How to Access Creativity through Yoga

Many of us struggle with how to approach our creativity. It is an innate human trait so we all have it but many people believe that they are not creative. We have been taught how not to use our creativity. Our organic state is to use creativity for problem solving as well as making art but it has been squelched by an educational system that only values the thinking mind. Ask any long- time yogi and they will tell you that as soon as they started to practice yoga their life improved; they felt stronger physically, mentally, and emotionally. These benefits help us to approach our challenges with a multitude of possibilities. We are not stuck, we have access to more remedies to our blocks and challenges.

We have intelligence in the cells of our body. Our physiology possesses the answers that we seek so when we practice asana through stretching and moving internally we have a universe at our disposal, and if we are connected to the universe, we are never stuck; we have more choices. Since I began my yoga practice thirty-four years ago I have led a creative life without thinking about it. Through yoga we come to rely more on our intuition with the thinking mind as a back-up. We cannot “think” ourselves to be more creative, it is a process. We breathe life into our cells when we practice and in that process our creativity bubbles up like a fountain that can never be turned off. Which yoga poses increase creativity? For me it is seated forward bends and standing balances. Forward bends encourage introspection and stillness. These qualities are important to quiet the thinking mind and take pressure off the spine. We do not want to struggle in the forward bends so use props if hamstrings are tight. Slowly start to expand into the pose and imagine extending into the space around you. A feeling of reaching beyond the body is the goal.

Standing balances are another set of poses that enable us to access our creativity. Life is about balance and balance is like a gold mine to our creativity. Once our creativity senses that we want balance (the balance between our intuition and linear mind) then it will open- up and assist us. It senses that through this balance it can manifest in the third dimensional world and be celebrated. A consist yoga practice opens our creativity and allows us to become bold and courageous in the actions we take in the world. Creativity is life affirming and it can be accessed through yoga asanas. If you have had this experience, please share. Bio Carmela Cattuti is a yoga instructor, writer, and visual artist. She teaches private skype sessions as well as in person in Boston MA. She has published her first novel and is currently finishing her second. She runs yoga challenges on line and is an expert in Prenatal Yoga. To sign up please click here http://www.ccattuticreative.com/sassy-sequencing-yoga-challenge. She also specialized in prenatal yoga and has an online nine module program at www.prenatalyogatraining.org. Follow Carmela on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/carmelacattuticreative/. She does a weekly free live Facebook teaching about the many aspects of creativity.