{"id":1789,"date":"2025-04-11T18:27:39","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T16:27:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/creativityhelm.com\/?p=1789"},"modified":"2025-05-02T16:24:33","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T14:24:33","slug":"mental-practice-and-creativity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/creativityhelm.com\/?p=1789","title":{"rendered":"Mental practice (and creativity)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

How imagining doing something can be (almost) just as good as actually doing it<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Many moons ago, I was preparing for a piano exam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reader, I was a wreck, to the point where the morning of the day of the exam I was so anxious I ate an entire pack of sweet biscuits, one after the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few months before the exam I was sick (not biscuit-related!) and ended up spending a few days in bed. Of course, this meant no piano practice, the thought of sitting up too much, let alone sitting at the piano.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But even now (all these moons later) I remember lying in bed and thinking about one of the pieces in particular. I imagined myself playing it over and over again, the notes running through my head as if I were really hearing them and really playing them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It turns out that I was<\/em> still practicing, mentally practicing<\/em>, to be exact, even if I didn\u2019t touch a single key, and even if I never thought about it that way at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, yes, I did pass the exam, all those biscuits notwithstanding!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

What is mental practice?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When we imagine doing something, especially a physical or sensory activity such as piano, drawing, dancing, or a sporting activity, our brains activate similar areas to those we use when we actually do whatever it is. The same muscles are activated, too, even if it doesn\u2019t seem as if they\u2019re doing anything at all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The technical term for this is mental practice<\/a><\/em> or <\/a>mental rehearsal<\/a><\/em>. It\u2019s already a longstanding technique used by, for example, athletes, musicians, artists, and surgeons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s also proven to be incredibly beneficial as a form of therapy for stroke patients<\/a> and in other kinds of rehabilitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Mental practice and music<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You definitely don\u2019t have to be an experienced musician to try this out or to reap the benefits. Nor do you have to be able to read music. You just need to pick a song or a piece of music with which you\u2019re already familiar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are a few things to keep in mind:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n