Whether you are occasionally overwhelmed, stressed, or going through a life transition, creativity can have a miraculous soothing effect on your body, mind and spirit.
In this fast paced, hustle bustle world it is extremely important to create time to take care of your soul. Even when you are at home our minds can be cluttered with responsibilities, worries, and day to day life. We must be intentional about finding ways to slow down and take some time for calm and inner peace.
One of the most transformative ways to do that is through having a creative practice.
I know first-hand of the healing power of creativity from my own personal transformation out of addiction in 2015. At that time, I courageously chose to enter into creative exploration to shake up my assumptions and allow space to discover my sacred truth and self-limiting stories.
I’ve witnessed the power of creative expression in students who used their creative practice to release the shackles of the past, quiet their minds, soothe their souls, and reclaim the lost parts of themselves. Creative expression helps women release the shackles of the past, quiet their minds, soothe their souls and reclaim the lost parts of themselves
Even if you don’t identify as a creative, engaging your mind fully in the creative process will provide the healing realization that you are inherently creative.
Here are 6 tips to tap into the power of creativity to quiet your mind and soothe your soul:
1. Find a Creative Hobby that Fully Engages Your Mind
Find a creative hobby that lights you up when you’re immersed in it. Not sure what that may be? Try different creative endeavors that you’re drawn to. If you’re searching, you could try making collage art, cooking, doodling, knitting, or cultivating a garden. What’s important is that whatever it is brings you joy and quiets the chatter of your mind.
2. Set Aside Time to Pursue this Creative Hobby Uninterrupted
Part of the healing factor with creative activities is that they invite you to get immersed in the present moment and the flow of life. I’ve experienced and heard from many of my students that ‘time seems to stop, and the rest of life, including the struggles, fall away during the creative process. You’re both here in the present and inside a creative world all your own.
Creatively cocooning for a certain amount of time can give you a break from outside stimulation and responsibilities and is restorative.
3. Pour Yourself and Your Creative Impulses into a Creative Project
Creative activities can be a healing way to get to know yourself better. There’s information in the colors and patterns you choose for a piece of art or pottery, or the themes you’re drawn to if writing is your creative outlet.
It’s always healing to lean into our authentic selves, and it can even increase our sense of self-love and self-acceptance.
4. Don’t Put Pressure on Yourself to Finish a Creative Project at a Certain Time
Life already puts enough pressure on us. Each day can be filled with tasks, deadlines, and responsibilities. So, it’s healing to allow yourself at least one area of life—like a creative activity—where the pressure to finish at a certain time, or finish at all, is removed.
You might spend many hours on a creative activity one week, and none the next. In a goal-oriented society, it can be a relief to carve out time where the only thing to do is let yourself be creative.
5. Allow a Creative Activity to Evolve
Don’t put any limits on your creativity. Some people who are prolifically talented creatively and spend a lot of time creating never pursue their creativity professionally.
If, and when, you feel called to share your creativity with family or a select group of friends, give your creativity the grace to evolve into something more or something else. What’s healing for you might help others heal.
6. Remember that Healing Often Happens in the Background of a Creative Activity
Healing will happen in the background as you commit to a creative activity. It might be healing your nervous system from an overstimulating outside world while you retreat into a creative activity. Or time spent on a creative activity might give you something else to focus on instead of trying to speed up or force a healing journey around your physical health, relationships, career, or finances.
Sometimes a creative activity will be a cathartic way to process emotions and past traumas. Healing journeys always go at their own pace, yet they tend to go more quickly and easily when we relax into the present moment. Creative activities are empowering because they bring us out of the busyness of the mind and into the present moment.
Even when we find ourselves in seasons, or transitions that compromise our peace of mind, there is often a way we can be creative about how we approach life. Creative activities remind us of this healing power! You were truly born to create.
