Embodying Your Vision: How Physical Movement Can Unlock Creative Insight

As both a therapist and an artist, I’m always looking for ways to deepen the creative process. I’ve explored countless methods, routines, and formulas—from classics like Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way to lesser-known gems like Barbara Turner-Vesselago’s Writing Without a Parachute. My shelves (and, if I’m being honest, my bookmarks tab) are overflowing with different approaches to creativity.

But the most transformative strategies I’ve encountered always involve the body. It’s easy to overlook our physical selves when engaging with certain media like writing, knitting, or jewelry making. Yet, our bodies are always there—guiding our hands, shaping the details, and transcribing our mind’s ideas into tangible form.

Some media, like ceramics or sculpture, are inherently somatic. Clay, wood, and metal are solid, tactile materials, demanding physical interaction. We often assume that the body has little role in other forms of art like poetry, painting, or photography. I used to think the same—until recently.

A few weeks ago, while writing poetry, I stumbled upon an article that completely shifted my perspective. The gist? By creating an embodied ritual around your art and paying attention to the physical sensations that arise, you can enhance your creative flow. Essentially, you stop trying to “think” up a good idea and, instead, become the idea. Sounds wild, right? Where are my fellow art nerds?

Let’s dive in—into our bodies, that is! How can we tap into physical movement to unlock our creative potential?

Body Scan While You Create

When you take a moment to scan your body, you ground yourself in the present, in your own unique, fleeting experience. This state of being is fertile ground for creativity because it often contrasts with the busyness of our minds. Let your body’s current sensations guide your artistic choices, whatever form that may take.

Get into Your Right Brain

The left side of our brain is great for analyzing and comparing, but it’s not the best at sparking innovation or original thought. The magic of creativity lies in the right side of our brain—where subconscious awareness, present-moment experience, and untapped ideas reside. If you catch yourself stuck in judgment or overthinking, try flipping your work upside down, reading it backward, or pausing to dance to a favorite song. These simple shifts can jolt you back into your creative flow.

Give Yourself Permission to Play

As artists, we can get pretty serious about our work. Maybe you feel like every minute in the studio needs to count toward a finished piece, or you’re so precious about your materials that you don’t want to “waste” them. If you’re feeling pressure rather than joy when you think of creating, it’s a sign you’ve lost touch with the playfulness of your art. How to get it back? Take that next idea and explore it without the expectation of creating something beautiful. Try not to make it beautiful at all - aim for surprising or shocking or unexpected and see what happens. Move around your workspace, experiment with tools you usually avoid, and channel whatever energy feels right in the moment. Be silly, be sultry, be explosive—just don’t be serious.

By grounding yourself in your body and allowing play back into your practice, you’ll find that your creativity flows more freely. Ready to explore? Let’s go!