Unlocking Creativity: How Your Body Can Help Spark Innovative Ideas

Illustration by Roseanna Courtney

Do you struggle with creativity because you don’t consider yourself to be a “creative” type? You don’t have to pick up a paintbrush or write a song to get creative; each of us is creative in our specific way. In fact, what if we told you that being more creative could actually start with your body?

Our bodies are powerful tools for generating new ideas and perspectives. By moving and engaging with our physical environment, we can access different parts of our brains, allow time for unconscious processing, and unlock fresh ways of thinking.

Here are a few strategies for incorporating the body into your creative process:

1. Embody a metaphor.

Metaphors play important roles in producing everyday creativity.

Studies have shown that we can generate a cognitive process by embodying a metaphor. Consider the vocabulary we use when we experience a lack of creative ideas. We say we’re “stuck” or “in a rut.” Now compare that to language that describes being “on a roll” or “thinking outside the box.”

Our language is full of metaphors derived from our experiences as physical beings. We produce more creative ideas when we adopt more positive metaphors!

2. Participate in rote activities and meditative play.

This may seem counter-intuitive, but mundane tasks can truly contribute to your creative process! Rote activities are routine or repetitive tasks that require little cognitive effort or attention, so they can be performed without much thought or concentration.

Examples of rote activities include doing puzzles, knitting, doing laundry, washing dishes, or gardening. Participating in these are helpful in providing a meaningful break from more mentally demanding tasks and allow the mind and body to relax and recharge.

3. Change your physical environment.

Sometimes all it takes to jumpstart your creativity is a change of scenery. Take a walk outside, visit a new coffee shop, or work from a different room in your house. By changing your physical environment, you can stimulate your senses and inspire new ideas.

4. Pursue discomfort… on purpose:

As humans, we like harmony. But research by psychologists Li Huang and Adam Galinsky found that creating a sense of conflict between the mind and body can help boost performance in creative tasks.

Listening to sad music while smiling or recalling a happy memory while frowning are examples of cognitive dissonance that can help us think more broadly, increase creativity, and expand our perspectives.

Creativity is more than a mental exercise.

We can enhance it by involving our bodies in the creative process. By incorporating these strategies into our daily lives, we can increase our creative output and generate new and innovative ideas!