The energy expended “pushing” through life takes its toll when each creative step we take is an active one, and never counterbalanced with stillness.
Multiply this pattern by a million moments and we suddenly find ourselves running on empty while calling it living. As a result, the body and mind suffer, and the heart is filled with tasks and expectations instead of fun and joy.
Wow, this turned dark pretty quickly! But, think about it. Push past the “to-do” energy and need to “get things done now” feeling and really sit with the energy of stillness.
While taking action steps is part of bringing a creative idea to life, we also need stillness to honor where we are, where we want to go and what is truly meaningful to us. We also need it to nourish and recharge in order to move in a direction that aligns with our true self, while allowing the flow of life to do it’s thing.
When was the last time you were calm and quiet enough to do some self-inquiry, and actually listen to the answers?
- Do I really want this? Why?
- Are my core needs and joy being fed by this creative step, or am I doing things out of habit, guilt, or not knowing what else to do?
- When was the last time I felt like was moving in a direction that matters to me or felt purposeful?
It’s absolutely normal not to want to sit still or look deeply at what is going on in our hearts at times. This is the space where we connect with what we love, but also where unfulfilled dreams can linger, tangled up with the “shoulds”, expectations, and doubts we try to drown out by always going, doing and moving to the next thing.
Nature has a cycle of action and rest, and as humans who are part of nature, we have the same creative cycles. Stillness is just as essential as visioning, planning, doing or making when it comes to our next creative step or self-expression. It’s what helps us stay present and find joy in the life we’ve created so far, and it’s an essential part of being rooted clearly in what we want to create next.
Open Up to More Stillness In the Moment and In Between Moments
For the last few weeks, I’ve been going to yoga every morning. During the last 10 years of my yoga practice, I’ve been attending class 1 – 2 times per week regularly as one part of my mind, body, spirit self-care.
However, I never thought about doing it more often until I realized that every spring I “hide” because of seasonal allergies. This time of year I usually throw my hands into the air in surrender, then snuggle with my tissue box until the trees have bloomed and the air is pollen – free for my morning walk. This year I could have done the same thing.
Instead, I asked, “How is this serving me? Why not do more yoga as an alternative?”
Is this choice earth-shattering? No. Powerful? For me, yes – because more yoga has deepened my understanding of the power of stillness.
Daily yoga reminds me to breathe when things get hard and when they are easy. In difficult poses I can try to find stillness and in easy poses I can practice keeping my mind from wandering off. In new, unfamiliar poses I can challenge myself while using the breath to keep me steady through frustration or fear. At the end of each class in Shavansa (corpse pose) I get to “die and be reborn” into a new perspective fueled by stillness and the space I’ve created in my body, mind and heart throughout class.
This inner quiet and extra attention to how and when I breathe follows me outside of yoga class and into my day, helping me stay calmer and more centered. Now that I’ve committed to going more often, I’ve seen huge benefits from my practice, learned about the unique needs of my body on a deeper level, and experienced mental, physical and emotional gains.
I’m also realizing how micro-movements and adjustments within a yoga pose are just as essential for feeling powerful and releasing tension as having the proper form within a pose. Each micro-movement can be paired with a breath, surrendering to what we feel and our thoughts about it, while we let it go and surrender to being present.
Every creative action we take does not have to be something new, different and above and beyond what we are already doing. In fact, we can become more empowered within each action we take when we pair it with stillness instead of running head first into the next action.
Yoga as a practice is all about poses and counter poses to create balance within us. Stillness is your counter pose to a creative action, and a very powerful creative step, providing space to connect with mind, heart and emotions. This allows any insight we’ve gathered to intuitively point us in the direction of where we want to go, and what we want to create, wholeheartedly.
How can you add more stillness to the actions or creative steps you are already doing?
For additional reading on a similar topic, check out the blog post Release, Surrender and Opening Up to Creative Renewal. Looking to move through some creative blocks or get guidance on a particular challenge? Connect with me for creative coaching or intuitive guidance. Want to learn some tips on how to tap into inner guidance while you are on the go? Check out my podcast, Flirting With Enlightenment.
Please Note: My posting schedule is changing in order to create time and space for me work on other projects for Creative Katrina. Look for new blog posts every other Monday moving forward. Thanks so much to all my dedicated readers! To the creative spark in you!