Relax To Enhance Your Creativity

  • The Write Spot Blog is all about writing: Writing Prompts to inspire you; Just Write tidbits to motivate you; Quotes to let you know others are in the same boat as you; Places to Submit to get your work out there; Book Reviews to share authors’ work; Guest Posts for all kinds of writing-related things.

    Today’s Guest Blog Post by Suzanne Murray talks about increasing your creativity by relaxing. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? But what about cortisol, adrenaline, and epigenetics? Factor those in, and it becomes apparent that relaxation isn’t as easy as drifting in a hammock.

    Fortunately, Suzanne Murray offers strategies to help us learn to relax. 

    HOW CREATIVITY CAN HELP US RELAX

    We all know that relaxation makes us and our bodies feel good whereas stress causes us to tense up and feel less that optimum. New scientific research shows just how important relaxing our bodies and minds is.

    The emerging science of epigenetics shows that our genetic expression is not permanently fixed at birth, but actually evolves as we grow and learn. Environmental factors including nutrition, stress and our emotional responses can affect how our genes express themselves without changing the basic blueprint of our DNA, the genetic material in our cells.

    When we are stressed our genes produce hormones associated with fight or flight like adrenalin and cortisol that are associated with aging and making us more susceptible to disease. When we are relaxed and feeling good our genes produce chemistry that boosts our immune system and helps with cellular repair and growth. 

    A study looking at mindfulness practices like meditation, yoga, breath work, and other relaxation techniques, showed that we can actually “turn on” disease-preventing genes and “turn-off” disease-causing genes through relaxing. Research on the energy psychology modality EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques), an easy to use self-help strategy that combines western psychology with Chinese acupressure, found that an hour session of EFT lowered cortisol levels by 24 percent.

    I’d like to add creativity to ways we can relax as well as develop more of our potential.

    Creativity is really a form of mindfulness since it puts us in the flow of the moment and feels good. Adult coloring books have been shown to reduce stress. I like doodling or free writing where you just let the words flow out of the pen with no thought to what you are writing.

    Bringing play to whatever process you are working with and letting go of attachment to outcome is important.

    Stress so often stems from the fact that our mind has leapt ahead with worry about the future or is chewing over something that happened in the past. When we do things that bring us into the moment we naturally relax.

    Find what works for you. Play with it and see if you feel better.

    Suzanne Murray is a gifted creativity and writing coach, soul-based life coach, writer, poet, EFT practitioner and intuitive healer committed to empowering others to find the freedom to ignite their creative fire, unleash their imagination and engage their creative expression in every area of their lives. She works with simple, powerful techniques to help clear whatever gets in the way and creates a safe and sacred space for your creative and soulful life to blossom. She provides an experience of the joy and beauty that comes from embracing your gifts and expressing them in the world. With a lifelong connection to the natural world, she enjoys sharing the grace and wonder that Nature can bring to your life and creativity

     Writing and Creativity in Nature
    One Day Workshop Point Reyes CA
    April 22, 2017, 10 am to 4 pm
    Spending time in nature is good for our health, enhances our creative capacities and increases our general sense of wellbeing. It can help us enter the flow. Join me for this one day workshop where we will work with our creativity in the beauty of nature.

    EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques)

    I’ve been working with EFT in new ways that allow us to laser in on the issue and shift it at the core. We often make significant shifts in a single session. Sessions are available by phone and Skype


         Original posted on Suzanne’s April 2, 2017 Blog

     

  • Guest Blogger Suzanne Murray writes about how surrender can help creativity:

    We can’t force creativity. We know this intuitively. If we told a painter that we wanted a masterpiece by five o’clock tomorrow, he or she would look at us like we were crazy, that we clearly didn’t understand what being creative was all about.

     An important part of being creative is learning to surrender to the flow of the universe, allowing something greater than our everyday self to move through us. It’s not something we can figure out with our linear mind.

    Of course, if we want to paint we need to learn how to work with our chosen medium and studying the work of the masters can help. If we want to write it’s really valuable to read widely and deeply, to show up daily to put pen to paper and perhaps take a workshop on form we want to work with.

    Yet at the heart of being creative is letting go and allowing the ideas, the inspiration to move through us. This is where practice comes in. As Flannery O’Connor said of her writing experience, “I show up at my office everyday between 8 am and noon. I’m not sure that anything is going to happen but I want to be there if it does.” 

    I recently sat next to a young man in Starbucks who had a set of watercolors laid out and quickly produced a couple of small paintings that were quite lovely. We spoke of creativity and how so many people think you either have it or you don’t. “Yeah,” he said, “really it’s a muscle, you’ve got to use.” He went on to say “No matter how lousy I feel, if I do even a couple of little paintings I instantly feel better 

    I feel the same way about writing, even if it’s just a page of free writing where I just let the words flow out of the pen. Being creative feels good and lightens our mood because we become more present to the moment, quiet our chattering minds, and allow for the awareness of our heart and knowing to do the work. In the surrender we find ourselves in an expanded state of consciousness were we can do things we didn’t think we could.

    Originally posted on Suzanne Murray’s Blog,  March 2017

    Suzanne Murray is a gifted creativity and writing coach, soul-based life coach, writer, poet, EFT practitioner and intuitive healer committed to empowering others to find the freedom to ignite their creative fire, unleash their imagination and engage their creative expression in every area of their lives. She works with simple, powerful techniques to help clear whatever gets in the way and creates a safe and sacred space for your creative and soulful life to blossom. She provides an experience of the joy and beauty that comes from embracing your gifts and expressing them in the world. With a lifelong connection to the natural world, she enjoys sharing the grace and wonder that Nature can bring to your life and creativity.

  • Cultivate creativity: Grow awareness and eliminate distractions.

    Like gardening: Pull what you don’t want (those darn weeds) and nourish what you want to grow.

    The following Guest Blog Post is an excerpt from Suzanne Murray’s 1/14/17 blog post.
    I started writing before the development of the personal computer, when cut and paste meant I was down on the floor with a pair of scissors and a jar of that thick white glue that smelled vaguely of peppermint. It was in many ways a simpler time with far less pulling on my attention.Every morning upon rising I would make my single cup of French roast coffee, dripped through a Melitta, and then sit down to write. There weren’t thoughts like I’ve got to check my email or Twitter feed to interfere with putting words on the page. If I needed to do research, I went to the library, the sacred hall of actual books. I would flip through the cards in the small wooden drawers of the card catalog to find the book I needed, check it out and carry it home. Now I love my laptop. It makes revision, including cut and paste, so much easier. It connects me to a larger world. I can Skype my friend in Australia and feel like I’m sitting in her living room talking. I can connect to the web to find a wealth of information I need for my work.Yet lately I’ve been thinking about the issue of distractions. The fast pace of our times pulls us in so many different directions at the same time. We can lose ourselves in the swarm of emails, the compulsion to engage social media, surfing the web or checking the notifications coming in on our phones.I’m not suggesting that we give those things up. Rather, what if we brought more awareness to what we really want to be doing with our time in each moment?What if we asked ourselves the question, “What would bring me the most happiness and joy right now?”

    If the answer is to post something on Facebook, great.

    Bringing consciousness to our lives on a regular basis helps us chose the activity that feeds us and helps us create more of what we really want in our lives.

    Asking “What would bring me the most happiness at this time?” can help overcome procrastination and the distraction that can get in the way of our creating.

    When I asked myself that question this morning I got that I wanted to write a blog about distractions. Writing is one of the things that always brings me a satisfaction as I tend to be more present and lose myself in flow.

    What does this for you? Start being more mindful of what really brings you happiness. Maybe set an alarm on your phone to go off every hour to remind yourself to stop and ask the question and be more conscious of your choices. Play with it. See what shifts for you.
    About Suzanne Murray:

    Join Suzanne on a Journey to the West of Ireland:  Experience the Enchantment of the Ancient and Emerging Celtic World

    EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques):  Learn new ways to laser in on issues and shift them at the core.

    CREATIVITY COACHING
    Experience  joy  through creative expression. I offer practical, emotional and soulful strategies to help you fully uncover your creative gifts. I provide encouragement and support in understanding of the creative process and its stages and exercises for accessing the wisdom of your imagination. I’ll help you set realistic goals and support you in achieving them. We will work through the issues that get in the way of your creativity, including career concerns, blocks, limiting beliefs, relationship issues and the existential and spiritual questions that can arise from wanting and needing to create.

    Follow Suzanne on Twitter at @wildcreativity where she tweets inspirational quotes for creativity and life.

  • Suzanne MurrayGuest Blogger Suzanne Murray writes:

    Amid what seems like a world gone mad, can you relax, take a deep breath and consider the possibility that all that is happening around us, that seems so disturbing, is really an opportunity for so many to awaken to the divine spark within each of us? The place that holds the light and the creative solutions our world so very much needs.

    This, I suspect, is what Albert Einstein meant when he said that the problems we face won’t be solved by the same level of thinking that created them. We need instead to approach the monumental challenges we face in our lives and the world from the level of our heart, soul and spirit. We need to work with our creative imagination which is really our hotline to the divine. From here we can respond to situations from a place of love that we are rather than the grip of fear that events can trigger.

    The start of a new year fully invites us to consider new possibilities. Like the blank slate, the blank page, the blank canvas of our lives we can ask what do we want to create for ourselves and the world. We have the opportunity to let go of the idea that what has happened yesterday determines our today. We can break out of our habit patterns that feel safe, if not satisfying, and open to a sense of wonder at what we could choose to create. One way to get started is to practice being more present in each moment. Release regrets that keep us stuck in the past and let go of our worries that launch us into a future that doesn’t exist. The Now moment is really the place of creation where miracles can occur. It is also a place of real peace. To spend time in the present we have to let go of relying on our minds and the urge to try and figure everything out.

    When we focus on the moment we more readily find ourselves in the flow of the universe. As we relax and allow the answers and solutions will come in wondrous ways. A flash of inspiration, an unexpected gift or a chance meeting with someone who can help us. We learn to tap the deep intelligence of our heart that speaks to us in the form of intuition, that felt sense of what to do now, now and now. We follow it like a breadcrumb trail home to our true selves and the inspired life that helps heal our world.

    We may need to heal the repressed feelings and emotions that we hold in our bodies and energy fields that can cloud our clarity and keep us from easily accessing these deeper ways of knowing. Yet the development over the past twenty years of many different energy psychologies like EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques), that I have had such wonderful success with, make this emotional housecleaning so much easier and graceful, allowing us to open to more of who we really are and step out of our comfort zone to create the new.

    Everywhere I go I meet people tapping into their creative impulses and their spiritual spark, in small and large ways, to help build a new world from this inspired place. This is the great possibility of 2017. What if as you live more from your heart and knowing and use your creative imagination this new year can be your best year ever?  What new life and world are you ready to create?

    Suzanne Murray is a gifted creativity and writing coach, soul-based life coach, writer, poet, EFT practitioner and intuitive healer committed to empowering others to find the freedom to ignite their creative fire, unleash their imagination and engage their creative expression in every area of their lives.

    As a Creativity Coach she helps others explore and support their creative self in whatever form it takes and to discover ways to live a more creative life. Offering The Heart of Writing Coaching and Classes since 1991, she brings to her work with writers a passion for words and an ability to inspire others to write and experience the writing process.. As an EFT Practitioner she enjoys working with these simple, powerful technique to help others shift out of limiting patterns and embrace a life they love.

    Committed to the power of Sacred Travel she leads small groups to Ireland, a place that offer a strong sense of the magnificent and mystical.

  • Guest  Blogger Suzanne Murray writes:

    What if the chaos we experience in the world today and in our lives is actually an invitation to let go of the old ways and create something new. What if in letting go in the face of fear of the unknown we actually make room for the new to enter. Often when we give up trying we find a sort of magic that can bring unexpected opportunities beyond what we thought possible.

    We tend to resist chaos. We associate it with war or natural disasters or with the unraveling of the structures that we have always thought of as solid. We cling to what feels comfortable. Chaos can rattle our bodies and emotions leaving us feeling overwhelmed. It can trigger a reaction of fight or flight which puts us in our reptilian brain which is incapable of creative problem solving.

    What we call chaos can actually be part of the process of creativity and renewal. Look at nature. Fire recycles nutrients and restores certain species of trees like the Lodgepole Pine that require heat to release seeds from their cones. Immediately after a fire, nature gets to work restoring a new kind of order.

    In her book Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature, Janine Benyus explains, “The new sciences of chaos and complexity tell us that a system that is far from stable is a system ripe for change. Evolution itself is believed to have occurred in fits and starts, plateauing for millions of years and then leaping to a whole new level of creativity after crisis.”

    Then there is the chaos in our individual lives. We lose our job, a relationship ends, we are diagnosed with an illness or a loved one dies. Such changes can leave us feeling disappointed or sometimes even devastated. Yet often out of such chaos it’s possible that we get a better job, we met the love of our life, we develop increased kindness and compassion or we deepen our spiritual life.

    Allowing for chaos can open up new doors. I know a woman whose house burned down. At the time she didn’t see it as a gift. Yet a year later she is living in the house of her dreams paid for by her insurance. She is laughing as she tells me it’s the best thing that ever happened to her. In my own life it was the disturbing loss of job that prompted me to become self employed combining my love of teaching, writing, creativity and nature.

    Chaos is at the heart of being creative. Creativity begins from a place of swirling possibilities. It can be messy. On the creative journey we often feel like we don’t know what we’re doing or where exactly it’s going. Yet as we take it step by step following the threads of intuition and inspiration, and showing up for the work we are guided to do, we discover the process itself to be deeply rewarding and satisfying.

    We find that we are okay when something doesn’t work out the way we want. We let go of wanting to control everything and learn to let ourselves be surprised by what unfolds. We let ourselves be like a child with finger paints, who isn’t the least bit concerned about the mess. We learn to trust something greater than ourselves is working on our behalf.

    By bringing creativity into every area of our lives it can help us transcend the chaos by reordering the world and our lives in new and inspired ways. Take a minute consider a place in your life that feel chaotic and ask “what newness wants to be born in my life?” Don’t think about it, just allow an idea to pop in, follow your heart. Then see what one small act that you can take to start creating from this inspiration. What if we could help change and evolve the world that way?

    Suzanne Murray

    Join Suzanne Murray for a one day workshop in Point Reyes, CA. October 15, 10 am to 4 pm.

  • Suzanne MurrayGuest Blogger Suzanne Murray writes about: Connecting to Nature and Creativity as a Gift for Ourselves and the World.

    Nature and creativity are doorways to the sacred. They can help us connect to the deeper parts of ourselves, the knowing of our hearts and souls. They can assist us in being more present in the moment and give us access to expanded capacities of intuition, inspiration and imagination. Connecting to the natural world, which is inherently creative, opens us to our own creative gifts, which allows us to bring forth new possibilities and solutions for our own lives and our troubled world.

    The ongoing tragedies in the world combined with instant access to these events through the news and social media can leave us feeling helpless and hopeless. Our psyches and nervous systems overwhelmed.

    Spending time in nature as well as creative play can be a balm for heart and soul and help us ground our lives in an expanded sense of self. Spending time in nature and creative play relaxes us, bringing us more into the moment where we can breathe more deeply and release our worry about the future. They can increase our sense of well being allowing us to connect to a sense of peace.

    I’ve been connecting to nature and creativity for most of my life and know the joy, satisfaction and comfort that both offer.

    Excerpt from Suzanne Murray’s August 17  Blog Post.

    Suzanne Murray shares her knowledge of connecting to nature and creativity in a one-day workshop, “Connecting to Nature and Creativity,” in Point Reyes on September 17.

    “We will explore a very special place I have known since I was a teenager to deepen our connection to nature and our creative capacities.”

  • Guest Blogger Suzanne Murray writes about: The Power of Establishing a Practice.

    Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness concerning all acts of initiative and creation. There is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans; that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen events, meetings and material assistance which no one could have dreamed would have come their way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets: “Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!” – W.H. Murray The Scottish Himalayan Expedition

    Whether it’s for writing, meditation, or exercise, establishing a practice can help you move forward in magical ways. Having a practice means that you show up every day, no matter what. You are going to want to release all expectations of outcome or where you think you want things to go. It doesn’t matter how good you are or what you accomplish or what happens with the practice. You sit down to meditate and your mind goes wild with chatter the entire time, that’s fine. You show up to write and find yourself whining on the page, that’s okay. The point is to show up and practice.

    A lot of things are happening when you show up consistently to something. You begin to forge the neural nets in your brain needed for the task and strengthen them so that whatever you are committed to actually becomes easier to do and you are able to increase our level of skill. In writing your subconscious mind is working 24/7 on whatever you give it to focus on, so showing up everyday allows you to access new insights and ideas arising from your expanded mind.

    You commit and take the action. The universe responds in kind to the power of your willingness and the force your commitment. Free from expecting that you need to accomplish something, you relax and open up to allowing. In this receptive state, the your subconscious mind aligns with the workings of the Universe and you find support, synchronicities and inspired ideas coming to you.

    Establishing a practice helps you move beyond any resistance that has been in the way. When you release the need for instant gratification you slip into a sense of satisfaction from the simple act of showing up for yourself. You learn to find joy in the practice itself and this allows you to expand your creative capacity.

    To begin, start small. When I coach writers who are having a hard time showing up,  I ask them at first to commit to writing ten minutes a day. This helps you cross the threshold of resistance and move past the associated voice that tells you that you don’t have enough time. Once you have established the habit of showing up you will find things flowing with greater ease.

    Suzanne MurraySuzanne Murray is a creativity and empowerment coach and offers healing work with EFT.  Her eBook contains material that she has used for more than twenty years in her writing classes. Her ebook helps followers to show up to write, find their voice, deepen their experience with the writing process and surrender to the creative flow and let the magic happen. The portable book is like being in one of her workshops and allows participatns to establish writing as a practice. Suzanne offers her book with a 14 day money back guarantee. For information about Suzanne’s ebook and her coaching packages,  please click here.

    Check out Suzanne’s inspiring Blog, Creativity Goes Wild, for ideas on writing, creativity and life coaching.

  • It’s time to leave behind the beliefs that limit us and embrace the creative beings we truly are.

    — Suzanne Murray

    Join Suzanne in one of her many fabulous writing workshops, or personal coaching, or EFT.

    Yosemite Spring Retreat  April 4 – April 6

    Journey to the west of Ireland

    The Heart of Writing – a four week coaching package

    EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques)

    Check out Suzanne’s Blog for ideas on writing, creativity and life coaching.

  • Suzzane Murray

    How Nature Can Enhance Your Creativity

    Guest Blogger:

    Suzanne Murray

    When I received the inspiration for the name of my business Creativity Goes Wild, I was on a modern day vision quest with Bill Plotkin in an extraordinary canyon in southern Utah that allowed me to really open to the flow of new ideas. Along with the name, I also got that the essence of the work included three different elements: Nature, creativity and the soul which are aspects we can connect to that can really help us live full and authentic lives.

    I have long thought of nature as the original artist. If you spend any time in nature and pay close attention, you become aware of the beauty and design and patterns in both small things like the symmetry in pine cones and snowflakes or on a grander scale the patterns in the erosion of mountains or the movement of clouds across the sky.

    At first glance nature might look chaotic or random or disordered but the more you observe and learn about the natural world the more you become aware of the elegance of design in every creation. We can draw inspiration for our own creativity from spending time in Nature, the same way we feel inspired by visiting an art exhibit, going to a play or watching a good movie.

    Spending time in nature actually slows down our brain waves, taking us from the beta waves where our mind attends to daily activities into alpha waves which offer a naturally meditative state where we access the part of our mind that has new thoughts and ideas, flashes of insight, and more readily makes connections. This can help us with the essence of the creative impulse and process.

    Whenever I find myself stuck on a creative project I will go for a walk in nature and it always opens me back up to the flow. Or if I am looking for a place to begin a creative work I will plant the seed in my subconscious mind and then go to nature, not to think about it, but to allow the inspiration to rise to the surface of my mind.

    Try it. Whether you like to sit in the garden or go for a walk among the trees, see if you don’t find that connecting to nature doesn’t open you up to new ideas and possibilities.

    Suzanne Murray is a gifted writing and creativity coach, EFT practitioner, intuitive healer and writer with deep ties to Nature and the wisdom of the Earth. She offers writing and creativity retreats in beautiful natural places including Yosemite and the West of Ireland.

    ,