Great article received today from Artshub: “How meditation helped my creative practice: 8 artists share tips”.

Wonderful to read about the different experiences with meditation, and the impact on personal creativity, from eight very different Australian artists.

Including David Jones, professional percussionist who teaches meditation at the Brahma Kumaris Meditation centre in Fitzroy, who I have had the pleasure of listening to both musically and as a meditation teacher over the years.

“Meditation creates a beautiful flowing mental environment for new ideas and potential innovation to happen” David Jones

Over the years I have had the honor to share meditation with a range of creatives including two writers who had come to meditation in the hope it would reconnect them with their inner muse and get them past a period of ‘writer’s block’. It is one of the greatest gifts from a regular meditation practice, that we find it easier to drop into a deeper sense of ease, and as the mind and body slow and still, there unfolds a ..

mental spaciousness 

I often use the analogy of the untidy office desk (akin to the busy mind) which is covered with papers, pens, article clippings, and the odd coffee mug .. but under all the clutter remains the desk. When we clear the desk we find some beautiful and unclaimed space in which to sit and contemplate .. or create!

to be creative we need to cultivate a little spaciousness of mind ..

I have consistently found over the years, that my best ever creative ideas pop into my mind after my meditation practice. Most often a half hour or so later, when I am in the shower! Suddenly, I start thinking of the most perfect gift for a friend, or some vague new book title or the most $$$$ business idea.  After meditation when my mind has cleared the ‘fluff’ and there is open spaciousness, fresh ideas naturally flow for me. With a clear mind, previously independent or off-topic ideas .. find each other

the DOTS LINK UP .. and a new idea is born!

A well-cited 2012 study by cognitive psychologist Lorenza Colzato and her fellow researchers at Leiden University found that certain meditation techniques can promote heightened creative thinking, and supported the belief that meditation can have a long-lasting influence on human cognition, including how we think and how we experience events. Article here

And it was well over thirty years ago that the Walt Disney Co. found itself at a creative crossroad. The company decided to bring in a therapist and meditation teacher (Ron Alexander) to assist them in revisioning and reengineering the direction of the company. The Imagineers, the company’s creative design and development ar, went on to open Tokyo Disney, Disneyland Paris, and Hong Kong Disneyland, and today still earn patents in areas like 3-D virtual-reality displays and animatronics.

“Your awareness and consciousness become really toned. This is an excellent strategy for becoming successful in your profession, as well as the bigger game of transforming yourself and the people who work with and for you.” Ron Alexander.

Get creative = Meditate!