ROOT down, Grow and LOOK
Ok, here I am in my state of procrastination. I have to share with you that every month when I begin to think about what I am writing on my blog, my body tenses up and my mind goes speedy crazy with so many ideas and then no direction to let them out. For me, writing is not my go to place of comfort, stability and ease. I notice I do anything else, even laundry and spreadsheets to postpone what I know needs to be written and sent out. It's been this way for many years. A love/ hate relationship. To illustrate, I used to put off writing my book reports (not only because I maybe didn't read the book) but mostly because of my awkward freeze hold from brain to paper, then I would get so involved in illustrating the book cover … who needs a report? You know, the cool cover might be the reason you buy a book you know nothing about.
For those of you that take my classes regularly, you might notice I don't have the same freeze- hold when it comes from brain to tongue, to moving my mouth for my dharma talk. Or those of you from my textile design career world, you might notice I had no problem giving presentations in front of 100 people when knowing the topic. I am more comfortable speaking from a place of knowing a subject than I am trying to write about it. The place that I am the most comfortable would be in the non-verbal world of creativity. Creative activities are things people do that involve developing new ideas, an outward pouring of energy, and other forms of cultural processing to express and explore. Heartful Yoga is about creative expression. Creative expression helps us articulate our feelings and our thoughts in a way that doesn't have to be bound by verbal language. The process can be the focus and the outcome the fruit from a sincere action of being present to just express and play. During Covid, there was a surge of creative exploration and creative activities by people worldwide. Bread making, roller skating, tie-dying, cooking, singing, dancing, drumming, wiggling ….
We all have this human need to be loved, grow, explore and express ourselves. This dominate energy (Shakti) lies deep within us and is waiting to rise and grow out in your own unique way, like a seed lying-in dormant in winter till nurtured by the sun and water.
Creative expression and exploration are not meant to be pushed or forced towards perfection with a tight grip on the pencil. They are meant to ignite the spark for exploration and awareness to be in a process of letting go and letting in. To be human is to be creative. We have the divine right to express ourselves. Did you ever think why artists, poets and creatives through history were persecuted for expressing their true voice ? We all poses the creative potential just like we all can practice yoga. We do not need to draw a perfect tree or be ready to sing on The Voice to let our creativity flow. To be fully human is to reflect, embrace and explore our creative abilities and to see where they lead us. Just like our yoga practice is an opportunity to be with ourselves, to explore the experience of being with our self in the depths of our consciousness as well as our creative potential. What do you like to do that is creative? Share with me how you are creative at
If you need any ideas, make sure to check out my schedule online because I will be adding in some art classes this summer.
What do you desire to add into your life as we move into spring that is playful and creative? Something that has no end goal but rather a place open to just experience. Remember when you were little and your imagination ran wild with the rocks, trees and flowers outside? Maybe you picked up a flower and smelled it and a big aaaaaaaaaah came out because you couldn't keep it inside – or maybe you lay on the ground looking up at the sky seeing the cloud shapes go by and thought if only “I can lie down on that cottony pillow”. Well, you can. It’s called your yoga mat. A place to explore your practice. A place to tap into your creative potential. A place to be centered into your steady comfortable seat.
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are widely regarded as one of the original texts on the theory and practice of yoga. Curiously though, there is only one major instruction in the Yoga Sutras that gives specific instructions on the practice of asana:
"Sthira Sukham Asanam," Patanjali writes in Yoga Sutras 2.46.
"The posture should be steady and comfortable."
Yet, in the marriage of ancient yoga with Western culture, that instruction is often the first thing we forget. In today's fast-yoga culture with Instagram yoga celebrities and the showcasing of complicated contorted shapes that sometimes go past the natural range of motion of most bodies, it’s easy for yoga to become not about how we feel, but how we look. Just like how we might judge ourselves when trying to creatively make a picture or sing a song. Maybe this quarantined time of practicing for a year in your own space got you a little bit deeper into your internal space of just feeling and doing. I know it did for me. So much so that my meditation and yoga practice space remained separate from my zoom teaching space. You know the space within us actually shape shifts with every breath. And the more we can work with our breath to help bring about the calming of the nervous system, the deeper we actually can go within our softening of the exhale, rather than the clenching when trying to “do the pose” or paint a perfect photographic picture.
Sadly, as B.K.S. Ingra writes, “ once we lose the sense of ease and steadiness in postures one of the main benefits of yoga is lost: The lightness and freedom we feel in mind and body spirit connection through yoga.” And with that, the doors of perception may be closed, and we may lose the ability to touch the deeper levels of practice, which connects us to our deeper knowing of our Selves. The same is True with creativity … the more we strive for perfection in the final outcome of our creative endeavor that we perceived in our mind might not be matched making us more detached. When wee are to the process and the moment of letting ideas of intuitiveness just flow, creativity starts to move us.
In the post-pandemic era, do we have a unique opportunity to reshape our approach to yoga to, perhaps, be more inclusive of the original values and goals of the practice? Perhaps we can make this practice accessible and grow our awareness making the connection that the different practices of asana, pranayama and meditation are tools to this higher consciousness of a spiritual being in human existence. Let your practice be part of all of you. If you only practice one style of yoga, maybe try a different kind for new growth. If you never practice meditation, try a class … and if you are not accustomed to working with your breath, give it time. Awareness and concentration are cultivated with the process of the practice, slow, steady and comfortable … not holding or straining to obtain the perfect pose. Be in your seat and soul.
With spring time here, as the birds chirp, seeds explode, an awakening of what lied dormant for winter is now peeking its head out. Go slow as a we integrate mindfully with connections to the outdoors and each other. Look up to those that already have maybe been taking advice from the trees.
Advice from the Trees by IlanShamir
Stand tall and proud
Sink your roots into the earth
Be content with your natural beauty
Drink plenty of water
Enjoy the view
And use this time to set an intention to fire up yourself to go play. Get out, smell the air, feel the sun, look at the clouds, touch the grass -- get your hands into the dirt and till your seeds of your soul to make some time to play, by yourself, with someone else or with your house pet that is so grateful for you because you’ve been settled for the past year. Let’s spring forward with new seedlings of our higher Self that yearns to be creative … Let’s continue to sing in the shower, dance around the living room, play in the dirt with the kids and just maybe you too will get out those old roller skates out and or buy a pair because you know that nourishment for your soul doesn't have to be rigid or only be on the mat !
You forever have this- you have come this far!
OM SHANTI
DANI