As an Occupational therapist, I often find myself using my yoga teacher skills and passions to engage my clients in self care. I am a big advocate for using leisure activities and creativity as a way to express your emotions and find peace during challenging mental health times. I have been seeing a lot of people diving into creative activities and I love all of this so much! I think it is important to remember that creativity can be fostered in many different ways and does not require perfection and high skill to be enjoyable. I thought that I would put together a little guided visualization for creative inspiration and I hope this is enjoyable for someone!
Please note that all meditations aren’t necessarily the most beneficial for everyone so you may need to search around for ones that you connect with better! Take a deep breath and let’s jump in 🙂
To begin, take a moment to get comfortable, whatever that looks like for you.
You don’t need to sit perfectly or clear your mind completely—just let your body rest where it is.
Take a slow breath in through your nose…
and let it out through your mouth.
Do that again, easy and unforced.
There’s nowhere you need to go and nothing you need to produce.
Wiggle your fingers and your toes, and relax your jaw.
As you breathe, notice any ideas you might have about creativity. Maybe thoughts like “I’m not creative,” or “I don’t know how to do this right.” For this moment, creativity isn’t about talent or performance. It’s simply about noticing.
Imagine yourself stepping into a place that feels calm and welcoming.
It might be a real place you know… or somewhere completely imagined.
Notice what’s around you.
The light.
The temperature.
The feeling of the ground beneath your feet.
This place doesn’t expect anything from you. It’s a space for curiosity, not judgment. It’s a place for you to notice what you are feeling, notice what catches your attention and what feels right and to dive in there.
Creativity often starts exactly here, with noticing something small and letting it matter for a moment. And somewhere in this space, you find a small point of interest. It could be an object, a colour, a song, or even a feeling. There’s no right answer. Your creativity is what feels good to you. It can be an original idea come to life, or taking creative liberties within pre-thought constraints like building Ikea furniture, colouring a colouring page or putting together a puzzle. It doesn’t even have to produce something beautiful, because you are expressing creativity for your own joy.
Take a deep breath in…. hold it for 4 , 3 , 2 , 1….. and let it out.
Try to remember the joy of creating as a child. Perhaps you’re painting with two colours on an easel in kindergarten and it turns into finger painting. Maybe you are playing make believe with playdough and making pretend pizzas. When we were kids it didn’t have to look nice, it didn’t have to turn into something to display, and most of the times it didn’t even come home with us. We created to experience.
Take a moment to visualize what you might create if you let yourself embrace joy and detach from what other people might think. Your creative moments are for you and you alone. Imagine the magic you can create
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……
…….
Take a deep breath in…. hold it for 4 , 3 , 2 , 1….. and let it out.
Slowly start wiggling your fingers and your toes, coming back to your body. Start awakening your mind and perhaps choose how you want to express yourself in these next moments after this visualization.
Before you leave this place of peace and reflection, remind yourself:
Creativity isn’t something you have to force, it isn’t something that needs to look a certain way or that needs to be channeled into a certain activity/product.
Creativity is peaceful. It shows up when you allow yourself to notice, explore and wonder. Creativity is curiosity, self compassion and love.
You can bring this same curiosity into conversations, relationships, solving problems and into how you approach your day.
Take one more slow breath in…. and let it go
When you are ready, gently return your attention to the world around you and take that quiet spark and inspiration forward to create something magical in your world
Happy creating ❤
Be Your Own Sunshine 