Enjoy this talk by Neal Hoptman on the importance of expressing oneself creatively as part of a health enhancing lifestyle. Often people associate creativity with the arts, music, and drama, and fail to realize the inherent need everyone has to express creativity irrespective of the form it takes. The denial of this avenue of expression can result in serious impediments to a person's health and well-being through the person's inability to release their unique gifts and, in turn, contribute to the world around them. Instead, a seemingly routine existence becomes a way of life, in which play, excitement, challenge, fun, and risk taking seem to be relics of childhood, inappropriate for responsible behavior.
Creative expression and learning are based on a flowing dynamic that utilizes imagination, spontaneity, an element of magic, and self- confidence, without fear of being judged right or wrong in technique. No one taught us as children to incorporate imagination, play, fun, expression, breaking the rules, and learning by doing into our daily behavior. It came naturally to us. Whether in a sandbox or exploring nature, children instinctively create with few inhibitions and then learn about the world through their doing.
Health enhancement is based on the importance of recapturing these elements within our life. Unfortunately, one of the by-products of growing up is a letting go of many of these elements in life. A notion that they are somehow frivolous, unimportant, and certainly not appropriate behavior unless undertaken in a well-defined area such as sport or drama, is a message that many receive in school and at home.
Health enhancement is all about a new message: creative expression and learning by doing are essential components of adult life, even though we may not be aware of their importance.
Why be creative? One answer is that it is fun to express ourselves creatively. Another reason is that the universe is in a constant state of change, and this calls for creative responses on our part to situations that may not respond to the same solutions that worked previously. Creativity is a
natural phenomenon in a changing world.
Creativity has been applied in the health-care field since human beings first began to take responsibility for developing means by which to heal themselves. From the experimentation with plants and herbs came most of the remedies that are known today. There has been a childlike curiosity as to new and different ways to learn by trial and error without concern of being judged frivolous.
When we look at the lives of Norman Cousins, Victor Frankl, Patch Adams, Albert Einstein, Wright Brothers, or thousands of others who took creativity to new levels and introduced innovations that have effected all of our lives we see the importance of creativity in daily life and in particular in the health area.
Reading books like "Anatomy Of An Illness" by Norman Cousins reminds us that a creative approach to our health can in turn help millions of people around the world by stepping out of the box of conventional wisdom and asking the simple question, "What If?".
The ideas expressed here have been influenced by so many people ranging from Rob Brezsny and his forays into Pronoia, Dr Dean Ornish taking a creative approach to reversing heart disease using yoga, Julian Cameron and her "Artists Way" series of publications, to teachings of Integral Yoga and Swami Sivananda and Swami Satchidananda reminding us that we can wrtie the scripts and be directors of the movie of our lives.
For further information and tools on creativity look to these pioneers and their publications as well as visit the website http:/www.virtualhealthresort.com and the theme of Creative Expression.
Sincere thanks and appreciation to Martin Amada of www.sitca.com who produced and edited this podcast. which was shot at Kamalaya Wellness Sanctuary and Holistic Spa (www.kamalaya.com) on Samui Island in the Gulf of Thailand.
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