Step into Your Creative Power
(Start Anytime Yoga for Creativity 18 Week Practitioner Training)
TranscendenceYoga practices were developed thousands of years ago for Transcendence.
Samadhi, Moksha Nirvana are Sanskrit names for what we refer to in the West as “Flow” or “Being in the Zone.” |
FlowFlow is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity.
Flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does and often loses sense of space and time. To be inspired as Artists we look for ways to be in flow. Asana, Breathwork, Journaling, Art making and Meditation can bring us to states of flow In the Art Fusion training our focus is on yoga and creativity practices that access flow, higher states of creativity, mindfulness and healing. |
Problem Solving
One aspect of creativity is problem solving . . .
The composer wonders: What notes best express this feeling? The actor soul searches: How do I best play this character with my body and my voice? The screen writer contemplates: How should I end this scene? The visual artist ponders: What shapes and colors should I use? Mark Beeman of Northwestern University have identified two patterns in successful problem-solvers’ brains. Brain waves slowed down to alpha state with traces of theta wave patterns The brain’s hyper-rational “executive decision-maker” network became quiet enough for other parts of the brain (we associate with the mind’s unconscious) to be aroused. |
Studies continue to point to the right hemisphere’s role in generating novel ideas and insights.
Studies led by Jonathan Schooler (UC Santa Barbara) and Jon Kounios (Drexel University) demonstrate that the part of the brain that lights up during Aha! moments is the right anterior temporal lobe. It’s located in the right hemisphere, generally behind the right ear.
Studies led by Jonathan Schooler (UC Santa Barbara) and Jon Kounios (Drexel University) demonstrate that the part of the brain that lights up during Aha! moments is the right anterior temporal lobe. It’s located in the right hemisphere, generally behind the right ear.
At the moment of insight, the brain waves light up at the highest measurable frequency known as gamma waves - potentially associated with "higher thinking" such as meditation. According to a popular theory, gamma waves may be implicated in creating the unity of conscious perception.
Andrew Newberg of the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center and his team studied four beginning yoga practitioners. The practitioners underwent three months of yoga training and a specific routine. The team measured each participants’ hemispheric activity before and after the training. After three months of practice and study, practitioners’ right hemispheres were activated more.
Francois B. Vialatte (RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Laboratory for Advanced Brain Signal Processing in Tokyo, Japan) and his team measured a density of gamma waves in beginning practitioners after practicing one simple breathing exercise.
The density of gamma waves appeared in the same brain region in which Richard Davidson has measured a density of gamma waves in the brains of Tibetan monks advanced in meditation practice.
The region is called the anterior cingulate cortex, and it correlates with the brain's detection of novelty and with compassion.
Francois B. Vialatte (RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Laboratory for Advanced Brain Signal Processing in Tokyo, Japan) and his team measured a density of gamma waves in beginning practitioners after practicing one simple breathing exercise. The density of gamma waves appeared in the same brain region in which Richard Davidson has measured a density of gamma waves in the brains of Tibetan monks advanced in meditation practice. The region is called the anterior cingulate cortex, and it correlates with the brain's detection of novelty and with compassion.
And Chris Streeter of Boston University and team found that yoga overwhelmingly spikes GABA in beginners who practice even one hour of yoga. For four weeks, participants in the study attended yoga classes each week, practiced the same sequences, and then were encouraged to practice the sequences at home. The 2010 study reportedly is “the first time that a behavioral intervention (i.e., yoga postures) has been associated with a positive correlation between acute increases in thalamic GABA levels and improvements in mood and anxiety scales.”
Andrew Newberg of the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center and his team studied four beginning yoga practitioners. The practitioners underwent three months of yoga training and a specific routine. The team measured each participants’ hemispheric activity before and after the training. After three months of practice and study, practitioners’ right hemispheres were activated more.
Francois B. Vialatte (RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Laboratory for Advanced Brain Signal Processing in Tokyo, Japan) and his team measured a density of gamma waves in beginning practitioners after practicing one simple breathing exercise.
The density of gamma waves appeared in the same brain region in which Richard Davidson has measured a density of gamma waves in the brains of Tibetan monks advanced in meditation practice.
The region is called the anterior cingulate cortex, and it correlates with the brain's detection of novelty and with compassion.
Francois B. Vialatte (RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Laboratory for Advanced Brain Signal Processing in Tokyo, Japan) and his team measured a density of gamma waves in beginning practitioners after practicing one simple breathing exercise. The density of gamma waves appeared in the same brain region in which Richard Davidson has measured a density of gamma waves in the brains of Tibetan monks advanced in meditation practice. The region is called the anterior cingulate cortex, and it correlates with the brain's detection of novelty and with compassion.
And Chris Streeter of Boston University and team found that yoga overwhelmingly spikes GABA in beginners who practice even one hour of yoga. For four weeks, participants in the study attended yoga classes each week, practiced the same sequences, and then were encouraged to practice the sequences at home. The 2010 study reportedly is “the first time that a behavioral intervention (i.e., yoga postures) has been associated with a positive correlation between acute increases in thalamic GABA levels and improvements in mood and anxiety scales.”
Flow shares commonalities with the mental states of high concentration seen during meditation. The state of flow is considered form of concentration uninhibited by our critical facilities when one is fully immersed in the moment. The researchers say “Flow may thus be a state of subjectively effortless attention that occurs during skilled performance and has different underlying mechanisms from attention during mental effort.”
We can find (or train) this state of effortless attention or flow with asana, pranayama, meditation, creativity practices and journaling with the support of knowledgeable teachers and consistent practice.
We can find (or train) this state of effortless attention or flow with asana, pranayama, meditation, creativity practices and journaling with the support of knowledgeable teachers and consistent practice.
Tools to Step into Your Creative Power:
- Mudras for Transformation and Healing
- Mantras for soothing the Nervous System
- Pawanmuktasana 1, 2 and 3 to release energy blockages
- Surya Namaskar for expansion of awareness
- Asanas to open and balance the 2nd, 5th, 6th and 7th Chakras
- Brahmari, Alternate Nostril Breathing and Surya Bhedana for relaxation, expansion and right hemisphere activation
- Yoga Nidra and Sankalpa for quieting the pre-frontal area of the brain and accessing unconscious mind
- Bhavana and Guided Imagery to access super and subconscious mind
- Mindfulness Practices to boost creativity
- Journaling to increase T cell production
- Intuitive Art to find your own authentic voice
- Homework assignments in your own creative media
- Mantras for soothing the Nervous System
- Pawanmuktasana 1, 2 and 3 to release energy blockages
- Surya Namaskar for expansion of awareness
- Asanas to open and balance the 2nd, 5th, 6th and 7th Chakras
- Brahmari, Alternate Nostril Breathing and Surya Bhedana for relaxation, expansion and right hemisphere activation
- Yoga Nidra and Sankalpa for quieting the pre-frontal area of the brain and accessing unconscious mind
- Bhavana and Guided Imagery to access super and subconscious mind
- Mindfulness Practices to boost creativity
- Journaling to increase T cell production
- Intuitive Art to find your own authentic voice
- Homework assignments in your own creative media
