In the first half of this series, I talked about viewing creative energy through a yogic lense. In yoga, energy is also known as prana or life force. We are born with a certain amount of prana, and we make choices each day that increase or decrease our prana. Healthy food, good friends, exercise, a good night’s rest, and meditation can increase prana. Negative habitual thoughts, poor nutrition, and lack of exercise and sleep decrease prana.

When we have enough prana, we have an easier time maintaining our creative practice, physical health, and relationships. We also get off the high/low energy rollercoaster and live with better equilibrium. The tradition of yoga offers three practices that improve the flow of prana: yoga (asana or movements), meditation, and pranayama (breath work).

Yoga

Many creatives find that a regular yoga practice helps physically counter hours spent in repetitive motions, like painting, writing, dancing etc. Yoga is a great brain (and back) break when you’ve been at a screen all day. Yoga also helps calm busy minds, reducing stress and hypertension. In my own experience, I’ve found a strong link between yoga flow and creative flow. I’ve gotten some of my best ideas, out of the blue, after yoga. I like to think of it as meditation with movement.

If you're interested in trying yoga, check out my beginner's series and yoga sampler series or jump into any of the classes on my schedule. Also, I take requests! If there's a class not offered that you'd like to take, send me a message. I'll consider adding it either here or on my YouTube channel.

Meditation

When we meditate we learn to observe our thoughts from a distance. Over-identifying with negative thoughts can trigger painful emotions, which causes stressful physical sensations and drains our prana. With practice, when life events trigger a series of negative thoughts, instead of nodding along, we can step back and get curious. “Hmm. Is that really true?”

Just as there are many kinds of yoga, there are many kinds of meditation. Mindfulness meditation is an accessible practice. You can sit in silence or listen to quiet music or nature sounds for any length of time. Insight Timer and Calm apps offer free, guided meditations. However, anything done with mindful awareness can become a meditation if you’re purposeful about it.

Pranayama

In sanskrit, 'prana' can also be translated as breath and 'ayama' as control. Breath control. Pranayama helps focus the mind and can be practiced on its own or incorporated into a meditation or yoga session. Again, there are lots of ways to practice here, depending on what works for your body and your goals.

One of my favorite practices is nadi shodana, or alternate nostril breathing, which balances prana and helps calm body and mind. Other methods, like ujayi (victorious breath) or bhastrika (bellow’s breath) are more stimulating. They’re intended to energize the body and mind and are helpful to, say, prepare for a big presentation when you want to be at your sharpest and most energetic. For more exploration of pranayamas, you can check out this link.

Now that I’ve outlined the basics of each practice, I want to note that these are only suggestions to help build resilience and awareness and increase and maintain energy. Yoga, meditation, and pranayama can be helpful, and many variations of each tool are available to try. However, the journey is yours, so find what works for you!

Also, if you’ve experienced trauma and find any practice triggering or have physical limitations or pain when you practice, do not force yourself to continue. Please ask for additional support from a teacher or therapist.

Lastly, if you’d like guidance in crafting a daily practice or someone to teach you any of the techniques mentioned above, I offer private sessions. I would love to support you and your goals!