Sound: The Neuroscience of Creative Flow Podcast

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Have you experienced a creative flow state?

A time where you’ve lost your sense of self while making art?

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If you have, you know, it’s a high most artists chase.

But as artists, how do we get to a flow state intentionally?

How do we break into spontaneous creativity and out of creative blockers?

In an older episode of WNYC’s Studio 360 Science Creativity Series Podcast, Dr. Heather Berlin gives insight into what’s happening in our brain when we make art, by sharing some of the research constructed on the brains of rappers and jazz musicians as they improvise.

Just think about it - the cognitive challenge for battling rappers, they quickly create and rattle off continuous phrases, usually make them rhyme, all while improvising a melody and rhythm on top of a beat.

In a similar way, Jazz musicians can be challenged to interpret basic patterns or improvise around those patterns. Dr. Berlin’s studies show that the more a rapper reached a flow state, or a jazz musician got lost in improvising, the easier it became for their brain to be spontaneously creative.

You could have guessed it - the influence of external ideas and pressures impacts creativity.

Our no-inhibition, unconscious brain is actually able to handle more complex processing.

So … are you telling me - don’t stress about making art and I’ll make more?

Not surprising.

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I guess it’s time to let our unconscious parts of the brain do the work for us.

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Check out the podcast (it’s only 8 minutes), or just take this friendly note as a reminder …

Take a walk away from your “inner critic” when you’re feeling creatively blocked.

Do whatever it takes to let your unconscious self take over so you can reach that creative flow state with ease.