Yoga_Journal_-_June_2016_

69

june 2016

yogajournal.com

Sally Wadyka is a freelance writer in Louisville, Colorado.

Creativity fl ows most readily when there is space, time, and consistency,

which is what meditation helps us achieve, making it a wonderful tool for tapping our inner

creative genius, says Elena Brower, a yoga and meditation teacher in New York City and

co-author of Art of Attention. “Our privilege as practitioners of yoga and meditation is to con-

sciously create that space and time in which to dissolve limitations and receive our creative

inspiration,” she says. Try her meditation below, designed to help you move beyond your usual

boundaries and open yourself up to new and different possibilities. “This meditation is a sim-

ple exploration that connects you to the central channel of your body, where creativity lives

and where confi dence and clarity can arise,” says Brower.

-^ Begin by sitting comfortably, hips elevated higher than your knees. Inhale into both nos-
trils, all the way down into your belly. Feel light descending as you breathe in. Exhale up
from your belly and out through your nostrils, and feel light rising as you breathe out.
-^ Next, add the elements of receptivity and listening through a simple mudra and
affi rmation to enhance your creative clarity. Place your hands into the shape of a bowl
in front of your heart space, with your pinkies touching, palms facing up.
-^ Breathe deeply into your belly through your nostrils and feel a quality of receiving in your
hands. Invite the source of your creativity into your physical body, noticing any thoughts
or sensations as they arise. Welcome your breathing and watch it become longer, steadier,
and more patient with each successive inhale and exhale. As you fi nd more stability in
both your breath and your body, you produce rich soil in which to place the seeds of your
creativity. Breathe long and fully for 3 to 11 minutes—your choice.
-^ To end, imagine you’re moving light all the way down into your belly, and bring your
hands to prayer (Anjali Mudra) in front of your heart. Exhale up from your belly and out
through your nostrils, drawing your navel center back toward your spine, imagining light
rising and emanating brightly throughout your being and into the space around you.

and soy and seeds
and any other food
that contains high
levels of tyrosine,
an amino acid
that is assumed
to increase your
ability to think
harder and more
creatively, reports a
study in the journal
Psychological
Research.

Finally, a good excuse not to

tidy up! A study at the University

of Minnesota found that people

forced to work in messy offices

came up with more creative and

interesting ideas than those

in neater spaces.

Eat more

fruit ...

St art

doodling.

Next time you’re

stuck in a long

meeting, pick up your

pen and go to town

in the margins of the

paper in front of you.

Doodling improves

your focus and

memory, according

to research published

in the journal Applied

Cognitive Psychology,

and can also fire up

your creative juices,

solidify ideas, and

inspire new notions.

Travel can be a wonderful way to enhance your creativity,

according to research by Adam Galinsky, PhD, a professor

at Columbia Business School—especially when you

immerse yourself in the local culture (rather than, say,

opting for the all-inclusive beach resort). Galinsky has

found that foreign travel in particular boosts the flexibility

of your thinking, sparking new ideas.

Turns out that mundane tasks may not be as useless as you might think: In one recent

study, participants who were assigned to copy numbers out of a phone directory for

15 minutes (yawn!) were more creative on the next task (coming up with new uses for

a pair of Styrofoam cups) than people who went straight to the cup challenge.

Leave your

desk messy.

4

SIX

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: MELANIE KINTZ/STOCKSY; LUMINA/STOCKSY; GOLDMUND LUKIC/STOCKSY; AGENCIA/STOCKSY; MALAS: BROOKS FREEHILL