MINDFULNESS IN CREATIVE PRACTICE: A MIDDLE EASTERN PERSPECTIVE ON WELLBEING IN DESIGN

Mindfulness, defined as non-judgmental awareness of surroundings, feelings, thoughts, and sensations, shares connections with creative practices through attention, stress, emotions, and self-awareness. Mindfulness influences decision-making and independent thinking while reducing focus on self-conscious thoughts, supporting creative thinking habits like concentration, risk-taking, curiosity, and openness to new ideas. Practicing mindfulness may help individuals achieve mental clarity and emotional control, fostering flexible and intentional thinking, creative problem solving, and exploration of ideas amid uncertainty. The text suggests mindfulness enhances awareness of personal values that influence design decisions globally.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The Greater Good Science Centre at the University of California describes mindfulness as the state of maintaining awareness of a person's surroundings, feelings, thoughts, and sensations through a non-judgmental and supportive lens (Henriksen et al., 2022).Mindfulness and creative practices both seem to share a connection to human behaviour, ranging from attention, stress, emotions and self-awareness.According to Eberth and Sedlmeir (2012), mindfulness directly influences decision-making and judgment towards aspects such as independent thinking while at the same time limiting the focus on self-conscious thoughts (Eberth & Sedlmeier, 2012).These connections help us to understand the link between key habits that support creative thinking, spanning from conscious concentration and focus, the willingness to take risks and experience new ideas and having a sense of curiosity that influence art and design.The practice and uptake of mindfulness could be the eye-opener to individuals being able to tap into a deep sense of mental clarity and emotional control.This can be a gateway to fostering flexible and intentional thinking, creative problem solving and the exploration of noble ideas in a world filled with uncertainty and judgment.Mindfulness is thus a tool that proves to be useful in enhancing awareness of the individual values that influence design decisions among individuals around the world (Henriksen et al.,