3 Ways Yoga Can Boost Your Creativity
Andreana Salvemini
Components of yoga such as pranayama, asana practice, and meditation can all contribute to boosting your creativity.
The concept of creativity is so elusive that it’s impossible to say what exactly influences whether or not you come up with unconventional ideas. But here are some ways in which yoga can spark your imagination.
Yoga increases your confidence
If it’s the fear that prevents you from being more creative, yoga can help you with this. By working on your balance (doing Vrikshasana, for example), becoming more aware of your body and regularly having a restoring stress-relieving yoga practice, you will start feeling less insecure. And by improving your posture with yoga you won’t just feel confident — you look confident.
This way the next time an idea pops into your head, you won’t let the fear take over and will instead let that idea develop into something extraordinary.
Yoga helps you see things from a different perspective
And I’m not talking about inversions here that literally change your perspective by allowing you to see the world from a different position. When you concentrate on your breath during your yoga class, the anxiety, stress and pent-up emotions slip away. With this state of mind, it’s easier to view any problem or situation from different points of view. Some yoga students say bright ideas rush to their head right in the middle of the class when their mind feels the most relaxed
Yoga teaches you patience
Being creative doesn’t just mean generating ideas, it also means bringing those ideas to life. And for this you need patience. Regular yoga classes, getting deeper into complicated poses — all this is great for exercising not just your body, but your patience as well.
When I asked people on a yoga forum, whether they have become more creative after taking up yoga and meditation, most answers were yes. Some people started journaling or got into adult coloring. For some, it's free flow yoga that makes them more creative, for others, it's the thought-provoking words of their yoga teachers that spark their imagination. It’s all very individual yet the fact that yoga boosts your creativity seems undeniable.
A 5-minute meditation or a single yoga class may become more effective for your creativity than sleepless nights in front of your computer. So next time you need to come up with an out-of-the-box idea, you know what to do.
Article courtesy of Yoga.com.