EXERCISE TO FOCUS YOUR CREATIVE ENERGY
by David B. Axelrod
Find a time and a place where you can spend an uninterrupted period of time. Make yourself as comfortable as you can. Provide yourself with what you will need to write as soon as you feel ready. Those who meditate will find the next step familiar.
Allow yourself to feel yourself sitting; feel gravity holding you, your seat on the surface, hands and feet. You don’t have to work to relax. Sitting quietly, it happens for you. You can feel the sensations more if you close your eyes. Notice that it doesn’t get dark. There is a pleasing light that filters through.
If you listen you can feel more relaxed again, knowing that whatever sounds surround you, for a moment at least you are at rest, relaxed and untroubled. The sounds become a background on which to build. Finally, in this initial exercise, take in a long deep breath and as slowly, let it out. Let your shoulders droop.
Do it again and allow your whole body to relax. As you let the air escape you can imagine allowing any tensions leaving you. Rest in the moment and enjoy the feeling of having cleared yourself of distractions. What is left is your own clearer energy.
The next step toward learning to focus and increase your creative energy is to allow yourself to visualize a place or an event. Do the exercise above again so that you are the more relaxed and let your mind go to a moment that interests you. You could ask yourself “what is my earliest memory.” You could ask”what is my favorite place.”
Don’t feel obligated to stay with one thing. Let your mind wander where it wants. But when you find something that feels right, stay with it, picture it, feel it, remember the details. Build the recollection by asking yourself:
What season do I remember, the time, the temperature, the light, the aroma, if there was a sensation of warmth. Were you inside or out, with others or alone? Were you dressed a certain way, holding or carrying something?
Look more closely at yourself, what age you were, what color and style your hair was, how you carried yourself. The more detail you can muster, the more sensations you engage, the stronger the moment becomes, the stronger the energy.
Let the moment become as real as you can, and when it feels as if you are really there, reach for your pen, turn to the keyboard and write what you see, write what you feel. Let it all out. Write quickly, in any form your writing takes. Allow the energy to flow and enjoy your own creative power.