Why you NEED creativity in your life.

Photo by Lidya Nada on Unsplash

Last year I went to two amazing workshops with amazing thought leaders on creativity – Liz Gilbert, author of Big Magic, {and yes, Eat Pray Love} and Julia Cameron, author of The Artists Way and both of them have really highlighted to me why we need creativity in our lives.

For a very long time, I’ve known intuitively and internally that creativity and yoga are 100% percent connected.

In fact, I spent several (hundred) hours on my 2nd teacher training in India researching this connection from a brain wave state, meditation, chakra and body-energetics point of view. But really –

The bottom line is that the creative process is a spiritual process.

And the spiritual process is one of creation or re-creation.

(“Spiritual process” is really just a broad term for whatever fits for you: inner personal growth, expansion process, moving towards a higher self, intuition process, connection to the divine, connection to God, connection to your inner guidance.)
and from this definition it starts to become pretty clear why we need creativity in our lives.

And although this is something that I’ve really intuitively known for a long time, it’s not really been until I’ve heard Liz Gilbert allude/(outright say) this very same thing, that I actually feel totally comfortable with putting it out there like that.

Because when Julia Roberts plays you in the movies, then what you say is the ACTUAL TRUTH.

And now I carry it around like a Liz-on-a-lollipop stick.
(External validation for the win.)

I mean, just to be fair – Julia Cameron also VERY much talks about creativity being a spiritual process –

but she doesn’t have the Julia Roberts thing.

 

We tend to think and believe that “the creative thing” (the writing, the art, the photos, the singing, the music, the clothes you choose to wear etc) is “the thing”, in much the same way that many people believe that yoga postures are “the thing” – when really, neither the “creative thing” nor the yoga poses are “the thing” – they are just the thing that we use as a tool to uncover the REAL thing.

(Gotten myself lost in a vortex of “things” there.)

So anyway, what was so apparent in both of these “creativity” workshops, and what I also intuitively know is that, it really is more about using creativity as a way to get into what the REAL thing is. And the REAL thing is what we find hidden at the depths of that treasure chest.

And usually – it is the exact same thing for every person:

Fear. Self Doubt. I’m not good enough. That’s not me. I’m not… I can’t. Not enough. Loneliness. Sadness. Disconnection.

It’s all the same radio channel/low vibe frequency that we tune into just disguised with different names.

Both the practice of yoga and the process of creating are generally both naturally self reflective and mindful  – (in creating we “step back and take a look at what we’ve created” in the yoga practice we continuously observe ourselves on the mat).

And really when we dive into unfamiliar creative/yoga practices, that are self reflective and mindful – we start (through the process of observation) – either in observing what is creatively “blocking us” or our immediate response when we first step into a yoga studio or onto our mat, to become a little bit clearer on what the “REAL THINGS” are –

And once we really get gritty with THOSE things, it naturally opens and unlocks a whole fountain of creative things.

(NB: Creative things = creation = expansion = spiritual/personal growth = spirituality = connection to source = flow of creative things)

When you look at creativity in this way, it’s not really something that you have to find or “work on” – it’s really just something that you allow.

Why you need creativity in your life 

• It’s one of the most natural things for us to do. Life itself is a creative process, we are part of life, and we are part of this natural creative process. Children create without prompting ALL the time as a way of expansion, growth and development and yet somewhere along the way as adults we stop creating – (and really, that is the point where we stop expanding and learning).
• It connects us to “source” – whatever that means for you: God, Spirit, the Universe, your intuition, flow, your inner being, the divine. Connecting to creativity connects you to this source energy – and really getting rid of “creative blocks” is not about techniques and processes and tools (although those are useful) – it’s about reconnecting you back to that source energy, or even really just connecting you back to yourself.
• Creativity is about PLAY. It brings JOY, enchantment, magic and vibrancy to your life! Whether it’s taking that tango class or signing up to a watercolour workshop, or testing your hand at decoupage or knitting or woodworking or metal working – it invites a sense of childlike wonder and joy back into your life – that we so easily slip out of in the humdrum of life.
• It brings you into a state of FLOW – that feeling when time and space seem to disappear. Studies have found that there is a huge correlation between happiness and being in a FLOW state.
• It is a form of physical self expression. So often these days we “express” ourselves (mildly) through screens and creating is an opportunity for self expression beyond technology through something tactile.
• Studies published in the American journal of public health show that creativity reduces stress, anxiety, provides exploration of identity and even reorganises neural pathways in the brain to bring about states of wellbeing.

basically it’s just good for you.

And you need to do it more!

PLAY. SIGN UP FOR TANGO. WRITE MORE. SING IN THE SHOWER. DANCE WILDLY. KNIT. SEW. BAKE. DECORATE. WOODWORK. METALWORK. HAMMER THINGS. CONSTRUCT. DECONSTRUCT. PAPER MACHE. PICK UP AN INSTRUMENT. SLOW DOWN.

We need so much more of this in our lives! We really really do.

Creativity connects us back to our soul.

Yoga and mindful movement connects us back to our soul.

Breathing, stillness and self reflection connect us back to our soul.

So many of us live completely disconnected lives – and it’s time to re-ignite that connection to yourself!

Come and MOVE, BREATHE and CREATE with me!

Come join us here!