
Last year while teaching in Pensacola I found a fake cigarette in my purse...the kind we used to "pretend" smoke as kids, with paper covering the long chewing gum center. (How it ended up in my purse is another story.)
I believe in using whatever shows up in life, therefore smoking while teaching seemed to be the thing to do. Puffing and tapping my ashes into a fake ashtray, I discovered this prop was a fine way to maintain a perspective of less "ego". This year in Pensacola I had "cigs" for all 24 students and they smoked their way to greater creativity!
Being in your head and trying "too" hard can limit the creative experience; I suggest inventing reminders for yourself that might encourage artistic freedom.