Creativity doesn’t live in neat little boxes.
It lives past perfection and in the place where we have the freedom to express ourselves and make mistakes. Through freedom we can achieve momentum in our creative project, and mistakes can often lead to new approaches and idea.
Thinking back to early 2009; I was taking a creative writing mentorship with Sarah Armstrong and she told me one of my characters was too polite. That surely given her situation she would have been angry; let her get angry; don’t restrain her; let her get it all out. So I did. My character ranted and raved for pages and pages. In that ranting she had a conflict with another character and I uncovered her true goal in the story. For writers out there you’ll know that these are two very important elements to a novel – character goals/objectives and conflict. There is no story without these things. It took freeing my character to discover them.
Yoga is a great tool for encouraging free expression. Here are 5 yoga poses to help unlock creativity.
1. Revolved Triangle Pose (Parivrtta Trikonasana)
Creative fire resides in the belly; the Manipura Chakra. Twisting into the navel centre will help free any tension in this area. I like Revolved Triangle Pose because it combines a twist with balancing masculine and feminine energy.
2. Dancer Pose (Natarajasana)
This pose is my number one creative pose. It’s a pose that feels expressive by it’s very name and nature. I can ground down, draw energy up from the Earth and extend towards the sky. As creatives, giving our work a solid foundation will support expansion and expression.
3. Wild Thing Pose (Camatkarasana)
There is possibly no other yoga pose that is as vulnerable as Wild Thing because it completely opens the front body. Creativity requires vulnerability and opening, and this pose epitomises that. There is also room within this pose to explore creative extension with the non-grounded limbs so you can completely own your version of the pose; and hence your unique creative expression.
4. Handstand Pose (Adho Mukha Vrksasana)
When I’m drawing or painting I often turn my pictures upside down to find their flaws. By viewing art from a different perspective, flaws became strikingly obvious. Handstands are a playful way to invert the body, energise the mind and physically view the world from a different perspective – a vital tool for any artist/creative.
5. Child Pose (Balasana)
A pose of introspection; a place to let go. By grounding your third eye, you can connect with your intuition; particularly useful if you are stuck in your creative process. This pose can also be used as a place to find stillness and connection before you commence your creative project.
Read more: http://www.wildplacesyoga.com.au/5-yoga-poses-for-creativity/
