Guest Post – Rachel from Suburban Yogini
Yoga is to attain what was previously unattainable. (TKV Desikachar)
Happy Friday, lovelies! I hope your week is wrapping up nicely. Do you have any fun plans for the weekend? I'm breathing new life into my Creative Weekend To-Do Lists. Come back tomorrow to check it out.
When I called for guest bloggers awhile back, I receive a response from @SuburbanYogini. Rachel is a punk rock yogini, teacher, writer, massage therapist, sprinkler of fairy dust + lover of all things glitter, cake, kitties, pugs and Dave Grohl. She lives in Cambridge UK in a falling down house with her IT Geek/Photographer boyfriend and two insane felines. She is the owner of Fusion Massage + Movement and blogs at Suburban Yogini. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us, Rachel!
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The quote above is from TKV Desikachar, son of Krishnamacharya and author of yoga must-read The Heart of Yoga, is one that has resonated with me for years, and one which I have come back to again and again.
When I first read it, way back before I had even thought about training to teach yoga, I automatically associated it with yoga asana (poses). There were so many asana that seemed unattainable to me and I thought if I practice, practice, practice I could do anything.
This turned out to be true, just not in the way I originally thought.
Many years and many teacher trainings later, there are still asana that are unattainable to me. But what yoga has helped me attain is a greater sense of acceptance. Acceptance of my own limitations as well as my strengths and areas of improvement.
I genuinely believe that a regular yoga practice (and by regular I mean whatever is right for you - it could be a weekly class, or 10 minutes of mindful breathing each day, some stretches when you get out of bed, or just lying with your legs up the wall after a day at work) can help to bring acceptance into all areas of your life.
Let's look at your creative life.
So many people say to me, "Oh but I am not creative at all, I'm just not that type of person."
I have news for you! We are ALL that type of person. We are all creative, whether we paint or draw, write in a journal regularly, bake cakes or make curry. Whether we knit or sew, blog, help our kids with school projects or take photographs. We are creating, creating, creating all the time and sometimes it takes unrolling a yoga mat and getting your stretch on to help us see that.
When I work with one-to-one clients or with workshops looking to unleash their creative sides I use three very simple techniques. All of these are powerful in their own right, whenever you have the time or space but I believe that they work on an even deeper level after a yoga practice. So next time you unroll your mat, why not see if you can wake that creative spark with one of these ideas?
1. Make a Dream Board Dream Boards, Vision Boards and Collages are all over the internet these days - and for good reason. Not only are they an easily attainable creative tool, but they work! After your practice, set yourself up on your mat with some old magazines and tear out any pictures that speak to you or make your heart sing. Paste your pictures to a large piece of card or pin them to a pinboard somewhere you will see them regularly and be inspired by your own creativity and the images that ring true. You might want to keep your Dream Board with your yoga mat for practice time or have it on the wall near your practice space.
2. Write in a Journal After your yoga practice why not write about it? Just take a few minutes to jot down thoughts and feelings, how the practice made you feel, what you found challenging, what you found felt good. After a while you might find that you are able to write more and more, tracking your emotions and their effects on your practice. You can even combine a Dream Board idea into this by pasting inspiring quotes and pictures into the pages or onto the cover of your journal. It is from the pages of such a journal that my blog Suburban Yogini was born!
3. Bake a Cake Yes really! If in doubt, bake a cake. Get off your mat and into the kitchen and apply the same mindful concentration to the preparation of ingredients that you did to your practice. And when it comes time to eat the cake eat it slowly and mindfully as well. Savour it. Enjoy it. Know that you created this! I have some simple cake recipes up on my website. Go check them out if you like!
How do you unleash your creative side? I'd love to hear from you!
Image Credit: Ambassador Meghan Currie via lululemon athletica
