I recently discovered an amazing new technique for overcoming writers’ block and other temporary lapses in creativity:  screaming and crying.

I was sitting at home trying to write an article, but staring at a blank computer screen instead.  As I stared down the screen, my frustration at my lack of productivity mounted.  After about half an hour, my irritation had grown to a point where I was sure I would scream if I didn’t take a break.  Normally, in these situations, I turn my attention to something else, like making a call, checking e-mail or listening to music, in the hope that when I get back to my writing my irritation will have died down and my creative juices resumed flowing.

This time, however, I decided to try an experiment.  I found a comfortable position on the floor, and fully vented my frustration with my writers’ block.  I grunted, howled, groaned and even cried a few tears.  I rolled around a bit.  I pounded my fists on the carpet.

When I picked myself up off the ground and returned to my chair, I noticed that the muscles on the left side of my solar plexus felt a little looser.  By expressing my irritation at my creative lapse, I’d released tension in my abdomen that I hadn’t even known was there before.  With this relaxation came a sense of inner spaciousness, calm and focus.  Not only did I feel more comfortable after venting—I suddenly felt brimming with ideas, and quickly cranked out another piece.

This experience, and similar experiments I did afterward, revolutionized my understanding of writers’ block.  Before, I’d seen that depressing mental blankness as beyond my control.  I thought it was just a phase I had to go through at various times of day—and sometimes for days on end—and that nothing I did, thought or felt could remedy it.

Now, however, I’ve come to believe that at least some cases of writers’ block result from accumulated tension in the body.  This is because contracting your muscles—holding on to that tension—diverts your energy and attention from creative activities.  In other words, by tensing up, you use up energy you’d otherwise be devoting to the task you’re trying to do.

I’ve since found that expressing emotions to release tension in my body helps me in a variety of different situations.  For instance, if I’m about to go to a social occasion and I feel some nervous tension in my body as I think about it, I take that as my cue to get down on the floor and growl and thrash around for a few minutes.  Most of the time, this releases the tension in my body and helps me to focus and enjoy myself.

Of course, I’m not the first to observe that releasing emotions, and thus dissipating tension in the body, stimulates creativity.  As somatic psychologist Susan Aposhyan writes in Body-Mind Psychotherapy, “unconscious or habitualized emotional repression limits vitality, creativity, communication, and growth.”  Similarly, psychologist Robert J. McBrien, who studied the positive impact of emotional release through laughter on patients’ brain functioning, writes that “[t]he release of tension from laughter can free cognitive blocks,” and that “this promotes creativity, shared problem solving and enhanced cooperation.”

The next time you find yourself in a creative rut, you might try this exercise.  Instead of turning away from your task to do something else, or beating yourself up for being unproductive, find a place where you can be comfortable and undisturbed for a few minutes.  Then, do whatever you need to do—short of hurting yourself—to express how you’re feeling about your creative block.  This may involve making a noise, or breathing into or stretching part of your body where tension has accumulated.  Continue until you feel a sense of relaxation or spaciousness in your body that you weren’t experiencing before.

I suspect you’ll find this a helpful, enjoyable and often amusing way to regain your focus and creative inspiration.

(This article appeared in the Energies of Creation Carnival, located at http://www.energiesofcreation.com/carnival-of-creative-growth/carnival27/.)

Related posts:

1. Embracing Writer’s Block, Part 4: We’re Creative In Every Moment
2. To Be Creative, Let Go Of Your Identity
3. To Be Creative, Step Outside The Survival Mindset
4. Embracing Writer’s Block, Part 3: The Creative Test of Faith
5. Guest Post at Explore Your Spirit: “A Spiritual Solution to Writer’s Block”