Creativity

Watch Your Breath to Boost Creativity & Heighten Your Intuition

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woman sitting on brown stone near green leaf trees at daytime

When it comes to enhancing your creativity or intuition—because the two work together synergistically—you don’t need elaborate rituals or fancy tools to tune into these natural abilities you have available to you.

Here’s all I want you to do to boost your creativity… Simply watch your breath.

Sounds silly or too simple, right?

Watch your breath. It’s such a natural body behavior that often we don’t stop to think about how we are breathing.

Did you know that your breath indicates what’s happening in your body?

When your breath is deep and flowing naturally, do you think your creativity and intuition might flow more easily to you? It most certainly does!

When we are stressed or scared, how we breathe directly reflects that—by showing up as rapid, shallow, or inconsistent—and also reinforces those feelings.

So, this practical action step is to stop and observe how you are breathing—to see how the flow of energy is coming to and through you.

So, I challenge you to set a reminder on your phone every 3-4 hours to check on the state of your breath. Place one hand on your chest and the other on your belly.

Silently observe and notice how each breath feels as it enters your nose or mouth, how it travels down your throat and into your chest and lungs, and how your body opens up to receive that life-giving oxygen. Feel every step of your breath through your body. How does it feel for you at that very moment?

And assess… How is your breathing?

  • Where does your breath go: into your belly, expanding your chest, or raising your shoulders?
  • Are you restricting your breath somewhere—not breathing as deeply or in short bursts?
  • Does your body feel stiff? Are you holding your belly in?
  • Do you find yourself actually holding your breath sometimes? I have!

Then, take a few deep breaths until your body relaxes into its natural breathing rhythm again.

Air, just like creativity and intuition, is energy. And it’s abundant and available to you.

Everything is energy. How you let it flow into you will directly reflect how you breathe. So, pay attention.

Return to your breath as often as you can. Simply bringing awareness to your breathing can help you develop more of an awareness of how your body feels throughout the day, how your intuition is speaking to you, and how your creativity wants to move through you.

When you remember to focus on the breath, you focus on the energy flow in and out of your body.

Now, imagine when you breathe in, you breathe in creativity and intuitive connection to the greater divine.

And that’s when your abilities open up more… Give this exercise a try and see how it opens up your capacity for creativity and intuition.

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If you like this exercise, I have a gift for you! Get your free guidebook of 9 Ways to Romance Your Creative Muse here to amplify your self-care routines to court your creative muse into working with you more consistently.

What a Little Star Can Do

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flowers on opened book

When I tell you this blew my mind… It BLEW. My. MIND.

Now, before I sit down to edit any client’s book, I have a little ritual I partake in. Goes a little something like this…

I take a few deep breaths. Maybe I move my body around a little to release any stagnant energy. And I go to my crystal collection. I pick out whichever crystals feel supportive for the particular book I’m working on. Each time, my little crinoid fossil star wants to be included when I’m editing.

Every time.

Considering I’m a bit of a crystal junkie, I feel like I should have known the significance of this little star-shaped fossil, but I didn’t. I just liked that they were ancient fossils in the shape of stars and they were quite affordable, so I got a few.

Right before a recent book reading—not to be confused for reading a book, but an intuitive reading for someone’s book—this crystal was like, “Pick me!” Just like normal.

When I do the intuitive readings, I share which helpers (crystals, plants, songs, etc.) come along and what their properties are, and I realized I never actually looked up what these little crystals meant.

And when I looked it up, I found this:

“Fossils are thought to be a wonderful tool to assist you in moving from the old to the new and to be receptive to the fresh, innovative forces that are available to you. Fossils may assist you in your quest for transition, transformation, and personal growth, helping you to understand the process of change. They may also help you instill quality and excellence in your environment.” – Source

Um, WHAT? I didn’t even know this, and I love how supportive this little fossil is for the work I do—which is literally to take something and transform it into its best form. I take books and content from their previous form to a polished form while offering a fresh perspective on how to elevate their words and stories.

And me being me, I do my best to instill quality and excellence in everything I do, particularly when it comes to my work.

But how cool is that? That the stone I’ve been selecting for my editing work is perhaps one of the most perfect stones I could have found to support me in it. What a fun discovery about a little stone that’s been part of my work process for the past couple of years!

I also love that these crinoid star stems—which stem from ancient fossilized sea lilies—have also been known as fairy coins. I’d believe it. 😉

Are you a crystal junkie like me?
What crystals do you feel drawn to all the time?
And have you looked up their spiritual/metaphysical properties yet?

Fun little practice if you haven’t tried it yet…

What’s in a Name?

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white and black scrabble tiles on a white surface

Do you know the story of your name?

People always ask me the origin of mine.

“Is it Russian?” Nope. “Hebrew?” Nope.

Basically… My mom wanted to name me Michal, pronounced like Michael, (inspired by one of her friend’s names). And my dad said no.

So, they adapted it and it became more… feminine, I guess?

Well, my mom still got her wish because I cannot count how many times during roll call where “Michael” was called to an overwhelming silence, or where other Michaels in the room hollered out (happened at Starbucks not so long ago), or until they say, “Michael Short?”

And my little voice chimed in from the back with a waving arm, “It’s Mikael!”

Like Michelle but with a K. Mickelle, or like a fairly common spelling McKell. My nickname is Kel, so just add the “Mc” on it. XD

Honestly, if I could be known by just my first name—like Madonna, Beyonce, or Rihanna—I would be thrilled! I love my name that much.

What I don’t really love is how often it’s mispronounced. Correcting people all the time gets exhausting (even if it is part of my job as an editor).

And sometimes correcting folks still doesn’t work. I’ve been called Mikale, Mikayla, Mikella, etc., so many times by folks, even people I’ve known for years, that I’m surprised I haven’t had an identity crisis.

I still remember the essay I wrote, not so subtly directed to my third-grade teacher who consistently emphasized the A in my name—like Mikale. It grated on my skin like a cat’s claws. I really dislike the A being pronounced like that. Her note on my essay read, “Gee, I hope I don’t do that!” Yet her pronunciation didn’t change…

There was one person I allowed to emphasize the A—my paternal grandfather because it’s how he said my name with his slightly remaining English accent, and I loved that his accent crept in on certain words. The way he said the A in my name was more subtle, so it was endearing coming from him.

Occasionally, I’ll allow my brothers and family to call me Michael, as a joke, and I’ll still respond to them. Mostly.

(It’s also oh-so-fun when I get mistaken for a “Michael” over email, and someone responds, “Hey Mike”… I’m not a Mike. Check the signature, folks. XD )

Now that I’ve moved to a multicultural city, I’ve gotten a whole new world of pronunciations for the spelling of my name. I didn’t realize it was such a common spelling throughout the world! The pronunciations differ, and that’s fascinating in itself.

“Mik-AH-yel”… The Spanish pronunciation, for one.

“Meek-AY- il” … Russian-esque.

“MEEK-ell” … French & Swedish—though I do have ancestry from both countries!

There are probably more; those are just the ones I’ve heard most often. It’s been so cool to hear the variations of Mikael!

I feel like my name carries a certain frequency within its spelling and how it’s supposed to be said for my person. All names do, I believe.

And part of me wishes it would be pronounced right more frequently, but what can you do? I know I’m not alone in having to explain how to pronounce my name during introductions.

So, the gift of my name also presents a practice in patience in correcting folks when it’s mispronounced. Which is also a practice in speaking up for myself, I’m now realizing, instead of just letting mispronunciations slide.

That’s why when someone does say my name right the first time, it’s blooming music to my ears and I feel so seen.

(A coach I admire—Amanda Frances—said it correctly recently when she called out a comment I left on one of her livestream events, and my goodness… Can’t remember the last time I felt so elated when someone said my name right the first time without having to ask!)

Overall, though, I feel like our names are important. Names set the stage for the life and the person of who we are. Our names, whether bestowed or chosen, shape us one way or another.

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It’s really fun to look up the meanings of our names too… Have you done that before?

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With my unique spelling and pronunciation, I feel like that means I’m just meant to embrace my uniqueness—to love who I am as a fully individualized human (something I think we are all here to learn).

To embrace all the different pieces of me, no matter how esoteric or unusual they are.

To embrace my unique desires and wants, since I never really wanted much of what was modeled to me growing up—I already know I’m a generational curse breaker.

To embrace the ways I feel called to express myself even if it’s not considered the so-called “right way” to promote myself and my work.

And it’s a reminder to stand up and be my own person—to be brave enough to shape my own destiny.

Your name is your name. And you get to choose how you say it and how people address you. There’s power in your name… just as there is power in you.

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As a fun writing challenge, look up or align the meanings of the character names in your book.

I keep a “spark note” of names I might like to use in future books.

Perhaps you can start a note like that for yourself!

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If you have a unique spelling to your name, love the story of your name, feel free to hit reply or drop it in the comments!

Discovering My Favorite Playing Field

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One place I know very well is the keyboard.

Not entirely sure what was driving me, but I just knew I wanted to be excellent at typing. All in all, I was a little obsessive with knowing the keyboard inside and out; it was my favorite class for that semester in middle school. It felt easy, but still like a challenge that I knew I could master. Something I knew I could be efficient in. (Do I sound like a projector yet?)

How funny is it that now I find such solace in closing my eyes and let my fingers fly over the keyboard, not having to look down. Knowing instinctually when I make a mistake, and my little right pinkie knows exactly where to pop out for the backspace button so I can keep going without missing a wink.

(Not to say I don’t make mistakes when I’m typing, but they are often minimal. Still proofreading this piece!)

The Bluetooth typewriter keyboard my love gifted me on my last birthday—one of the rare gifts that made me cry happy tears.

And I just realized… my playing field is the keyboard. I love to play here, whether or not I’m looking at it. I can watch the TV and keep typing without having to look at down. Or, like I said before, close my eyes and tune in and see what wants to come through them… My fingers know exactly where to sit so I can hit any key I need to from any point.

And being able to type without looking is so helpful for automatic, channeled writing (how this post started!)… That way I just let the words flow without having to worry about where the keys are on the keypads. I just know, my fingers know—it’s practically second nature to me. So, I’m really grateful to my younger self who found such passion and pleasure in mastering something that would serve her for her entire life…

Aside from choir and theater, my computer classes were my favorite. I loved creating things on computers: I loved writing, especially. I spent my free time writing books on my dads’ computers. Then I learned to and loved building websites. I loved coding. I loved making graphics.

Truthfully, I should change that to LOVE because I still love doing these things, and more—where knowing the keyboard landscape further serves me. And those I work with for that matter!

Somehow this is what’s magical to me right now.

And why is this playing field making itself known now?

Perhaps it’s because I’ve been watching a bit of Grey’s Anatomy this week as my recent obsession with Shonda Rhimes has taken root, and I wanted to see her work at work. Which has been very fun from a writer’s perspective.

And an epsiode I watched, one from the first season when Meredith is wondering if she’s cut out for the job as a surgeon… And she ends the episode talking about how she “loves the playing field”.

And it came to me… This is my playing field. Having a keyboard and a computer in front of my to fill the page with words, stories, pretty photos, or graphics. This is my playing field and I love it. And the thing is, it’s not my only playing field, because I also have my imagination as well…

But this is the playing field that helps me to concretize the playing field of my imagination into something real. Something I can save or print or share online. That’s pretty cool!

While I love writing long hand, especially for journaling… Something about typing on a computer keyboard just brings me peace. Doesn’t even matter what I’m writing.

Because it all feels like play to me. When I’m writing my novels, blogs, or even social posts for my business, something about writing on a keyboard is endlessly fun to me. It’s not so much about crafting the perfect sentence or using big or extravagant words… Just the act of putting words on the page through my fingers. I love it.

Maybe this is why the blank page never frightened me. One of the biggest blocks and fears for many writers is the blank page… but for me, I can look at that page and see possibilities instead, and my fingers itch above the keyboard just to add something to it.

When you know something that well… it’s easier to play in it—to explore and experiment. What a delight that is!

What is it you’ve mastered that’s changed or served your life in ways you couldn’t anticipate? What is your “field” for your work, and how can you see it more as a place of play than just a place to do the work?

No matter what work you do, if you can look at the work through a lens of play…

You win.