Keep calm and meditate on to get the creative juices flowing, says this Latvian coach 

It is said that meditation opens up the mind and brings with it a sense of peace and stillness. Seen harnessing the same power of meditation to enhance creativity at the Rock Lawns of Hyderabad Public School during the Hyderabad Literary Festival was Agnija Kazuša from Latvia, Europe. This certified wellness and mindfulness coach was introduced to meditation by monks three years ago at a retreat in Thailand. And since then, she has been to several countries in Europe like Serbia, Spain and more, helping people harness the same power to be better individuals, creatively.

Kazuša conducted Meditation and Creativity workshops at the Hyderabad Literary Festival recently. As a tip to combat writer's block, Kazuša suggests that a change of environment might help 

Like many of us, Kazuša used to think that creativity is a power that only artists possess, but meditation helped her realise that, "creativity is nothing but an ability that comes from the mind. Also, creativity is not about being an artist alone; it is about being the artist and designer of your own life," which everyone is capable of doing. But it doesn't end with putting on your thinking caps. It is important to still the mind too because it is in a still mind that creativity thrives and "this is where meditation comes into play," says the 32-year-old. 

Negativity is the enemy of creativity and a positive mindset is important to harness its power

Agnija Kazuša, Certified wellness and mindfulness coach

After starting the session with her personal story of how she wanted to be a published author but thought that she needed to be more creative in order to do so, she takes the participants of her workshop through a 20 to 25-minute guided meditation using three techniques — breathing, visualisation and mantra chanting. And when the brain waves switch from beta, a state of worry and nervousness, to alpha and then eventually to zeta, tranquillity descends and creativity is unleashed, explains Kazuša. Of course, it does take some amount of practice. 

As meditation is not new to India, when Kazuša conducts workshops in India, she finds that people use their own technique to meditate like concentrating on a body part or the third eye, and she welcomes it all  

But creativity is like a muscle that needs exercising. Once it is in form, one tends to integrate it with everything. "It becomes a lifestyle without you even noticing and before you know it, you become the designer of your life," she affirms, adding that many ideas come to her during meditation.

Be still: Kazuša conducting a workshop at HLF

Another factor that affects creativity is the organisation of the physical spaces around us. "As an exercise, I ask members to go back home and arrange the space around them and send me before and after pictures," says Kazuša, who is in Hyderabad till the 17th of this month, as she is conducting workshops for Apollo Theatre as well. She calls Hyderabad her home in India because she has worked with Oakridge International School here before. "What I love about Hyderabad is the diversity, climate and of course, the biryani," she laughs.