The link provided above is to an
article titled “Use of Yoga Nidra for
Creativity and for Enhancing Intuitive Faculty,” which I believe ties together many
of the concepts that have been discussed this past semester. For
example, today’s class focused on culture and the Western and Eastern views on
creativity. Swami Nityamuktananda, the author of the above-posted article
expands on creativity, as it is defined in the Eastern culture. She focuses the
article on yoga and the benefits yoga has on a person’s creative process.
As I was reading the article I could
not help but let my mind drift back to the Gandhi group presentation, and more
specifically the group’s incorporation of yoga. Clearly, yoga was a tool that Gandhi
used to keep himself focused on his work, and not stray from his goals. Again,
we talked in class about how Gandhi went to school in the West, yet is
originally from the East; Therefore he believed in the product focus that many
of the westerners focus on, yet also he believed in the process focus, which is
relevant to the Eastern Culture. In other words Gandhi may have had a goal in
mind, but he still put emphasis on the process, which would lead him to that
goal. One path he used was yoga an activity that focuses on the process of
emptying ones mind.
After that, this article also intrigued
me because of its relevance to the Stravinsky presentation today, in that
similar to Stravinsky, who believed he was simply the vessel through which
great music was produced, Swami Nityamuktananda, in her article
mentions, “My hands move the clay when I make a sculpture, but what moves my
hands?”
I believe this statement is not only
relevant to Stravinsky and Swami Nityamuktananda, but also to the
other creatives that we have read about, such as Picasso and Graham. Although
both of these creatives had an idea of their final products, in their
respective fields, the outcomes were never exactly what they imagined. In other
words, I believe that when someone is truly passionate about something they let
their creativity get the best of them and allow it to consume them until they
have come to a final product. For example, although I cannot compare to
creatives such as Graham or Picasso, I tend to lose a sense of time when I am
working on a new drawing; there have been times where I have missed meals because
I have been so immersed in a new project.
Swami
Nityamuktananda says it best in that, “…creativity in its fullest, deepest meaning
ultimately comes from the “state of Zero”, of non-localized, no-form …
consciousness.” Also, I will be sure to attempt Yoga Nidra, a special form of
yoga, mentioned in the article, which is meant to enhance creativity!
What an inspired article about yoga and creativity. I am grateful Gandhi's life and creative process struck such a chord with you. I really connect with many things you say in your post, though I might be able to add my own perspective about yoga as a mechanism in the creative process. When I view something as creative, I view it as universally connective. By this I mean that one can empathize with the created work's theme or tone, while also causing the subject to look at things in a new way. Creativity therefore might be measured in its ability to move one's "self", or how effectively it enchants one's spirit. To create meaning of this likeness, we must rid ourselves of our ego; the humanistic aspect of ourselves hindering our mind from fully actualizing or reaching any real state of awareness.
ReplyDeleteYoga Nidra seems to emphasis this action. Which is why this practice enhances one's creativity. Once "ego" is removed from the equation, we can focus on creative endeavors through a perspective of sameness, the notion that we are all one, and that the unlimited eternal is everyone and everything. Yoga Nidra seems to embrace this concept, allowing its practitioners the ability to create influentially and universally, striking just the right balance, and cognitively affecting all intelligent living things who are capable of comprehending its intended effect.