Creativity and Meditation
 As a child we are immensely creative and enterprising and during our lifetime this creativity decreases. Do you still enjoy acting in little plays, do you still like making paper planes and do you still love drawing? Or are these activities only meant for a small number of grown ups that are exceptionally creative? Research has demonstrated that the only difference between creative people and people that are not so creative is that creative people themselves believe they are creative and non-creative people do not. In other words: in reality all of us are creative.
As we get better able to relax and to spend more time in the NOW we will more often be surprised by creative impulses. Think of a time when you were brainstorming and no ideas entered your head. Did not it often happen that when you just stopped thinking of your problem for a while and went for a short walk, took a cup of coffee from the coffee machine, made a joke, you suddenly got a brilliant idea? In a moment of quiet it often seems that such brilliant ideas just hit us and we do not have to go to great lengths to get them. It is a fact that many people that Meditate a lot say that during and shortly after Meditation sessions they are surprised by creative flashes. It is probable that the calmness that Meditation brings you is responsible for this.?
Creativity and Alpha / Theta waves
Through an EEC we can register brain waves into patterns that scientists have classified into four types:- Beta Waves have the highest frequency and are associated with active thinking and acting.
- When we are relaxed or we are just observing the brain emits the slow, rhythmic alpha waves. Alpha waves occur when somebody is completely relaxed and when therefore he is optimal vulnerable for external signals.
- Theta waves seem to occur when we get even more relaxed. The theta consciousness level often goes together with dreams and they appear to stimulate the memory and the creative imagination.
- Consequently a mixture of alpha and theta waves is associated with the ideal state of consciousness for our creativity.
Scientific research has demonstrated that during activities in which living in the NOW is essential like tai chi, yoga or Meditation alpha and theta brain waves are extremely active. This is remarkable because during these activities we are awake, focussed and active and yet we bring about a situation of rest for our body and our mind. Consequently Meditating helps us to create the ideal climate for using our creativity to the full.
Creativity and the Left / Right Brain halves
 There is a lot of debate going on about what exactly is the cause of the fact that when we are relaxed and calm down our mind we suddenly get into contact with our true creativity. Perhaps the reason is that because our right brain half which stands for emotions, images, intuition, non-verbal associations functions much more slowly than our rational left brain half that leans more heavily on logic. It is a well-known fact that our imagination that is controlled by our right brain half only functions well when we are really relaxed. Attention for details and analytically looking for problems belong to the domain of our left brain half. The right brain half is more focussed on the mutual relationships, the structure and the coherence of things. An optimum form of co-operation of the two brain halves is essential for an optimum use of our creativity. Blockades in creativity may result from the fact that in our society there is too much emphasis on rational thinking and using our left brain half. Research into the effect of Meditating has demonstrated that Meditating stimulates the co-operation of our two brain halves and consequently our creativity.
Creativity and Csikszentmihalyi
People like Csikszentmihalyi believe that all information that we take in first has to be digested in our subconscious before we can turn it into ideas. We often get ideas during activities like walking, playing sports, driving, etcetera. These are activities in which the mind is largely focussed on an activity. At such moments part of our brain is free to connect ideas together in a playful manner. When we are thinking consciously earlier experiences and the will to arrive at a solution direct our ideas into a more linear direction along paths that are already familiar. In the subconscious ideas can meet each other freely and without the interference of the intellect. It is probable that real insight happens when there is a subconscious connecting between ideas that fit so well together that they are forced to come to the surface. Consequently: also in this field you can see that for optimum access to your creativity it is extremely useful to spend as much time as possible in the NOW and to focus and to relax.
Creativity en Deepak Chopra
Meditating can help you very well to become more creative. Mind: creativity goes further than just thinking, digesting and memory capacity. In many spiritual schools of thought it is believed that quietness cannot silence the mind, but it can and it does bring to life a deeper universal intelligence. We do not have to think about matters in our own, rather limited, manner, but we have access to a universal source of wisdom. This is what Deepak Chopra says about our true creativity: the more receptive we are for the spirit of nature, the easier we have access to its unlimited creativity. The space between our thoughts, our inner silence brings us into contact with the energy field of true potentiality and unlimited creativity. Unrest blocks up the energy stream between ourselves and our true nature or our true potentiality. This theory of getting into contact with the universal source may seem a little vague to some, but the bottom line remains that when we are calmer inside we are more creative. This is something that no one can deny. It is interesting to note that Chopra considers the potential of our creativity combined with our normal dynamic individual mind the ideal team to achieve anything you want to achieve. It is true that silence and dynamism are each other's opposites, but if you can control both of them at the same time you become independent of situations, circumstances, people and objects. This means that we are back at the situation that we try to achieve to spend more time in a meditative condition. A situation in which we function perfectly and effortlessly because we experience the moment with a maximum of awareness.
Is Dynamic Balance the Key to Creativity?
 The two antipoles, silence and dynamism make you think of the Chinese Yin-Yang philosophy. The terms "yin" and "yang" refer to antipoles that react to each other and that are omnipresent in the universe. It is of paramount importance to achieve a dynamic balance (also called Tao) between negative and positive energy, not only in their universal and cosmic meanings, but also in the field of inner harmony, growth and concentration. Csikszentmihalyi's research into creativity has demonstrated that the world's most creative people like artists, businessmen, and Noble prize winners are often people that know how to to keep this dynamic balance in many fields of their lives. When the situation requires it they seem quite capable of going from one extreme to the other. His research into the characteristics of creative people showed the following ten qualities of creative people in which balance and flexibility are necessary:
- Creative people are usually extremely energetic, but can also be silent and quiet, which proves the value of Chopra's insight.
- Creative people are usually clever, but at the same time a bit naive. Intelligence can hinder creativity when people become self-sufficient, when people think they know it all and people lose their natural curiosity. Besides: it is not enough to be able to think logically and along definite lines, people must also be able to think with originality, flexibility and divergence.
- Creative people are often playful without being irresponsible.
- Creative people can find the right balance between fantasy and reality.
- Creative people demonstrate both introverted and extraverted behaviour.
- Creative people are at the same time very modest and very proud.
- Creative people avoid the strict role-patterns of male and female behaviour as is propagated by present day society and are often more original. Creative females are often more domineering and tougher than other females and creative males are often more sensitive and less aggressive than other members of their gender.
- Creative people are both conservative and rebellious.
- Creative people are highly motivated but at the same time they are objective.
- Creative people have an emotional life that often knows great happiness, but also goes through deep valleys and much pain and suffering.
The above mentioned contradictory qualities are of primary importance to develop new ideas and to recognise new ideas. The type of person that is usually at the start of innovation can often be recognised by the fact that he or she can function on both sides of the contradictions mentioned. It also struck Csikszentmihalyi that creative people are usually by nature optimistic and positive. In general they are relatively happy because they have managed to find pleasure and sense in the chaos of our existence. They often experience the feeling of "flow" in their work and this contributes to a greater chance of a general feeling of happiness. They enjoy their work and they have something to live for besides their family life and their social life. Their activities lead them to new challenges and consequently to personal growth and these things add a lot to a structural feeling of happiness. Creativity contributes something to your employer, to society, and also to your own happiness.
Creativity and Living in the NOW
In present day society we live outside the NOW more and more frequently, we feel more unrest, and as a result of many forms of unpleasant conditioning of our ego it becomes more and more difficult to find our true passion and our true aim in life. By living more in the NOW, by becoming more conscious of your inner self and your emotions, it becomes easier to make the right choices, to remain well balanced and to express your true personality.
Day in day out we hear people complain that they do not know what they want and what they are capable of. Many students spend years trying desperately to find the most suitable kind of study and there are lots of people that would be very glad to get another job if they could. Many captains of industry, television makers and scientists complain that it is hard today to find creative people. Creativity has become hard to find in our society and we are highly convinced that suppressing our potential and consequently our source of creativity is the cause of the fact that so many people have a feeling of being lost nowadays. Therefore we would like to suggest to you: be conscious of your potential and bring your hidden creativity out into the open. Meditating as a way of life can be very useful in this pursuit.
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