Active Body. Active Brain.
The act of creation is as much a physical activity as it is a mental or spiritual one. Dancing, painting, sculpting, cooking, and many other forms of making something require physical involvement in the process. And while physical activity involves qualities such as motion, balance, dexterity, endurance, and strength, this is not necessarily the physical aspect of creating to which I refer. We must remember that the brain, which is where creative thinking occurs, is a part of our physical body. And like other organs in our bodies, it requires nutrition, rest, oxygen, and even exercise to perform at its best. Basically, everything you have ever heard or read about improving yourself physically from the food you eat to daily exercise improves your ability to think creatively.
Nutrition for Creativity
When you were a child, you may have learned that fish was “brain food”—or you may have learned that this was a myth—depending on your generation. However, we now know that, according to the Harvard Medical School, broiled or roasted fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids does actually protect the brain from proteins that form dangerous clumps in the brain and hinder cognitive abilities.
Many other foods generally associated with good overall health also boost our creative and cognitive processes from leafy green vegetables to fruits, nuts, and berries. As a rule, the guidelines for eating healthfully in general apply equally to eating healthfully to maintain and improve a creative brain.
Additionally, the Harvard Medical School reports that a cup of coffee or tea also has proven to boost cognitive abilities. “In a 2014 study published in The Journal of Nutrition, participants with higher caffeine consumption scored better on tests of mental function. Caffeine might also help solidify new memories, according to other research. Investigators at Johns Hopkins University asked participants to study a series of images and then take either a placebo or a 200-milligram caffeine tablet. More members of the caffeine group were able to correctly identify the images on the following day” (Harvard).
https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/foods-linked-to-better-brainpower
Take a Walk
When I was head of a very busy advertising and design firm, I used to often find myself facing a tough creative challenge. Sometimes I felt blocked. The ideas just wouldn’t flow no matter how intently I focused. In times like these, I would remember the words of one of my mentors. “Dusty,” he would say, “sometimes you just have to walk away from the problem.” What he meant was not to give up on the problem, but just to stop thinking about it for a while and take a walk. When this happened, I used to hop in my car and drive the few blocks to a nearby park and take a long walk. I always thought it was just to clear my head. I didn’t realize at the time that what I was doing was actually increasing blood flow to my brain, sending it the enriching, life-giving oxygen with each heart pumping step that it needed to perform more efficiently and effectively.
The physics behind the way exercise helps you think more clearly and creatively is quite simple.
Blood flow is essential to the brain. Exercise improves cerebral blood flow. Blood delivers the vital oxygen we need to keep our neurons and brain cells healthy, happy, and full of creative energy. Research has shown that cerebral blood flow improves not only intelligence, but creativity as well. The formula is simple: active body equals active brain. If you want to create ideas that are moving—start moving your body!
More importantly, regular exercise improves resting cerebral blood flow in the same way that it improves resting heart rate. This means that when your body is not active, when you are sitting and just thinking, the blood flow to your brain is still high. Of course, a lot of creative activity is just sitting and thinking. Writing, designing on a computer, working in a sketchbook and many other creative activities don’t require your body to be moving. If you got your daily exercise, your brain is getting improved blood flow even when you are resting.
Mason Currey’s excellent book, Daily Rituals, How Artists Work, details the routines of over 150 artists, writers, filmmakers, philosophers, poets, and other famous creative people. Almost half of them reported that a daily walk was part of their regular creative routine. Some, like Victor Hugo, reported walking for two hours each day. Others took shorter walks, perhaps to work and back. But each one talked about how important it was to enhancing creativity. Other artists took part in more active exercise. P.G. Wodehouse performed a series of daily calisthenics. Joan Miró always included vigorous exercise into his daily routine including boxing, jumping rope, and gymnastics. B.F. Skinner and John Cheever, among others, took daily swims. The importance of getting daily exercise to improve and maintain your creative and cognitive skills cannot be emphasized enough.
Takeuchi H, Taki Y, Hashizume H, Sassa Y, Nagase T, Nouchi R, et al. (2011) Cerebral Blood Flow during Rest Associates with General Intelligence and Creativity. PLoS ONE 6(9): e25532. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0025532
Dusty Crocker, PhD, is Professor of Professional Design Practice at Texas Christian University.