How to Let Your Creativity Soar


“Creativity is Intelligence Having Fun.” – Albert Einstein

Psychologist Rollo May once defined creativity as the act of actualizing oneself. Expressing ourselves in an authentic unique way can take any form. Every one of us has creative potential—it just needs to be unlocked.

The source of creativity

There is an inexhaustible reservoir—the source of all thoughts—deep within every person’s mind, giving rise to impulses of thought throughout our lives. This inner resource of energy and intelligence rises up and is expressed in thought after thought, like waves that continually rise from the ocean. 

We know that energy is a component of thought because thought has a flow. Thought also has content, an expression of intelligence. The mind’s inherent energy coordinates itself with the innate quality of intelligence, and intelligence gives direction to that flow. Intelligence guiding energy = creativity. When they all come together, another quality—bliss—is enlivened. When our creative intelligence is lively, our thoughts are blissful, strong, and effective. When creativity soars, we experience joy in our innovation and productivity.

Why our creativity fluctuates

In the process of creating anything—from a bedtime story for children to the design of a rocket ship—it’s common to have moments when we feel blocked, when our creativity comes to a standstill. If bliss and flow are missing from the creative process, it’s most often due to some form of stressanxiety, or tiredness. Imbalances experienced mentally, emotionally or physically, caused by pressure on the mind and body, disallow creative expression.

Creativity unleashed

Support for the body

Hundreds of published studies have established that the Transcendental Meditation technique provides such profound rest to the body that deeply rooted stress and fatigue are dissolved which otherwise would be permanent. This benefit has been shown repeatedly by the study of the behavioral, biochemical, and structural functions of people who’ve learned the TM technique. Manifestations of stress—such as depression, anxiety, and psychosomatic disease—are reduced and sometimes eliminated. Restored physical health brought about by the TM practice dissolves physiological, mental, and emotional blocks to creativity.

Support for the mind

Thoughts are expressions of the mind—the mind itself is foundational. It is found in two states: silent (transcendental) or active (relative thoughts). The ability of the mind to be silent is inherent in the ability of the mind to be active, just as the ability to speak is inherent in (and easier than) the ability to shout. It is easier for the mind to settle into a profoundly restful state than to participate in active states, so the ability to transcend a thought is already there in the ability to have the thought. 

In the effortless move of the mind during TM to subtler and subtler states of activity and to the silent transcendent—pure creative intelligence—creativity is revived. Just having our attention on the reservoir of creative intelligence further enlivens our creative potential.

Scientific research shows that individuals who learned Transcendental Meditation showed increased creativity in comparison to controls, as measured by a higher level of pictorial originality when measured after five months of practice.

Lively brain

The apparatus of our brain reflects changes in our consciousness. During TM, the connections between the front of the brain and the rest of the brain are strengthened, and the prefrontal cortex is enlivened, enhancing judgment, planning, problem-solving, imagination, and creativity.

According to scientific studies, during the process of transcending, the Transcendental Meditation technique uniquely enlivens latent brain capacity and the wellspring of energy and intelligence. For example, published research in Human Physiology in 1999 showed that the TM technique, unlike resting with closed eyes, napping, or other meditation techniques, allows greater participation of the whole brain. Research published in Cognitive Processing in 2010 indicated that the experience of transcending concrete active levels of thinking restores inner silence and mental clarity.

Finding bliss in your creative process

If your creative expression in sculpting or writing or teaching or cooking—or whatever form your creativity takes—just isn’t fun anymore, it’s time to take recourse to the potential within you. The inward dive of the mind during Transcendental Meditation is similar to the principle of archery when you pull an arrow back on a bow: It may appear that settling within during Transcendental Meditation is the opposite of creative thought and action, but just like moving the arrow in the opposite direction from the target on the bow before releasing it sends the arrow dynamically and effortlessly to the target, transcending is the most efficient preparation for soaring to your target seamlessly. 

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About the Author

Janet Hoffman is the executive director of TM for Women Professionals, a division of TM for Women in the USA

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