Creativity Bootcamp: Move Your Body

April 06 2010 – 08:45am

For the next eight weeks – if I can keep my own self disciplined enough – I’m going to give you actionable creativity tips that relate to the Eight Life Hacks for Creative Thinking. This week: Move Your Body.

Moving Your Body is important for your creativity not only because it gets your heart pumping, making your brain work better, but also because of the connection between your body movements and your thoughts and feelings.

So, this week, do this thing for your creativity. You don’t have to worry about anything else. Just this one thing…

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Do a physical activity or sport that you either have never done, or haven’t done in at least 6 months. I’ve been taking Salsa classes, and, in the past, I have taken improv and acting classes. When first doing these new-for-me activities, it was amazing to feel my brain light up as it discovered new movements and mind/body connections. If you’re having trouble coming up with ideas, try one of these things:

Sign up for a (physical) arts class: dance, improv, or acting. You can also find low-commitment drop-ins in your city, just Google “[yourcity] [activity] drop-in classes”
Sports: play a racket sport such as tennis or racquetball, hit some golf balls at a driving range, go swimming, or go bowling. Have you tried Yoga yet? This week is the week to do it!
Just goof off: play catch with a friend, do a handstand, or find a pull-up bar to swing around on.

That’s it. That’s all you have to do this week. One physical thing you’ve never done before (preferred), or haven’t done in more than 6 months. You don’t even have to think about it, and you’ll be on your way to being more creative. Let us all know what you did, and how it worked out for you!