Creative Block? It’s Not You, It’s Your Brain Stem. By Orna Ross.
Posted on January 23, 2013 by admin
Not managing to bring what you want into being? The conventional response is that you are a weak-willed, indisciplined, good-for-nothing self-sabotager. The truth is that your subconscious is kicking in your brain stem, often known as your “lizard brain”.
This is the part of your brain that controls bodily functions like respiration, digestion and circulation.
Your creative self is activated by the cerebral cortex, (the “learning brain”), responsible for sensory and motor function, problem solving, expression, converting short-term memory to long-term and future planning and motivation.
Beating up on yourself for not being disciplined doesn’t solve the problem; it’s part of it. When we’re stressed (and nothing stresses us like stern self-talk) our cortex is closed down, and higher-level brain functions like innovation and creation are dismissed as trivial.
The tension between these two can, if unaddressed, last for days or, in extreme cases, years.
To get back on the creative track, cut through the self-criticism with some F-R-E-E-Writing or Inspiration Meditation.
This part of the brain also protects us unconsciously and kicks into gear sometimes to protect us from potential ridicule and shame. It’s quite amusing how the other parts of our brain can be so creative at stopping us from being creative.