also allowing you to reapall the other benef its detailed in this art icle.

8.) Meditation Helps You to Work Well with Others

Because the pract ice of meditat ion reduces stress and inst ills you with an ever-growing sense ofinner peace, you’ll f ind that it also makes you an easier person to be around. People will enjoy beingin your presence without quite knowing why. And you, in turn, will f ind it easier to look beyond theemotional f lare-ups and interpersonal intensit ies that of ten obstruct our relat ionships with others.

When it comes to creative collaboration, clearing and unifying the space between ourselves andothers can yield powerful results, and this may be one of the single most important ways thatmeditat ion can make you more creat ive. When egoic self -interest is no longer taking center stage–inart , in work, or in life–then what human beings can creat ively accomplish together becomespotent ially unlimited, extending far beyond what a single individual could ever achieve alone. But itof ten takes an individual to get the collaborat ive ball rolling.

9.) Meditation Connects You Directly to the Creative Impulse

Everyone experiences the creat ive impulse–whether it ’s felt as the sudden inspirat ion to learn a newskill or as a longstanding desire to create an art ist ic masterpiece. So what would happen if youlooked direct ly at the experience of the creat ive impulse itself , rather than at the various things itcompels you to do, to become, and to create? And what would happen if you realized that thecreat ive impulse isn’t just an experience that you have now and then, but that , instead, it ’s one ofthe deepest and most constant qualit ies of your own true self?

Through meditat ion, you can awaken to the ult imate source of creat ivity–the same creat ive forcethat gave rise to the stars, to the trees, and to the Mona Lisa. And by doing so, you can learn to alignyour own life with that deeply fulf illing, of ten ecstat ic, and eternally life-posit ive drive.

10.) Meditation Liberates Your Unique Self -Expression

Finally, in case you aren’t yet convinced that meditat ion could be a good aid to your creat ivepursuits, there’s also the power of spiritual enlightenment to consider. The most serious meditatorsthroughout history have of ten held enlightenment, or spiritual liberat ion, as the goal of their pract ice,which is said to be the highest spiritual at tainment possible for a human being. But even a lit t le bit ofmeditat ion can give you a taste of what the concept of spiritual liberat ion means, as you learn togain ever more freedom from your mind, f rom the world, and from t ime.

When you start to realize that you are not merely your mind, a whole new world of possibility opensup to you. You begin to see how much of your life is spent in relat ive unconsciousness, as you gothrough the mot ions robot-style, act ing on autopilot based on your own mental programming (orhabits) as well as the programming that your part icular culture has been installing in your brain sinceyou were born. For creat ive individuals, it ’s not that dif ferent. Unless you’ve been cult ivat ing f reedomfrom your own mind as well as the minds of others, you’re undoubtedly going to be act ing inpreprogrammed, unoriginal ways, rehashing what has been done before or contribut ing in ways thatare limited by f ixed ideas or by your cultural status quo.

To become a true creat ive individual, to manifest the creat ive impulse uninhibitedly through your

unique self -expression in a way that only you can, you need to gain at least some degree of spiritualliberat ion. And how do you achieve that?

Well, by meditat ing, of course.

by Thomas Dixon