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When I tell people that I divide my time between yoga and performance arts I quite often get a wishful sigh as a response: “Oh, I wish I was a creative type” or “I’m so un-artistic! I couldn’t do what you do”.  Oh, but you are a ‘creative type’, we all are.  Be it a hobby like knitting, painting, writing, or a career in anything really. From arts to teaching to science we all make creative decisions every day.

Sometimes, though, creativity is just a bit blocked or buried underneath of self-doubt or seems to be cursed by a completely blank mind. The harder you try to squeeze the ideas out, the more stuck they seem to get and refuse to organise themselves into clear thoughts. Sounds familiar?  It happens to all of us, and it is okay!  It took me perhaps a little too long to realise this. After trying a lot of different ways to ‘trick my mind’ into ‘being creative’ I finally realised that the answer lies somewhere else. Now when I find myself stuck during a creative process, whether it’s writing or dancing or even planning workshops, I turn to asana.

Top 5 asanas to unblock creativity:

1.       Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (pigeon pose)

The first thing we want to focus on when suffering from a creative block is the hips. Deep hip openers activate the second chakra, Svadisthana, which is associated with our primal creative energy –as well as sexuality, emotions and desire.

This is also the area we ‘store in’ our feelings. Bottled up feelings of trauma, fear and stress result in tight hips. Blocked up emotions is a sure way to block the creative flow. As we remove blockage from the second chakra we become more fluid and open to change. Simply put, we learn to ‘go with the flow’.

Eka pada rajakapotasana is a wonderful deep hip opener that helps us to let go of negative emotions and fear. Do this with a forward bend variation, placing your forehead on the ground and stretching both arms in front of you. Hold it as long as comfortable, letting your hips sink towards the ground.

2.       Ustrasana (camel pose)

Another chakra to bring your focus on in case of creative block is the fifth chakra, vissudha, located in the throat and neck area. Vissudha chakra enables us to find our true voice to communicate our creative work to the outside world. Ustrasana not only helps us to open the throat, neck and shoulder area, but also stretches the whole front of the body including opening the hips and adding a very beneficial backbend into the mixture. In addition to opening the fifth chakra, ustrasana is also very useful in reducing a very common reason for blocked creativity: anxiety. Personally I include this miracle asana in my daily practise and urge both my yoga students and fellow artists to do so too. To make it more comfortable to hold the pose, please feel free to fold your mat or a thin blanket under your knees and make sure your neck stays free and comfortable. If ustrasana is too much of a stretch, it can be replaced with a setu bandha sarvangasana, the bridge pose.

3.       Sirsana (head stand)

Sometimes the greatest thing is to find a new perspective to things right in front of you. Head stand lets you do this quite literally when you give your feet (or bum if your work includes sitting down) a break and hoist your body upside down. I have mentioned sirsasana here, as it is usually reasonably accessible to practitioners of different skill levels, but quite frankly all inversions are good for this purpose. With or without support! Sirsasana brings plenty of fresh blood into your brain, giving them a bit of a boost, it lets you focus on nothing else but your breath and balance.

4.       Anjaneyasana (crescent moon pose/low lunge)

Another wonderful hip opener –and one of my personal favourites. If you add a gentle backbend, this asana (just like the camel pose) works on both, the second and fifth chakra. Be sure to take care of your knees and neck. If, for any reason, this asana is not something you might want to do, give uttitha trikonasana (extended triangle) a try instead.

5.       Savasana (the corpse)

When in doubt, do savasana! Let go completely and calm your mind.  First listen to your breath, gradually move your awareness to the sounds around you in the room, just outside the house and even further. What is the most distant sound you can hear? What about the closest? Let your body sink onto the floor, letting yourself relax completely.

‘Wake up’ from savasana slowly, feeling refreshed. Before you know it, you’ll be back in business!

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