I blended Mindfulness with Creativity to devise a meditation practice that gives me creative insights into the problem I seek to resolve today.

It’s called Creative Mindfulness.

The power of Creative Mindfulness gives me hope—a process of asking for help, seeking answers, and believing that insight will come.

But first, let’s explore five simple definitions to build our foundation for understanding what I mean by “Creative Mindfulness.” Forgive me if I insult your intelligence with these introductory psychology 101 terms. I’ll be quick!

• Meditation,
• Mindfulness,
• Creativity,
• Conscious — Subconscious,
• Past, Present, Future.

To meditate is to engage in mental exercise (such as concentration on one’s breathing or repetition of a mantra) to reach a heightened level of spiritual awareness.”

Mindfulness; The simple process of noticing new things about the familiar. When we notice actively, we become sensitive to perspective and change.” — Ellen Langer, professor of psychology

I’ll assume you’re familiar with the concept of Mindfulness. So — now, let’s toss in Creativity.

Creativity; The ability to make or otherwise bring something original into existence, a unique solution to a problem, a new method, an artistic object or form. — Britannica

Consciousness; Everything you understand,
Unconscious; Everything outside your awareness. The variety of activities your unconscious mind performs for you is humbling and impressive.

Think of it this way: You are conscious of external objects, states, or facts. But are you also subconscious of your mental activities just below the threshold of consciousness?

Many mental researchers still see the unconscious mind as the shadow of a “real” mindful mind. For our purpose here, let’s focus our discussions on conscious perceptions and save subconscious exploration for your therapist (of which I am not).

And finally…

Past, Present, Future; You travel back in forth in your mind along a timeline continuum.

The theory says you can only be in one position along the continuum at a time. For example, my brother lives in the past and dreams of the future. It’s difficult for him to be in a mindful, present state while dreaming about tomorrow.

Conversely, I tend to live in the present, rarely visit the past, and never stop obsessing over plans. For me, being mindful is a shift in consciousness from the future to the present moment—not always easy to achieve.

And you? Where are you on your timeline, and what is your default position? For instance, do you tend to live in the past and often worry about the future?

I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t reminisce over fond childhood memories or that you can’t dream about the future.

Practicing any form of Mindfulness requires a conscious effort to be fully present in the current moment.

Now that you have these concepts fresh in your noggin, let’s keep going…

Traditional Mindfulness.

Mindfulness practiced traditionally, on its own, is to be fully present in the here and now with no agenda — the absence of seeking solutions.

While correct, this narrow perspective is a desire to calm down, destress or live joyfully in the moment. — and there’s nothing wrong with that. (there’s a but coming)

In the early days of my mindfulness practice, I focused on ‘emptying my mind’ — shutting it down through breathing exercises, reciting a mantra, yoga or some other method.

Back then, I strived to relax and calm my overactive mind. Experts (whoever they are) say that a mindfulness practice should not be agenda-bound for any desired outcome. To do so would fail to ‘empty the mind’ and contradict what traditional Mindfulness is. — they are correct!

However, later in life, I discovered that whenever I introduced an intention into my meditation (stating a problem and hoping for a solution) — apparent answers would come to me.

Creative Mindfulness: A blend of your Mindfulness and Creativity.

Next time you practice Mindfulness (fully present), try adding a new element to your practice; Set an intention for your meditation.

Tradition says you’re not supposed to infuse an agenda into your practice, but in this case, there’s an agenda — — to gain some form of creative insight.

The hope is that you’ll foster a creative insight toward one specific problem you face on that particular day through your stated intention before meditating. Or get answers to a lingering concern that’s been bothering you for a while.

When fully present and aware of your immediate thoughts and feelings, you set the stage to practice Creative Mindfulness.

The key is that your brain will tap into the subconscious mental activities just below the threshold of your consciousness and trickle a creative solution into your conscious mind.

I know what you’re thinking… how can I consciously tap into my subconscious?

Please stick with me……refrain from overanalyzing the concept.

Don’t expect on-demand epiphanies. Sometimes insights are apparent; most times, they’re faint. So, be mindful of patterns of insight that emerge. — those intuitive inklings that repeatedly trickle to the surface when meditating.

Do this.

Next time you practice Mindfulness, add an intention upfront to your meditation. You aim to encourage creative insights toward that specific problem you face.

The idea is that while meditating, a piece of creative insight will trickle from your subconscious to your conscious mind.

Psychology or spirituality?

Do you need clarification to decipher if I’m talking about using meditation to tap into the subconscious mind OR if this is about a higher power answering your questions through prayer and insight?

I don’t know, and it doesn’t matter — run with what you believe. I think it’s a combination of the two.

For example;

Back in 2021, before I sat for my daily meditation, I set an intention and asked a higher power (Allah and the power within me) to grant me the following:

“There are eight billion people out there. So PLEASE send me the answer to find that one extraordinary pure love partner to share the rest of my life.”

I consider myself a spiritual being with human experiences. I was looking for that pure monogamous love. Here is my kidney. You are the centre of my universe, and I am your oxygen dynamic, which is almost impossible to fathom or realize for a man of my age and orientation.

I turned to my Creative Mindfulness practice in search of answers buried deep in my subconscious and soul.

I wanted to know if I was on the proper relationship path with a guy I was dating and had fallen in love with.

The answer suddenly glared at me towards the end of my meditation. “YES, he’s the one!”

I am a verbal-visual processor (see footnote). As I sat on my bed cross-legged, I had a clear visualization in my mind and muttered to myself, “YES, he’s the one….Is he the one…..yes he is!”

It was the most bizarre thing; I went into my mindful meditation seeking an intention, and by the end of my practice, the insight came to me with such clarity. I had been ambivalent about my relationship dilemma for months prior, and now the answer seemed obvious.

Let me be clear: I don’t have these kinds of insights every day, so when they happen, they’re noticeable. I’ve become more attuned to their subtleties, looking for and expecting them to surface.

A more poetic way to say it is that angels always send me messages, partly because I keep asking and in part because I keep looking and noticing more.

Yeah, I may be creating an alternate reality for myself, and that’s ok, too.

Here’s another example:

I recently asked the powers in my subconscious (accumulated knowledge and wisdom over a lifetime) and a divine force (whatever you believe in — I believe in Allah) to answer my dilemma. “Do I sell my sailboat or keep it another year?” (part prayer, part meditation, part who knows what)

I needed a reasonable, creative solution (and decision) to the uncertainty of how to pay for (and justify) my sailboat’s costly annual maintenance fees.

This issue has plagued me for years as I didn’t particularly appreciate justifying the related expenses. Furthermore, I could only experience her for six months of the year due to the frigid Canadian winter. As a result, I was conflicted and ambivalent about selling my love vessel; She brought me such joy.

Creative Mindfulness helped me find the answer.

It’s been said that “Allah (God) is in you and works through you.” This means a divine power (or whatever you believe in) will answer life’s problems if you ask the right question. Of course, you may not like the answer, but that’s a topic for another time.

As I explained earlier, it’s possible to enter a state of divinity during creative mindfulness. I have experienced this many times.

Divinity as a quality has two distinct usages:

• Divine force or power — Powers or forces that are universal or transcend human capacities
• Divinity applied to mortals — Qualities of individuals considered to have unique access or relationship to the divine. Source: Wikipedia

In other words, the answer you seek is already within you and needs to be flushed out through meditation.

The power of Creative Mindfulness offers hope—a process for asking for help, seeking answers, and believing that, ultimately, they will come.