Did you know that making ourselves big and expansive is a universal expression – for humans and animals – for feeling triumphant, confident, and empowered?

This is the premise behind Amy Cuddy’s fabulous book, “Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges” that is based on her 2012 TED Talk (and happens to be the second-most viewed TED Talk of all time.)

I’ve been reading this book (well, technically, I’ve been listening to the audio book) and can’t help but draw comparisons with her scientific findings (she’s a social psychologist) to the ancient practice of yoga.

The yogis were masters of knowing what to do with our bodies to invoke and alter our moods, emotions, energy, and more.

In my online course, “How to Start a Home Yoga Practice,” I talk about how we can use this awareness to practice the type of yoga that we will need each day. In other words, if we are going to have a high energy day, we might want to have a more grounded, calming yoga practice. On the other hand, if we are going to have a sedentary day at our desk, we might want to have a more active yoga practice that creates a lot of energy, heat, and movement. This way we’re creating balance and harmony in our lives.

But we don’t necessarily need to know or practice yoga in order to reap the benefits of this knowledge and incorporate it into our days.

By simply standing tall, extending our arms into a V-shape, and lifting our chest and chin, we are practicing what Amy Cuddy refers to as the “starfish” pose. This is one of the power poses that is the premise for her book and TED Talk.

Another power pose is the “Wonder Woman” pose where we stand with our hands on our hips.

It’s important to note that feeling more powerful isn’t about dominating someone else or taking away their power. It’s about coming into our own strength so that we can be confident, assertive, and take our proper space in this world.

And, I believe that when we are comfortable in our own power, we make those around us comfortable with their power as well.

On the contrary, note that if you hunch or round your shoulders and make yourself smaller, you feel less empowered. In yoga we talk about how we do this to protect our heart. Haven’t we all experienced that feeling of wanting to curl up in a ball and hide from the world?

It’s nice to know that, when needed, we can simply take a stance and access our power. This can be helpful for times that might create stress or anxiety: meetings, exams, performance, interviews, etc.

Just by bringing awareness to how our body movements are affecting us, we are actually practicing yoga, whether we call it that or not.

Namaste

I began practicing yoga around the same time that I discovered music. As I pursued a career as a singer/songwriter, my yoga practice also grew and I eventually became certified to teach. These two loves have supported and sustained each other over the years. Now, as a Creativity Coach, I frequently draw on yoga and meditation concepts and practices to help support people in their creative work and offer “Yoga and Creativity” workshops.

Here are just a few of the ways that yoga can help support our creativity:

Yoga helps us to be more present

In order to create, we have to be truly present with whatever we are creating. Yoga teaches us to focus on the breath which in turn helps us to be more present with our creative work and our lives in general.

Yoga helps us to let go of resistance or blocks

Everyone has heard of “writer’s block” and this can hold true for any form of creativity. By overcoming resistance in our yoga practice, we learn how to overcome resistance and blocks in our creative work as well.

Yoga helps us to open our hearts and minds

In addition to learning how to open up our bodies on the mat, we are also learning how to open up our hearts and our minds. This translates to our creative work and we can find ourselves creating with more openness and freedom.

Yoga helps us create with more authenticity

One aspect of our yoga practice is that it can help us discover who we really are. The more we practice the more we shed external layers that reveal our true nature. Yoga helps us to tune into our instincts which can lead to greater authenticity in our creative work.

Yoga helps us get more comfortable with the uncomfortable parts of ourselves

In particular, practices such as Yin yoga and meditation can help us to truly examine ourselves and make friends with the dark and uncomfortable sides of our nature (we all have them!) Since our creative work can also involve a similar exploration, these two practices support each other immensely.

Yoga teaches us to go outside of our comfort zone

We learn how to challenge ourselves appropriately on our yoga mats – to test our edges and notice where we have drawn lines to keep ourselves in our boxes. As we begin to test these lines and edges, this can spill over to our creative work and we may notice that we begin creating outside the box as well.

Yoga helps us develop discipline, routine, and structure

While words like “routine” and “structure” may not sound very creative, it can certainly help with our creative output if we have a regular and dedicated creativity practice. If we show up for our yoga practice regularly, this can affect other areas of our lives, including our creativity. Many creative people struggle with a regular routine – and a yoga practice can help us become more focused and disciplined in general.

Yoga makes us braver

It takes a certain amount of courage to get on the mat and explore new and challenging poses. The more we get comfortable with taking these risks the braver we can be in our creative work.

Here are some specific ways that you can support your creative work through your yoga practice:

• Practice regularly.
• Practice different styles of yoga – have a routine, but also be open to trying new classes and styles. It’s okay if you don’t connect with all of them – just trying them is enough!
• Come to the mat with an idea or question about your creative work.
• OR the opposite…just let go completely of whatever you are working on and you might be surprised by what arises when you create that space!
• Keep a pen and paper by your mat and jot down ideas as they come up.

This is a cross-post with the wonderful local blog Sayogavannah.wordpress.com, a blog for yogis in my beautiful and creative Southern city of Savannah, Georgia created by Mary Crouse and Stacey Sedory. Please be sure to check it out and support their work as well!

Are you interested in hosting a workshop in Yoga and Creativity…or would you like individual Creativity Coaching that can draw on yoga and meditation techniques? Please contact me at Creativity@LaurenL.com – I’d love to talk to you!

Namaste and Happy Creating!