Meditation & Mindfulness

The benefits of meditation and mindfulness for creatives and performers are numerous.

by Mihaela Ivan Holtz, Psy.D, LMFT

As a creative and performer you need to be in touch with your inner space and sense of self. At the same time, you have multiple demands that require your attention. Your creative and performing space can easily get crowded with normal life stress, worries, fears, relationship issues… even the good life events. Sometimes, becoming challenging to remain present when you need it most.

Finding Equanimity

Meditation is the practice of being present and aware of the in-the-now moment with equanimity. As equanimity, comes from the Latin “equal spirit,” it means being “OK” with what is going on in-the-now, regardless of what that moment presents.

This does not mean that you have to like the present moment! It means that you do not have to become reactive, be in denial, or act out about the present moment. You can learn to choose your reaction.

Meditation on the Go

While meditation requires you to devote time to be with yourself, mindfulness is more like meditation on the go.

Mindfulness allows you to practice being in present moment while doing work, connecting with people, even watching a show… engaged with different people, activities, and situations.

Meditation and mindfulness practices are effective in developing more clarity about the present moment, responding from an emotional cleaner place, and having more access to your abilities. This is the emotional space that allows one to respond in ways that can create more desirable outcomes, connect at deeper levels, be more creative, experience more flow states… just to name a few.

Often, I include meditation and mindfulness in working with creatives and performers, as I can see the benefits for:

• Decreased anxiety, depression, and addictive behaviors
• Increased mental clarity when things get too much
• Increased ability to cope with difficult people or challenging relationships
• Increased ability to deal with feelings
• Redirect natural stress responses

And, most importantly, meditation and mindfulness can connect you with flow states, that mind space where creating and performing becomes natural.