The Creative Yogi

Whether you believe it or not, YOU ARE CREATIVE! We all are. Humans are creative by nature - in the way we speak, the way we move, the way we dress, the way we play and do our work. We are constantly coming up with new ideas and new ways to move through our days. That makes us all creative beings!!!



I recently came across an article on using Yoga Nidra ("Yogic Sleep" - a meditative practice including body scanning, breathing, and guided imagery to calm the central nervous system) for Creativity. When we are in a completely relaxed and open state of mind, our creativity levels naturally rise leaving us to better think, write, draw, paint, sculpt, build, etc, etc. When we are relaxed and free from stress and anxiety we can detach ourselves from the outcome of our projects and create moment by moment working from the inside out. This practice also works wonders in children and was tested on a school in Satna, M.P., India:
http://www.yogamag.net/archives/2006/isep06/yncre.shtml
The Alluem Kids equally responded positively to the practice as they were hesitant and held some self criticism during the Quick Draw before Yoga Nidra, and were relaxed and free, creating intuitively after Yoga Nidra! It is really something to watch children slowly let go of judgment and hesitation and truly come into their own!

As seen in the video of our workshop....
Drawing the Breath:
Drawing the breath is simply that - place the point of a crayon on your paper. As you inhale drag the crayon up. As you exhale drag the crayon down. Continue this constant zig-zag line all the way down the paper. Play with the breath. Short lines for quick breaths. Long lines for deep breaths. Use different colors. Admire your work.

Quick Draw the Poses:
Grab a friend and pick a pose. Keep your hand loose - DRAW! Keep looking at the pose and looking at your paper - notice the shapes and lines of the body! Scribble scribble until the pose appears on your page! Don't worry about how silly or sloppy it may look. Just let go! Admire your work.

Creating Intuitively:
Embrace how you feel in the present moment. Take a piece of water color paper and pick a color of paint that best represents how you feel right now after practicing yoga and yoga nidra. Listen to what is inside of you. With an option of paint, markers, crayons, pastels, or collage - create freely. Don't not think of the outcome, just take it one step at a time. Admire your work.