Did you know? Breaking up your busy work week with short bursts of creative activities—like learning to make pottery or just singing your favorite song—will benefit your health in ways that are strikingly similar to yoga. Summing up the recent research findings, a columnist for CNN put it this way:  “Creating helps make people happier, less anxious, more resilient, and better equipped to problem-solve in the face of hardship.”

That sounds pretty common sensical to me. Have you ever noticed that when you’re in touch with your creativity— no matter how you choose to express it—problems don’t seem quite so difficult, work seems like a breeze, and you can pretty much apply yourself wholeheartedly to anything? But if you’re exhausted, uninspired? Not so much.

Luckily, you can also give yourself the creative boost you need by stepping onto your yoga mat or meditation cushion. How? Specifically, by tapping into what’s known as kundalini shakti.

Creativity and Yoga
According to the Himalayan Institute’s own Swami Rama, using your yoga practice to awaken kundalini will naturally promote creativity and give you that cool sense of working in the groove—what Sandra Anderson refers to as the “creative, blissful consciousness of enlightenment.”

Hari Kirin Kaur Kalsa would agree. The painter and yoga teacher starts her day with a meditation taught by Kundalini master Yogi Bhajan, which she says will sharpen your concentration, help you access your intuition, and most relevantly—enhance your creativity.

Practice a yoga sequence, taught by Sandra Anderson, which focuses on udana vayu, or the upward moving breath. This breath is chiefly associated with kundalini shakti, and according to Anderson, “when udana is balanced and strong, we stand tall and joyous, enthusiastic, alert, articulate, and strong-willed.”

Who doesn’t want to be joyous and strong-willed? I do. And as someone who is not quite 5’2” a little taller wouldn’t hurt either.

For additional insight, take a look at how well known artists, musicians, and writers use yoga to fuel their own creativity in our feature, “Awakening the Artist.”

Photo (cc) by Fotopedia user Mirari Erdoiza