How to Speak to Yourself to Support Creativity

 Creativity flows in an atmosphere of support and encouragement but we all have an inner critic that speaks to us in ways that block that flow. Here is a list of things your inner voice can say instead according to your chakra colors. I also made them into pretty cards you can print and keep close.

On the new moon, I started a journey in my art journal to unblock my energy. Every time the moon changes phase, I create a new page in my journal to unblock a new chakra. I started on the new moon by creating a page in my journal to set my intentions. You can see below it’s the page with the rainbow colors emanating from the skeleton.

On the waxing crescent moon, I created a page in my journal to unblock my heart chakra. I also led a class where we played in our journals and worked with the MAP Method to release memories that cause us to withdraw in relationships, ignore our emotions or resist intimacy.

On the first quarter moon, I created a page in my journal to unblock my solar plexus chakra. I decided to pair anatomy with my energy centers so I drew a physical heart for the heart chakra and a digestive system for my solar plexus chakra.

On the full moon, I’ll be working on unblocking my sacral chakra which is the center of creativity. I will also be leading a class where we play with a variety of simple drawing exercises to unblock creativity and work with the MAP Method to release memories and beliefs that prevent us from trusting our creative impulses.

As I was preparing for the class and creating the MAP commands to accompany it, I remembered the ways we speak to ourselves deeply influence our ability to be creative.

We all have a voice inside our minds that naturally cautions us when we attempt to be creative but when that voice gets too loud or too mean, it stops the creative flow and forces us to procrastinate, lose our motivation, give up or dismiss our creative urges altogether. It becomes more powerful than the kind, supportive voices we should be listening to instead.

In the spirit of helping you develop a strong army of loving voices, I’ve created a rainbow of phrases your inner voice can collect so it becomes louder and stronger than any memories of discouraging, judging voices you accumulated from your past.

I also created a document that allows you to print and cut out the collection of rainbow inner voices.

The Red Inner Voice

The symbolism I associate with the color red includes safety, security, survival, belonging, finding a balance between our physical and spiritual lives, lust, anger, aggression, warmth, finding the energy to face your problems, weaving your spirituality into your everyday life and developing spiritual routines.

Red is the color of the root chakra which is located at the base of the spine. It forms the physical and psychological foundation in our lives. Physically, this is where the energy channels that carry life energy throughout the body begin. It is bound by earth energies. Psychologically, this chakra is connected to our survival needs and our physical existence so fears of life and death affect this chakra. Whether or not our basic physical needs are met also affect this chakra.

The cards I created for this color reflect things you can say to yourself so you (and your inner child) feel safe enough to create and try new things.

The Orange Inner Voice

The symbolism I associate with the color orange includes such concepts as attachment, creativity, joy, unresolved emotional issues, pride, depression, relationships, sexuality, inspiration and finding the courage to be yourself.

The color orange is also associated with the second chakra which is located in the lower abdomen, between the naval and genitals. It is associated with our need to express our creativity and expand our individuality by developing our own unique personality but it also is connected to our need to reach out and be connected to others. I also like to think of it as the place where I carry my destructive and creative forces. How and when do I destroy things? How and when do I create things?

This chakra is associated to our dreams and our desires. Do you allow yourself to experience pleasure? Do you allow yourself to experience the sweetness of life?

The cards I created for this color reflect things you can say to yourself to celebrate your creative nature.

The Yellow Inner Voice

The color yellow brings in the symbolism of the sun and the need to spend time outdoors. It is connected to our minds and thoughts and intellectual pursuits, overthinking and meditation. Spiritually, yellow represents trusting and following your intuition. It can also represent someone who receives an intuitive hit but overthinks or tries to intellectualize it and so ends up doubting their wisdom instead of trusting it.

The color yellow is connected to the Solar Plexus chakra which is located between the navel and the base of the sternum. Imagine a bright yellow sun in the middle of your body. This chakra manages the digestive process and organs, influenced the nervous system and immune system. Think of this chakra as the place where you digest your emotional experiences and thoughts not just your food. It shows us how well or how poorly the mind, heart and body are doing in relationship with each other.

This is also the center for our personal power. Do you believe in yourself? Can you speak up for yourself? Where do you take responsibility for your life and where do you play the victim? How well do you know your authentic self? Are you self-regulated or is a trauma response preventing you from mobilizing or taking action in your life? Are you able to master your thoughts and emotions or do they control you?

You can also think of your solar plexus chakra as your own personal yellow brick road. Can you stay on your own path or do you veer off of it unable to trust your own path or busy yourself by traveling on other people’s paths with or for them? When you trust your own path and walk it in your way and in your time, you are in agreement with your Spirit and the energy in your solar plexus chakra flows better.

Criticism, rejection, feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness block the energy in this chakra. The ability to love yourself, accept your mistakes, forgive yourself, face your shame and treat yourself with kindness helps this chakra flow peacefully.

The cards I created for this color reflect things you can say to yourself to trust your own creative path.

The Green Inner Voice

The color green brings to mind the colors of nature  ability to soothe and comfort us and regulate our nervous systems. The presence of nature emotionally, spiritually and energetically feeds us therefore it represents our connection with our Earth Mother. The themes of growth and life, vibrancy and connection are associated with this color. The color green is also associated to our relationship with money. Other associations include, herbs, plants, growth, abundance, harvest, unconditional love, prosperity, fertility and rejuvenation.

Green is the color of the heart chakra which is located in the center of the chest and interestingly enough, it emanates more energy than the brain does. This chakra is where we see issues around our connection between ourselves and others, our connection to the world and our connection to our spirit or divinity. It is a center devoted to love, relationships, compassion and the way we treat ourselves and others. 

There is a balance to be found in this chakra between taking care of yourself and taking care of others, between living with an open-heart and setting healthy boundaries. When the heart chakra is open, you feel a harmonious connection with life and other people. When the heart chakra is blocked or closed, you experience disconnection with life and other people. You have difficulty relating to other people and may experience things like being closed, shut down, withdrawn, co-dependent or jealous.

The cards I created for this color reflect things you can say to yourself to open your heart when you create.

The Blue Inner Voice

The color blue is associated with cooling, calming, protection, detoxifying, clearing, tranquility, stillness, the element of water, calm, trust, sincerity, wisdom, depth of understanding, unchanging dependability, depression, sadness and responsibility, depth and stability, knowledge and expertise, manifestation and integrity.

The color blue is also associated with the throat chakra which is, of course, located at the throat. It also includes things like our vocal cords, mouth, ears, thyroid and parathyroid and is the connector between your heart and your head. It is the center of communication and expression. Can you give voice to your truth? Do you speak up for yourself? Do you speak your thoughts and emotions? Do you honor and value your point of view.

I like to think of this chakra as expressing what is true for the other chakras or in other words, my energy expressed outward. For instance, how do I express my creativity (which is connected to my sacral chakra)? How do I express my connection to others (my heart chakra)? How do I express my power (my solar plexus)? It’s me expressing myself out into the world. It’s the sharing of my Self on canvas, in song, in movement, in conversation, in body language, or in my choices.

The cards I created for this color reflect things you can say to yourself to express your creative thoughts and feelings.

The Indigo Inner Voice

The color indigo is created by blending blue and violet so the properties of those colors can be considered as well. It is associated with such properties as intuition, inspiration, concentration, psychic and energetic clearing. It is a color often connected with spiritual growth, clarity and insight, mastering your thoughts, meditation, memories and your conscious and subconscious mind.

Indigo is also associated with the third eye chakra which is located in the middle of your forehead or above and between the eyebrows. Imagine the energy of the sun and the energy of the moon meeting at this point or the energy of earth and sky converging in this center.

On a spiritual level, this is the center where duality is said to melt away. In my Advaita training, the practice of non-duality was the practice of looking everywhere and seeing only one. Can we stop seeing the separation between you and I and instead focus on the greater unity of the universe? This kind of practice, I imagine, would help activate the third chakra. As would a practice I learned in my Druid studies where you are asked to stretch your mind to think in tertiary terms versus in duality. The practice is to push yourself to see all the gray areas between black and white or to stop seeing life as a series of opposites; good and evil, life and death, truth and falsehood, hot and cold and instead find other points of view that are either in the middle or over more to one side than the other or discover a completely different option that relates to the binary but balances it out in some way.

The division of everything into only two things ends up hiding more than it reveals and the third eye is all about revealing that which is hidden from normal view. This is why our inner sight or third eye is connected to this chakra. The energy of this chakra is like an invitation to peer through whoever we think we are or whatever we think we are doing and find the deeper truth underneath where everything and everyone is seen as holy and sacred.

The cards I created for this color reflect things you can say to yourself to trust your intuition when you create.

The Violet Inner Voice

I associate the color violet with the imagination, inspiration, higher wisdom, divine thought, spiritual enlightenment, transcending limitations, higher purpose, deeper meaning, eternal life, being guided by a higher power, universal consciousness and innocence. Violet is a combination of red, blue and white so it also contains the properties of red, blue and all colors (all colors blend to create white light).

I also associate violet with the crown chakra which is located above or on top of the head. Symbolically it represents spiritual enlightenment of that space where your individuality dissolves into the cosmic essence of oneness. It connects us to the higher realms and the experiences beyond the body. It is the meeting point between your spirit and the cosmos and between your body and your Spirit. This is where you may feel guided by a higher power or the source you go to when you want to act from a higher wisdom.

The cards I created for this color reflect things you can say to yourself to remind yourself you do not create alone.

Download the Cards Here

If your inner critic sometimes slows down or halts your creative process, download my cards, print them and cut them out then keep them in your near you when you create. Let them inspire the kind of self-talk that will fan the embers of your creativity into flames that help you trust your creative ideas and impulses.

Download the Cards Here

Don’t Miss Out on All the Fun

Join me on more of these spiritual adventures using your art journal!

Sign up to my email list and every new moon, I’ll send you a Creative Moon Cycle Guide. Each guide enters around an emotional or spiritual theme and includes art journal prompts for every phase of the moon cycle, color inspiration, tips for what plant, animal or astrological magic to include in your art and notes that explain the important points about the new moon and the full moon in that particular moon cycle.

with love,

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