Cultivate Creativity, August 2021
“Yoga releases the creative potential of Life.” – B.K.S. Iyengar

The ability to think of something new or a new way of doing something that has value. This is creativity. Creativity can be further described as thinking outside of the box and viewing or creating things in ways that are unexpected. It can be applied to ideas, solutions, theories, music, or physical objects (art, written works, inventions). We are all born creative beings, but as we get older, we adopt patterns that make us less creative. Creativity is more likely to flourish when our whole brain is active (not just the right brain) and when long-term memory and critical thinking are at a low. We were all born with the ability to be creative and if we have lost that ability we can gain it back. Our creativity can be cultivated if we tend to it like one would tend to a garden. Both a garden and your creativity have some needs in order to thrive.

Gardens Need:
• Sunshine
• Time and attention
• Good growing conditions
• Seeds or starts
• Tilling the soil
• Water
• Weeding
• Practice
• Patience

Creativity Needs:
• Time in nature
• Time and freedom to explore, think, imagine, be playful
• A decluttered physical space and a decluttered or still mind
• A Beginner’s Mind and asking questions
• Physical movement – exercise, dance, yoga
• Ask “what if…” without parameters or limitations Removing judgement, self-criticism
• Practice and being okay with failure
• Patience

Our yoga practice can be one key to accessing our creativity. The practice of asana, pranayama, and meditation can help “still the fluctuations of the mind” and help make room for creativity. Practicing Savasana, where we are in that state of non-sleep deep rest, can prepare the mind for creativity. Maybe you have experienced a great idea or solution just before you drifted off to sleep. Savasana puts us in that same state. We can also infuse our asana practice with creativity. By changing the order of poses and not start in the same way each practice, trying new ways to connect poses, taking your practice outdoors, or simply changing your breath. Just try reversing the breath in Cat-Cow and see what that does for you (inhale in cat and exhale in cow). Or try bringing Ujjayi or Victorious breath to a pose.

Tapping into our creativity via our yoga practice can enrich our lives and benefit our health. Creativity has shown to relieve stress and anxiety, a major benefit to our health. It can allow you to live life with more confidence and a sense of freedom. You might learn to trust in yourself more and maintain a fresh perspective. Through a more authentic expression of yourself you can feel a lightness to life. Let yoga release your creative potential!

“Yoga releases the creative potential of Life. It does this by establishing a structure for self-realization, by showing how we can progress along the journey, and by opening a sacred vision of the Ultimate, of our Divine Origin, and final Destiny. The Light that yoga sheds on Life is something special. It is transformative. It does not just change the way we see things; it transforms the person who sees. It brings knowledge and elevates it to wisdom.” – B.K.S. Iyengar

References: Parts of the Brain That Influence Creativity, Ryan Hurd Understanding the Psychology of Creativity, Kendra Cherry and reviewed by David Susman, PhD Light on Life, B.K.S. Iyengar

Cultivating Shoshin (a Beginner’s Mind), April 2021
Shoshin is a Zen Buddhist concept which means ‘beginner’s mind.’ What would it look like to approach a situation, or life, with Shoshin? That is to say, to take the same attitude as when you do something for the first time.

I was with my brother when he picked a Golden Retriever puppy from a breeder. Ginger was 8 weeks old when she came to his house. There were many things that she had never experienced before. When we took her to the backyard, it became evident that she had never been on grass. It was fascinating to watch her explore. She picked up her paws very high, trying to step over the blades. When one of her paws landed, she appeared startled. Maybe it was the way the blades of grass felt or maybe it was the dew? She was puzzled, adventurous, and maybe a little brave. She was experiencing something for the first time. Something as simple as grass. She was curious. She experimented. She learned. Because she was a puppy, she approached everything with a beginner’s mind.

Shunryu Suzuki (1904-1971) was a Zen monk, teacher and the author of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. He helped popularize Zen Buddhism in the United States and founded the first Zen Buddhist monastery outside of Asia. In Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind he writes “If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything, it is open to everything. In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities…”

Contrast this with an expert. Experts amass great amounts of experience and knowledge in their fields. They rely on what they have learned and act in accordance with their knowledge and experience. Their thoughts and actions often may be efficient and predictable. They know what to expect when encountering something similar as what has been encountered before. Some of their questions can be eliminated. There are times they seemingly operate on autopilot. Novices and experts alike can adopt the Shoshin attitude. By setting aside our ego, our knowing, our certainty and our autopilot patterns we might have a different and more interesting approach.

The Shoshin approach might allow for:
• Questioning
• Opening to possibility
• Exploring
• Experimenting
• Embracing uncertainty
• Releasing preconceptions
• Learning
• Discovery
• Slowing down
• Being more present
• Awe and wonder
• Expanding one’s views
• Gaining new knowledge
• Having a truly new experience
• Making mistakes
• Anticipation
• Heightened sensory awareness
• Lighthearted pleasure and enjoyment

This Beginner’s Mind approach can cultivate and expand on:
• Feelings of gratitude and appreciation
• Living in the moment/being more present
• Your awareness
• Your Creativity
• The joy you feel

So, how to begin?
Set aside any need you might have to be the expert. Set aside expectations and preconceived ideas. Allow yourself to go into an experience as a beginner, a novice, and imagine that you have never experienced anything like this before. For example, stepping onto your yoga mat for your practice. As you step onto the mat allow yourself to feel the mat under your feet – feel its texture, really look at its color, notice its temperature. Have no expectation of what will follow. Imagine that Cat-Cow is your first asana. Ground your hands, let your knees and hands support your body weight, and let your spine begin to undulate with your breath. Notice how the movement works with your breath, the suppleness of the spine, how your spine can move. It is fascinating! Because you are experiencing the movement as if for the first time, even if you have done it hundreds of times before.

Some tips for adopting the beginner’s mind approach day to day:
1. Set your intent every morning. Then your day can move along with your intent leading the way. Instead of doing things the same and on autopilot, we can create something more satisfying.
2. Soften and open your mind to learning. Get curious. Ask questions even when you think you know the answer. You might be inspired by the answers you receive.
3. Let your courage shine. Find your courage to feel your feelings. The courage to not know. The courage to change your mind.
4. Be present, slow down, and allow time. Take time to notice, to question, to experience and to see the wonder in whatever you are doing. Take time to listen to others.

We could all use a little bit more of Ginger’s Shoshin spirit!

Bringing a Feeling of Gratitude to Your Yoga Practice, November 2020

The month of November evokes feelings of gratitude in so many ways. Maybe it is because Thanksgiving is a holiday focused on gratitude. Maybe it is because it is a time when family and friends draw closer. Whatever the reason, these feeling of gratitude can help protect against stress and depression as well as increase our feeling of connection and happiness.

In yogic philosophy the Eight Limbs of Yoga detail the Niyamas (personal observances). The second Niyama is santosa or contentment. When we are content and reflect on already having enough and already being enough the feelings of gratitude flow naturally. As we move into our asana practice, we can further invoke gratitude by using a simple, yet significant, hand gesture. Namaskarasana, Nameste position, prayer position, or Anjali mudra are all names for the gesture of pressing the hands together in front of the chest.

How to do Namaskarasana:

• Externally rotate your upper arms bone in the shoulder socket, turning palms forward
• Draw your hands in front of your chest, palms facing each other
• Press pinky finger into pinky finger, ring finger into ring finger, …base of thumb into base of thumb and allow your fingers to extend
• Press outer edge of your hands together
• There will be a small space, where there is no contact, in the center of your hands
• Shoulders gently release away from your ears
• Gently draw thumbs to heart center (sternum/breastbone)
• Allow breastbone to lift slightly to meet the thumbs
• Close your eyes and/or drop your chin toward your chest as you are so moved

By mindfully bringing in this hand gesture to one or several of your yoga poses you may be able to connect with some feelings of contentment or gratitude. This mudra may evoke in you a sense of uniting or coming together, grounding, being centered, thankfulness, balance, connection to your heart, humility, acceptance, or honor. Some of my favorite asanas in which to incorporate namaskarasana include:

Tadasana

Vrksasana

Prasarita Padottanasana

Malasana

Parsvottanasana