"What a great idea! It's so simple and obvious, how come I've never
thought of this by myself?!" Does it sound familiar? You find yourself
wasting hours to think of a decent title for your essay when others seem
to have the most brilliant ideas for a successful businesses with no
particular efforts. Or in a science example, Archimedes made his
discovery simply having a bubble bath! The truth is that breakthrough
ideas are not an effortless accidental thoughts. It takes your whole
life, your whole knowledge and experience which at some point of time
fall into the right places giving you the "Aha!" moment or the "Bing!"
solution. Thus the question is how to make all those puzzle pieces fall
into the right places more often?
Scientists use advanced behavioural methods and cognitive neuroscience tools trying to find the answer. They have discovered that just before the "Aha!" moment strikes, the gamma waves flash in the brain's right hemisphere. The gamma flash demonstrates the creation of new neural pathways - the new idea. But just before that, alpha band activity occurs in the right visual cortex - area responsible for controlling our sight. Alpha waves are emitted during wakeful and relaxed mental states, usually with closed eyes limiting possible distractions. The right hemisphere of our brain is responsible for creative thinking. It is naturally suppressed by the logical left one, operating from the wake up til late night when making plans, solving issues, and being rational. And only when we stop thinking, relax, perhaps take a bath - that's when the brain sets into alpha mode and we have a chance to think outside the box without actually thinking (in a conscious and focused way).
Annette Swierzbinski (OthersAreUs.org) suggests that drawing is a great technique to awaken our right part of the brain. According to her, engagement in visual arts generates the kind of well being we experience through exercise. In her article "Paint Your Way Past Brain Freeze" she shares 3 ways to boost creativity using some paints and a brush:
* Start a day with a simple painting. Take it as a form of meditation, use vibrant colours and get kick started into a new day.
* Collaborate with others. Increase your capacity to trust, give up your ego, and accept ideas of others by giving them to finish your painting.
* Try unusual things. Paint on wood, use fingers, glue things onto the painting. Focus on the process over the product.
Entangle partner Fitin.lt invites you to join "Art Therapy" sessions conducted by our certified trainer Rūta. Playing with colours and forms you will feed your right part of the brain, tune to alpha mode and perhaps find the breakthrough answers you were looking for.
Reference: BrainWorld, issue 4, vol 3
Scientists use advanced behavioural methods and cognitive neuroscience tools trying to find the answer. They have discovered that just before the "Aha!" moment strikes, the gamma waves flash in the brain's right hemisphere. The gamma flash demonstrates the creation of new neural pathways - the new idea. But just before that, alpha band activity occurs in the right visual cortex - area responsible for controlling our sight. Alpha waves are emitted during wakeful and relaxed mental states, usually with closed eyes limiting possible distractions. The right hemisphere of our brain is responsible for creative thinking. It is naturally suppressed by the logical left one, operating from the wake up til late night when making plans, solving issues, and being rational. And only when we stop thinking, relax, perhaps take a bath - that's when the brain sets into alpha mode and we have a chance to think outside the box without actually thinking (in a conscious and focused way).
Annette Swierzbinski (OthersAreUs.org) suggests that drawing is a great technique to awaken our right part of the brain. According to her, engagement in visual arts generates the kind of well being we experience through exercise. In her article "Paint Your Way Past Brain Freeze" she shares 3 ways to boost creativity using some paints and a brush:
* Start a day with a simple painting. Take it as a form of meditation, use vibrant colours and get kick started into a new day.
* Collaborate with others. Increase your capacity to trust, give up your ego, and accept ideas of others by giving them to finish your painting.
* Try unusual things. Paint on wood, use fingers, glue things onto the painting. Focus on the process over the product.
Entangle partner Fitin.lt invites you to join "Art Therapy" sessions conducted by our certified trainer Rūta. Playing with colours and forms you will feed your right part of the brain, tune to alpha mode and perhaps find the breakthrough answers you were looking for.
Reference: BrainWorld, issue 4, vol 3
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