Spark Your Musical Creativity with Breathing and Essential Oils

April 1, 2021

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Creativity goes far beyond your artistic outlets—it’s about doing something meaningful, giving you a sense of purpose. Acting on your creativity comes with a bonus side effect of living longer, because being creative reduces stress and keeps your brain active.

Not that you needed those stats to want to continue to love and foster your musical outlet, but you might be wondering how you can tap into your creativity more. How can you spark those creative juices?

My short answer is … breathe.

You know that your brain needs a constant supply of oxygen to survive. In fact, your brain uses 20% of the oxygen and blood in your body. But when you start breathing with intention and focusing on how you’re breathing, you can ignite a new flow of energy. Breathing purposefully can calm your emotions, help remove stress, bring about inspiration, enhance memory recall, and give a sense of mental clarity. All of which allow you to tap deeper into your creative state.

Your brain processes sound on the opposite sides of the head, so I’m going to teach you a breathing technique that’s done on only one side at a time and also stimulates the opposite side of the brain. Breathing through the left nostril is calming and soothing, while breathing through the right nostril is stimulating and energizing. Utilizing this technique in full will help you lower stress levels and heart rate, improve respiratory and cardiovascular health and allow your creative energy to flow freely.

Alternate Nostril Breathing Technique

1. Start by setting a timer for 2-5 minutes.
2. Sit comfortably, ideally with a tall spine, close your eyes, and focus on your natural rhythm of breath.
3. Place your right index and middle fingers in the center of your eyebrows, leaving your pinky, thumb, and ring finger loose. Your left hand can be placed palm up on your left leg/knee.
4. Close your right nostril, gently, with you right thumb, slowly inhale, and exhale deeply through left nostril.
5. Alternate nostrils for 2-5 minutes, mimicking hand positions for the opposite side.
6. Make sure to complete your final round through the left nostril (even if the timer has gone off). Slowly open your eyes and begin your creative activity.

I’m all about healthy habit stacking, so after you’ve added your new alternate nostril breathing technique into your routine, you can enhance the practice even further by adding an essential oil to the mix.

Aromatically interacting with an essential oil can alter your mood within 10 seconds. A great way to do this is by using an ultrasonic diffuser to push the aromatic compounds of the essential oil into the air you’re breathing. Topical application is also extremely beneficial. Apply the oil to one or two of your easily accessible pulse points (on the wrists, over your heart, inside of your elbow bend, and on your neck), or put a couple drops on the palms of your hands and deeply inhale. Regardless of how you use the essential oil, it will reach every cell in your body within 20 minutes—so it is a natural, fast-acting, safe, and convenient way to help control your mood and emotions.

Some oils that spark creativity and help with your creative blocks are: wild orange, tangerine, and clary sage. Let’s dive a little deeper into tangerine though, as this is the oil of cheer and creativity.

Tangerine—Oil of Cheer and Creativity

The tangerine fruit has been used throughout history in Chinese culture and herbal health practices. Tangerine is unique among citrus oils because of its diverse chemical makeup. Not only is it rich in limonene, but it also includes significant amounts of alpha-pinene, myrcene, and even linalool. This allows tangerine to be emotionally uplifting while also calming when experienced aromatically.

Tangerine essential oil smells sweet and tangy. It invites you to make room for your creative side, inserting fun, joy, and spontaneity. When you’re feeling stifled creatively, overworked, heavy-hearted, or joyless, the scent of tangerine can quickly turn those feelings into positive emotions bringing cheer and evoking creativity. 

Both breathing and using essential oils are not just easy with fast-acting results, but they both come with a myriad of health benefits. So, if you’re open to these two natural solutions, I encourage you to implement them and begin your empowered journey to convenient and safe practices to help you deepen your creativity.

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