Unleashing Your Creativity With Yoga
When we are confronted with the idea of creativity, many of us side-step it and believe that being creative is for other people, for those who pursue obviously creative careers and hobbies like painting, designing, writing, music etc. In my experience, the majority of people do not have a great relationship with their creativity. Imposter syndrome abounds and when presented with the opportunities to explore our creative powers, we can end up wondering ‘what right have I to try this?’ To that, I would challenge you with one of my favourite quotes from the Talmud – ‘if not me, then who? If not now, then when?’ In having the courage to meet your inner Creatrix, the creative force that we’re all born with, really what right have you not to?
Many of us carry around secret (or sometimes not-so-secret) creative passions and longings, things we would try if we had a little more courage and little less self-doubt, but what about those of you reading this and thinking that you’re not called to any particular creative art or discipline? The thing about true creativity is that it transcends any one form and suffuses itself in all of our actions, should we let it.
As yoga teachers and yoga practitioners we are creators without even realising it at times. Every time we teach a class we create a unique experience, a pattern of poses, flowing sequences and meditations through our own creative use of language. Every time we get onto our mat for some self-guided practice, we can embrace our creative energy through how we move, what poses we choose to do and in what order. If we find ourselves a slave to particular sequences or even poses, we can shake things up a little by practising playful curiosity with our movement and our body’s capacities. When I teach yoga to children, I always encourage them to invent and even name their own yoga poses which leads to lots of smiles, laughter and creative experimentation. It’s a practice I’ve sometimes brought to my adult students or even embraced myself on the mat. After all, somebody created the yoga poses we have today, so why not allow the practice of yoga to be an ever-changing creative process, an inventive dance between body and soul? As adults we can really limit ourselves and be so afraid of doing things right that we forget to explore the infinite potential available to us.
Beyond something that can be fit neatly into an art form or a practice, creativity is an approach towards living life in a free and curious way. Elizabeth Gilbert put it best when she wrote “creative living is any life that is guided more strongly by curiosity than fear.” In order to allow space for creativity, we need to let go of rigidity and control, and this applies to our yoga practice too. Just as we experience true ease in a pose when we let go and stop holding so tightly, we experience a greater freedom and creative force in our lives when we stop trying to control everything. Letting go can be scary but liberation, empowerment and fulfilment lie on the other side of that fear.
If creative living is something you’d like to explore further but there’s no particular project or art-form calling to you or perhaps there is but you’re not quite ready to take the plunge yet, you can start out with simple things to bring a zestier creative energy to your days. When I work with clients, I encourage them to see creativity as a choice available in every moment of the day, as a perspective on life rather than a virtue to strive for. Little things like putting together an outfit in a different way, burning a different kind of incense, buying or cooking something completely new, walking or driving a different route home – all of these small things can make a big difference in asserting to yourself that you’re choosing to show up as your most creative self and are willing to be playfully curious in the dance of life. That openness allows wonderful and often unexpected things to show up for you in your life.
Creativity is something that is most strongly associated with the Sacred Feminine. This does not imply that creativity is a female trait, but rather it is imbued with a feminine, cyclical energy. We all need both masculine and feminine energies in our lives but in our productivity-oriented society we can tend to favour the linear masculine approach to things which is generally more rigid in nature and doesn’t allow space for creative playfulness. It’s worth noting here too that the practice of yoga itself, particularly the sun salutations, demonstrates a more linear, masculine flow. When working with our creativity it can be useful to find moments in our practice to welcome in the feminine, to open ourselves to softness and circular movements. A balance of feminine and masculine energies is helpful when working on creative projects – time and space for dreaming up ideas and then action directed towards our goals – and we can work on balancing these energies first in our yoga practice.
Creativity is innately cyclical in nature. Just like the seasons, there is a time for work and a time for rest and both of these aspects are crucial to a sustainable creative life. If you’re someone who menstruates, learning to work with your menstrual cycle can be vital to discovering when your creative powers are at their most potent.
If you’d like to learn more about exploring your own unique creativity, I offer life coaching sessions with a special focus on creativity as well as Menstrual Cycle Awareness mentoring. I’m also running a non-profit workshop entitled ‘Unleash your Inner Creatrix’ as part of Revolution Period 2022 with Kitty Maguire in The Fumbally Stables on Sunday the 29th of May. For booking creative coaching or this workshop, you can reach out to me at skcoachingandyoga@gmail.com or buy tickets here
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/revolutionperiod/693576
