Yoga for the Creative Soul

Looking for inspiration? Discover how your yoga practice can connect you with your artistic source

by Carolyn Oberst. Article from FIT Yoga Magazine, July 2007 Edition.
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As a yoga teacher and an artist who makes paintings and collages, I have searched for ways to combine both art forms. At the end of my yoga practice one morning, the words “cut into it” came to me. What did that mean? Later in my studio, while looking at my newest painting, I thought, “Cut up the painting?” But I liked it. Suddenly, I realized I could make a drawing of the painting, photocopy it a few times, cut into that to create a collage, and use the pieces as a basis for another painting. This was a breakthrough for me. I finally figured out a way to connect my two artistic loves. Frames

It was not the first time that a creative idea had come to me during yoga in my 30 years of practice. Yoga is being used in everything from weight loss to sex therapy, but one of the ways where yoga’s power is greatest is in opening creative capacity and unblocking regressive mental attitudes for profound changes in careers, relationships, and health.

Creative work increases blood flow to the brain and triggers the same sort of positive changes in brain chemistry as doing meditation and asana practices. Other studies show that when we’re thinking creatively, the emotions generated create a coherent internal electromagnetic field. That electromagnetic field is broadcast throughout the body, creating a synchronicity that correctly regulates the body’s various systems. Healthy people are locked into these rhythms; ill people are not.

The “gut” instinct

More and more scientists and doctors are concluding what yogis have known for at least hundreds, if not thousands, of years: The body is not a collection of unconscious organs ruled from on high by the brain. It is endowed with sentience apart from the brain. A “gut feeling” implies that this area, which includes the intestines, the stomach, and the colon, contains instinctual knowledge. Or consider that “but-terflies-in-the-stomach” feeling you get before having to do something fearful. Both examples have a physiological basis.

The intestines and stomach, along with the brain, originate from the same clump of tissue called the neural crest. During fetal development, one section becomes the central nervous system, and another piece becomes the enteric nervous system located in sheaths of tissue lining the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and colon. Some researchers say that the body has two brains—the one in our heads and the one in our guts.

This proven physiological link strongly suggests the gut area has an emotional and instinctual capacity. This area is included in the second chakra region, which yogis consider a strong emotional and creative center. The other chakra area considered as a center for creativity is the fifth chakra area in the throat; the esophagus, as part of the enteric nervous system, is intimately related by tissue cells to the brain and the central nervous system in early fetal development.

Current research shows that the body, not the brain, controls many physiological processes. One example, discovered by Harvard neuroscience researcher Herbert Benson (author of The Relaxation Response, 1975, and The Breakout Principle, 2003) and other neuroscientists, is that working with the body through meditation, controlled breathing techniques, and exercise stimulates the release of nitric oxide. This chemical, in turn, releases endorphins and dopamine, which are the brain’s neurotransmitters responsible for inducing pleasure, relieving pain, and arousing happiness. These chemicals also heighten creative thinking and imagining.

Given all this information that the body transmits to the brain, it seems logical that we can affect at least some of how we think and feel and create through direct manipulation of the body.

Unblocking the blocks

When you realize how much the body affects the brain, you can begin to understand how damaging it can be when creative energy is blocked. If, as the yogis believe, creative energy is housed in the body, when it gets cut off or stifled, the brain is deprived of some of the stimulus it needs to solve problems, find answers to difficult questions, and develop original approaches in all areas of our lives. We need creative energy to help us to break out of negative habitual patterns of behavior, thoughts, and relationships. Creative energy is the apostle of change.

And because it’s in the body, creative energy gives us the sensation of being physically alive. It helps us to feel energized and excited about life. With it, we feel connected with others and the planet on which we live. It helps us understand how we fit into the flow of life. Enabling our creative energy to flow results in better health, feelings of well-being, and sharpened intuition. With this heightened awareness, we can shape our lives more positively and have greater insight into why things happen as they do. This improves our chances for making better decisions and choices in our lives.

By connecting our spirit consciously and directly to the body through yoga practices specifically designed to enhance this alliance, the separations between mind and body disappear. The “inner” realm and “outer” realm merge, just as they do in the creative process.

Chakra assistance

Chakra is a Sanskrit word meaning “wheel,” or vortex, and it refers to each of the seven main energy centers believed to be within the human body. These chakras function as pumps or valves regulating the flow of energy through our body’s systems. They occur along the midline of the body up the interior face of the spine.

The four chakras most connected to creativity are:
1. The first is the muladhara chakra, which is Sanskrit for the “root” or “source of our support.” Our connection to the earth, the element associated with this chakra, gives us the feeling of confidence we need in order to freely express ourselves.

2. The second chakra, called svadhishthana, means “dwelling place of the self.” This area is the source of your sexual and creative energies. In the cultures that use some form of the chakra system, the second is always considered a powerful center of creativity.

3. The fifth chakra, located at the throat, is associated with creativity and verbal or artistic expression. Called vishuddha, which translates as “pure,” the fifth chakra is the main area by which we express ourselves and communicate directly with the world through the voice. In some texts, it is also associated with the arms and hands, which are also transmitters of our expression. This chakra is closely associated with listening to one’s intuition and internal guidance.

4. The sixth chakra, located in the center of the forehead, is frequently referred to as the “third eye,” connoting an internal “eye” of inner wisdom and awareness. Called ajña, which means “authority,” “command,” and “unlimited power,” it is believed to be the area of interaction between the mind and the psyche. The stimulation of the energy here can lead to intuitive insight and wisdom. Ajña chakra is associated with that deeper part of our being that Western traditions consider the subconscious or unconscious mind. It is the place where our true motivations are found, and is the level of consciousness that directs our actions and, in fact, our lives.

Dancing with your breath

Manipulating the breath through exercises, called pranayama, is another way the body can affect the mind and creative abilities. The way we breathe can affect the pulses of our brain waves and can be used as a means for clearing the mind and promoting awareness, two attributes needed in the creative process. Use our featured exercises on the following pages, either alone or in conjunction with any yoga practice to stimulate the chakra areas involved in the creative process. By consciously using yoga practice to activate creativity, we can enjoy a further dimension of benefit and joy that comes from integrating yoga into our lives.

Try to use the three bandhas whenever possible in your yoga practice. These “locks” stimulate the energy in the chakras most connected to creativity:

• Mula Bandha: Exhale and pull up by contracting the muscles of the perineum, which stimulates the first chakra.

• Uddiyana Bandha: Pull your abdomen toward the spine and up, which stimulates the second chakra.

• Jalandhara Bandha: Lower your chin toward your collarbone, which stimulates the fifth chakra. Close your eyes, and gaze upward toward the sixth chakra.

Whenever you need some inspiration or an answer to a problem, you can do any of these poses and breathing practices to stimulate your creativity.

Start by sitting in a comfortable cross-legged position, with a blanket under your tailbone. Close your eyes. Bring your hands into Anjali Mudra (Prayer Position), and chant OM three times. Then, relax your hands, keeping your eyes closed. As you press your tailbone downward, imagine energy flowing upward along your spine, allowing you to sit tall and straight. With shoulders back and down, lengthen the back of your neck and let the top of your head rise.

Take a breath in, and, as you exhale, open your eyes.

Article extracted from FIT Yoga Magazine, July 2007 Edition, out June 2007.