Shake it up, Slow it down
Two creative warm up exercises to help you decrease pressure and get started creating (even when you’re low on energy and short on time)
I’m a big believer in creative warm-ups. They lower the resistance (slightly) that can sometimes stop us from getting started or convince us to put off our creative time until tomorrow.
They inject a bit of fun into the process and can help you from transitioning from “work mode” and thinking about that email you need to send out tomorrow morning, into letting loose and enjoying time to just PLAY!
Beyond helping you get into a playful state, they also can help you with lowering stress, relieving the pressure you feel to create, easing some of the doubt you’re experiencing and building belief in yourself and momentum.
Today I’m walking you through two different warm-up exercises that I encourage you to try out for yourself:
Exercise No. 1 | Make to the Music
Queue up 3 songs you’re really into right now. Decide whether you’re going to draw/paint OR write.
Get out a few supplies and 3 pieces of paper. Hit play and begin creating.
It’s okay if your first sentence begins with I don’t know what I’m doing. Keep writing.
Put your paintbrush or pastel on the page and start moving it around even if you don’t know what to paint or draw. Keep your hand moving by continuing to write/paint/draw throughout the whole duration of the song.
After each song, move onto the next piece of paper and repeat.
Why it’s worth trying:
Sometimes what we need most when we’re filled with doubt is to get ourselves out of a place of stuckness and into a place of motion, movement. Mentally in a way it can feel like a warm up doesn’t count, so the pressure to perform creatively is decreased. Warm ups are also a great way for you to practice being in a place of not knowing where to start and figuring out a way to begin.
Plus this can be a less boring, more fun way to take 10-12 minutes to create rather than just setting a timer. I love my kitchen timer for writing sessions and also it’s helpful to shake it up every now and then.
P.S. Don’t like writing or painting when there’s music playing? No problem, pick some instrumental tunes (these are some of my favs) or try another form of relaxing background music.
Exercise No. 2 | Connecting to Creativity: Visualization + Reflective Practice
This is an exercise I recently facilitated as part of the Calm + Creativity - afternoon in the forest workshop I co-hosted with Kristin Reid.
Sometimes we might find ourselves questioning “what’s the point?” or feeling a lack of motivation or energy to dedicate to our personal creativity. This is a 7-minute practice you can use to connect to the way being creative makes you feel and what you want to get from the experience of being creative.
Find a quiet and comfortable place and gather a piece of paper or your journal/notebook and a pen.
Begin with thinking about what were your original motivations for doing this creative activity for taking this time for yourself to create? Now consider your current needs and ask yourself: what would you LOVE to get from the process of being creative today?
You can answer these questions out loud or inside your mind or by writing them down.
Take a minute or 2 and draw something on the page to represent what you’d love to feel/experience from being creative today.
Now close your eyes or keep them open and focus them softly somewhere in the space you’re in.
Picture in your mind an experience where you were creating - could be art, writing, cooking, designing your living room, putting together an outfit - anything.
Pick one experience where you were so into what you were doing that you lost track of time, where you felt like you could be yourself and where you were feeling really creative.
Imagine this memory in your mind and begin replaying it like it’s a movie or just imagine one aspect of that memory or experience that stands out - red paint, tree.
As you’re thinking of that memory/experience, notice how it feels in your body and if there’s a particular area of your body you feel it’s coming from. You can also name the feeling if you’d like. This feels like hope, joy or creativity.
Allow yourself to sit here and savour the memory/experience and the feeling it’s evoking in you.
Keeping your eyes closed or focused softly, think back to what you drew on the page, your answer for what you’d love to experience from being creative today.
Now ask yourself OR you can ask the part of your body where you felt the feeling, what will help me create in that way today?
Notice if any simple answers or ideas come through. They may come through as a single word, an image, parts of an image, a symbol, a visual.
You can open your eyes now and take a few minutes to reflect on what that visualization was like for you and what can help you create today.
And then I invite you to pick up your crayon, marker, camera, paintbrush - whatever supply you’re working and begin playing and creating, letting that visualization, creative memory and feeling lead you.
Why it’s worth trying:
Creative warm-ups don’t always have to be about getting you energized or excited, sometimes you need them to help you slow down and transition from work into creative time. Or sometimes if you’re already feeling a lack of motivation or mentally tired you want a warm up that actually feels doable and not too taxing. Using your imagination and taking time to reflect can be a great way to warm up and be playful, in a slower, more calming way.