Australian_Yoga_Journal_2016_08_09_downmagaz.com
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Creativity flows most readily when there is space, time, and consistency, which is what<br />
meditation helps us achieve, making it a wonderful tool for tapping our inner creative genius, says<br />
Elena Brower, a yoga and meditation teacher in New York City and co-author of Art of Attention. “Our privilege<br />
as practitioners of yoga and meditation is to consciously create that space and time in which to dissolve<br />
limitations and receive our creative inspiration,” she says. Try her meditation below, designed to help you move<br />
beyond your usual boundaries and open yourself up to new and different possibilities. “This meditation is a simple<br />
exploration that connects you to the central channel of your body, where creativity lives and where confidence and<br />
clarity can arise,” says Brower.<br />
• Begin by sitting <strong>com</strong>fortably, hips elevated higher than your knees. Inhale into both nostrils, all the way down into<br />
your belly. Feel light descending as you breathe in. Exhale up from your belly and out through your nostrils, and feel<br />
light rising as you breathe out.<br />
• Next, add the elements of receptivity and listening through a simple mudra and affirmation to enhance your creative<br />
clarity. Place your hands into the shape of a bowl in front of your heart space, with your pinkies touching, palms facing<br />
up.<br />
• Breathe deeply into your belly through your nostrils and feel a quality of receiving in your hands. Invite the source of<br />
your creativity into your physical body, noticing any thoughts or sensations as they arise. Wel<strong>com</strong>e your breathing and<br />
watch it be<strong>com</strong>e longer, steadier, and more patient with each successive inhale and exhale. As you find more stability<br />
in both your breath and your body, you produce rich soil in which to place the seeds of your creativity. Breathe long and<br />
fully for 3 to 11 minutes, your choice.<br />
• To end, imagine you’re moving light all the way down into your belly, and bring your hands to prayer (Anjali Mudra) in<br />
front of your heart. Exhale up from your belly and out through your nostrils, drawing your navel centre back toward<br />
your spine, imagining light rising and emanating brightly throughout your being and into the space around you.<br />
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