NOTE: To return to the article list and Azalea Music
Group's website,
click on the x in the upper right-hand corner of this window to close it.
This article originally appeared in the June 2002
issue of Southwest Virginia Songwriter's Association newsletter.
Exercising
Your Whole Brain
By Nancy Moran
Everyone knows that to keep your body in shape, you must
exercise on a regular basis. Well, same thing goes for your brain. To keep your
ideas and creative juices flowing, you must constantly workout your creativity
muscles. In essence, you must put
your brain in training.
Writing exercises like clustering and mind maps are great
ways to keep your song writing chops in order.
But there are also many ways to keep your creativity in shape that you
can practice every day even if you’re not writing.
For example…
1. Break Habits - If you’re experiencing a creative rut
(and maybe even if you’re not), there’s a good chance your life is in a rut,
too. Take a look at your daily
routine. Do you always put the same
shoe on first? Drive the same way to work each day?
Do you always shop at the same grocery store? Always order the same kind of pizza? Break out of your stifling routines and habits by figuring
out what they are and changing them on purpose! Drive down a street you’ve
never taken before just to see where it goes.
Eat desert first! Mow the
lawn in a different pattern. Take
your shower in the guest bathroom. You’ll
be amazed how “shaking things up” can dramatically increase your creativity!
2. Do Something Daring – A guy I know has 10 different
pairs of the same tennis shoe, all in different colors.
Each morning he pulls out 1 left and 1 right shoe and wears them to
work—regardless of their color. Some
days, he wears 1 black and 1 green. Other
days, 1 yellow and 1 red. How
exciting and fun! What can you do
that’s a little bit daring? How
about wearing Superman (or Superwoman) underwear.
Dye your hair a temporary color (it washes out in several shampoos). Wear socks that don’t match. Whatever! It doesn’t have to be daring to anyone else but you.
3. Learn Something New – Make a new connection in your
brain by learning something completely new.
Take a short story writing class. Learn to tap dance. Read a book on
horticulture. Take up knitting or crocheting. Learn to speak a new language. By
constantly learning new things you are stimulating new parts of your brain,
increasing brain activity, and opening doors to new ideas.
Since we use less than 1% of our brains, I’d say there’s a lot of
room for increased synapses.
4. Get Physical! – Do you get your best ideas in the
shower or while driving the car? That’s because physical activity stimulates
the “right side” of the brain—the creative side—and increases oxygen to
the brain. So, the next time you
find yourself stuck in front of a blank piece of paper searching for your next
brilliant song idea…take a walk. Go for a drive. Do some jumping jacks. Dance.
Go roller-blading. Stand on your head. Climb
a tree. Get up…get moving.
5. “Cross-Train” – To make sure they are exercising
all of their muscle groups, athletes often vary their workouts.
You can vary your creativity workout by tapping into other creative
outlets? Draw or paint a picture.
Design and plant a garden. Take
up woodworking. Practice and
develop your creativity in all of its various forms, and you’ll see
improvement in all of your creative endeavors.
Add these five exercises to your creative fitness
program, and you’ll be in (and stay in) tip-top creative shape before
you know it!
Nancy Moran is a singer, a songwriter and Creative
Director of Azalea Music Group in Nashville, TN. She has released three CD’s and co-authored the audio
series “The Songwriter’s Survival Kit.” She writes for American Songwriter
magazine and teaches creativity and other workshops at The Music School on Music
Row as well as for various groups across the country.
For more information, visit her website: www.nancymoran.com.