How to Be Imaginative

Relax your mind for meditation., Spend time with imaginative people., Tell stories about your life., Develop habits of curiosity., Maintain a healthy lifestyle for your imagination., Perform exercises to spark your imagination.

6 Steps 4 min read Medium

Step-by-Step Guide

  1. Step 1: Relax your mind for meditation.

    To be imaginative, you first need a mind that is prepared to create new thoughts.

    Resting your mind allows room to learn new things and be more creative.

    Adopt a meditation practice to calm and rest your mind on a regular basis.One meditation practice involves deep breathing.

    Suck in air and breathe out from your abdomen.

    Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.Another technique is to focus on different body parts, pushing all other thoughts out.

    Lie still and move from one body part to the next.

    Yet another technique is called mindfulness meditation.

    It involves getting in a comfortable position and finding a point to focus on.

    Continue to turn your mind toward this focus point as you sit in silence.
  2. Step 2: Spend time with imaginative people.

    To encourage imagination in yourself, find people who are imaginative.

    Pay attention to their daily habits and imitate them.

    Talk to these people about your ideas to get your creativity flowing.Children tend to be naturally imaginative, for example, so they might make good company.

    You could also seek out artists or writers.

    Ask an imaginative person to sit and brainstorm about an idea with you.

    Watch their creative process.

    Where do they get ideas from? You might be sitting down to a meal with a creative person and ask them, “Would you mind letting me bounce some ideas off of you really quick?” Think of a project you have going on at home and ask for their perspective.

    If you’re adding a room onto your house, ask the imaginative person how they might decorate it.

    Offer to take your kids or nieces and nephews to a creative place like the zoo or a kids' play place to see their imagination in action. , Telling a story forces you to be creative and imagine new things.

    You can start with an event that really happened to you, but add fictional elements as you go along to make it more interesting.

    Before you know it, you will notice that you are being imaginative.You could try playing a story game with friends.

    Have a group of friends sit in a circle.

    One person starts by opening the story with a sentence.

    Each person adds only one sentence, taking turns around the circle.

    Eventually someone ends the story.

    You could tell a story by writing a short story on your own.

    Imagine you are telling it to an audience as you write to help you visualize the characters and actions. , The best way to get your imagination going is to be curious.

    Everywhere you go, try to think like a curious child.

    Act on your curious impulses.

    Ask lots of questions any time you are in a new place or around a new person.

    Touch things that pique your interest to see how they feel.Be like a preschooler who walks into a new situation and looks for things they don’t understand.

    Go over and look at items you have never seen before.

    Be bold with your questions.

    If there is a speaker, raise your hand and ask questions about what they are saying.

    Constantly ask yourself, “What is that over there?” or say to yourself, “I wonder what will happen if I…” , To help your mind stay clear and active, leaving room for the imagination to prosper, take steps to be healthy.

    If you eat a lot of junk food and lay around on the couch all day, you usually lack energy and motivation.

    When you are active and eating right, you tend to feel better.

    Being active with your body can help your imagination be active, too.

    Do healthy things like drink a lot of water, eat with other people, plan out healthy foods, take herbal supplements, and so on.Stay active by joining a class at the gym or getting a workout partner. , To help get your imaginative juices flowing, you might consider brainstorming or doing other things to be imaginative.

    To brainstorm, start a list and write down every wild, creative idea that comes you.

    Another exercise to challenge your imagination is to take out a paintbrush and start putting strokes on a piece of paper.

    Other ideas to promote creativity include getting out crayons and a coloring book to start coloring, or even opening a document on your computer to start writing a story.

    You could also be imaginative by getting out a hammer, nails, and saw and building something with wood.

    Ask artistic friends if you can join them in their activities.
  3. Step 3: Tell stories about your life.

  4. Step 4: Develop habits of curiosity.

  5. Step 5: Maintain a healthy lifestyle for your imagination.

  6. Step 6: Perform exercises to spark your imagination.

Detailed Guide

To be imaginative, you first need a mind that is prepared to create new thoughts.

Resting your mind allows room to learn new things and be more creative.

Adopt a meditation practice to calm and rest your mind on a regular basis.One meditation practice involves deep breathing.

Suck in air and breathe out from your abdomen.

Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.Another technique is to focus on different body parts, pushing all other thoughts out.

Lie still and move from one body part to the next.

Yet another technique is called mindfulness meditation.

It involves getting in a comfortable position and finding a point to focus on.

Continue to turn your mind toward this focus point as you sit in silence.

To encourage imagination in yourself, find people who are imaginative.

Pay attention to their daily habits and imitate them.

Talk to these people about your ideas to get your creativity flowing.Children tend to be naturally imaginative, for example, so they might make good company.

You could also seek out artists or writers.

Ask an imaginative person to sit and brainstorm about an idea with you.

Watch their creative process.

Where do they get ideas from? You might be sitting down to a meal with a creative person and ask them, “Would you mind letting me bounce some ideas off of you really quick?” Think of a project you have going on at home and ask for their perspective.

If you’re adding a room onto your house, ask the imaginative person how they might decorate it.

Offer to take your kids or nieces and nephews to a creative place like the zoo or a kids' play place to see their imagination in action. , Telling a story forces you to be creative and imagine new things.

You can start with an event that really happened to you, but add fictional elements as you go along to make it more interesting.

Before you know it, you will notice that you are being imaginative.You could try playing a story game with friends.

Have a group of friends sit in a circle.

One person starts by opening the story with a sentence.

Each person adds only one sentence, taking turns around the circle.

Eventually someone ends the story.

You could tell a story by writing a short story on your own.

Imagine you are telling it to an audience as you write to help you visualize the characters and actions. , The best way to get your imagination going is to be curious.

Everywhere you go, try to think like a curious child.

Act on your curious impulses.

Ask lots of questions any time you are in a new place or around a new person.

Touch things that pique your interest to see how they feel.Be like a preschooler who walks into a new situation and looks for things they don’t understand.

Go over and look at items you have never seen before.

Be bold with your questions.

If there is a speaker, raise your hand and ask questions about what they are saying.

Constantly ask yourself, “What is that over there?” or say to yourself, “I wonder what will happen if I…” , To help your mind stay clear and active, leaving room for the imagination to prosper, take steps to be healthy.

If you eat a lot of junk food and lay around on the couch all day, you usually lack energy and motivation.

When you are active and eating right, you tend to feel better.

Being active with your body can help your imagination be active, too.

Do healthy things like drink a lot of water, eat with other people, plan out healthy foods, take herbal supplements, and so on.Stay active by joining a class at the gym or getting a workout partner. , To help get your imaginative juices flowing, you might consider brainstorming or doing other things to be imaginative.

To brainstorm, start a list and write down every wild, creative idea that comes you.

Another exercise to challenge your imagination is to take out a paintbrush and start putting strokes on a piece of paper.

Other ideas to promote creativity include getting out crayons and a coloring book to start coloring, or even opening a document on your computer to start writing a story.

You could also be imaginative by getting out a hammer, nails, and saw and building something with wood.

Ask artistic friends if you can join them in their activities.

About the Author

J

Jack Jones

Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow cooking tutorials.

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