Years ago when I was in college, if I sat at my typewriter unable to write a term paper, I would just lace up my running shoes and head out the door. Inevitably, during the course of my run to the “Dish” on the Stanford campus, the paper began to write itself in my head.
These days when I can’t blog – I jog. By the second half of my run the creative juices start flowing and the only challenge my now 41-year-old brain faces is remembering the ideas I come up with! (I’ve yet to devise a method of carrying pen and paper with me without getting the paper sweaty. One of my clients recently advised carrying my cellphone and leaving myself a voicemail – I’ll have to try that).
If you’re stuck in a creative rut – head out the door and move. Walk, jog, cycle, swim – choose your favorite mode of solo physical activity. When the body is training in a familiar, repetitive physical activity (i.e. swimming or cycling), the mind has the ability and the tendency to take a vacation, a phenomenon known as dissociation. So don’t make the workout too hard – instead get into a semi-automatic pilot mode with your body – and you’l lunleash your mind up to create and problem-solve. Also, leave the ipod at home. You won’t be able to fully free your brain for creating if it’s having to multi-task. Steady-state, cruise-control exercise with minimal distractions will best stimulate those fantastic ideas you’re going to have.
Remember: when you’re stuck in writer’s block….just take a walk!
Be Well,
Carolyn
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