Exploring Mountain Pose: Welcome to Part 3 of our Exploration of the Eight-Limbed Path of Yoga  

The journey to date: Part 1, Yama and Part 2, Niyama

If you’ve been on the journey of this latest resource series, you’ll know that we’re bringing the holistic practice of yoga into the Mindful Creativity mix.  The first of eight blog posts and resource in this series focuses on Yama and explores ideas of balance and equilibrium. Read Choosing Equilibrium and download my free workbook to help you explore this one – a really helpful theme to explore as you look to build a sustainable and fulfilling art practice. The second of eight explores the practice of Niyama, with a focus exploring clean self-expression.  

Next stop: Part 3, Asana 

This third part of the series sees us exploring Asanas, or postures – which are the more physical side of yoga, and thinking about how physical stances, postures, stretches and movement can help our creative work.

Let me share with you my experience. When I started practicing yoga, I thought what you did in the yoga studio was pretty much it. And the better you got at the poses, the better you were at yoga. Now, years later, I have a much more integrated approach. I know that yoga isn’t so much about how you can contort your body into fantastic shapes – it’s about an interconnected experience that allows you to explore deeper experiences of connection off the mat.

It’s about art, even when it isn’t!

When we feel connected, we can feel more confidence in our creativity. Stretching, breathwork and yoga poses can help ground and relax us and find ourselves more able to loosen up. This can have huge flow-on effects for how we bring ourselves to our creative practice. It’s a good chance that we’ll feel more in touch with our inner voice, more connected to our purpose, simply through having already reached a calm an less distracted state of being. As an artist, I’ve found that all aspects of yoga are helpful – all eight disciplines of the eight-limbed path are really rich territory to explore. 

The word asana doesn’t actually imply movement so much as using our body as a vehicle for active awareness. In Sanskrit, the word translates as seat, as in the seat you would take for the practice of meditation. And so the only real focus is that you take a posture that is steady and comfortable. When it comes to the physical practice, I have found that some of the simplest poses are the most profound. And, just to clarify – no yoga pants are required, despite my little graphic below. You can do simple asanas in your creative space, without having to do anything other than take your shoes off! 

What is Mindful Creativity?

Hello, my name’s Jordan. Mindful Creativity is a great way to relax, unwind and enjoy creativity to enhance our sense of wellness. If you’re looking for a way to connect with your inner voice as you develop your own personal creative practice, it might be just the thing for you.

My Mindful Creativity blog, resources and tools provides ways for you to deepen into a more nourishing creative practice!

Exploring Mountain Pose, or Tadasana

Mountain pose is all about standing still. A profound part of the yoga journey is realising that you don’t have to move very much at all to experience a shift, and sometimes, the slower and smaller your movements, the more you get from the experience. Because Tadasana is about standing still, it can also be a very strong, very powerful – and empowering pose.

Here’s how to start. 

1. If you are in your creative space, clear the floor around you and consider closing the door for enhanced focus. 

2. Take off your shoes (keep your socks on if you are feeling chilly). Take some time to wriggle your toes and get comfy. 

3. Do whatever you need to in order to get the kinks out of your body as you find your standing position. This might mean rolling your neck, shoulders, moving your arms about, twisting from side to side. You might even want to do a little dance or jig to really allow your body to release it’s pent-up energy.  (And if you have your door closed, no-one’s watching – so have fun with it!)

4. Feel into your body, and be curious about it. How is your body feeling? What sensations are you experiencing as you arrive more fully here in the present moment? 

5. Do an energy cleanse. Visualise sparking gold energy washing you clean, and then let that energy dissipate, so its just you and your body. 

6. Bring your attention to your posture. Take a moment to align your body so that your shoulders are set back and your chest is open. If you only do this single alignment readjustment and nothing else, you’ll feel the benefits. So often we walk around with a slouch. Feel that great energy when you open your chest and your heart space.

7. Remember to breathe. Have your hands at your side and palms facing outwards. Can you take a few deep, slow breaths as you stand firmly in your pose? As you stand and breath, you might think about what standing strong means to you, at this moment in time. Does it mean standing firm and taking action? Perhaps it means standing quietly, and simply being present. Or, could it mean standing still so you can sink into the ground, to sleep and dream, letting the world do its thing around you? 

8. Take the time to enjoy the strength that lies in stillness. As you breathe, consider the mountain; the formation in nature that gives this pose its name. For me, Mountain Pose simply means being. Can you simply be, without having to explain yourself? Can you simply be without responding or reacting to what’s going on around you? Give it a go, and think about how you might also apply that to your creative practice. Can you make art just because?

9.  Stillness also offers us the opportunity to catch our breath and take a moment. To recalibrate. Not sure what to do? Feel like you’re in creative overwhelm? Or that you’re being pulled in a million different directions? Try simply stopping. These feelings can be a great opportunity to just stop and observe. It’s the soft-gaze kind of observation, where we look inwards instead of outwards. Look inside. Ask yourself what might be really going on. Then just take a beat. Give yourself time. Mountain pose is a great way to stop, in order to move forward with clear, connected, creative intent. 

What will you find in Mountain pose? Enjoy! 

Download my free workbook on Exploring Mountain Pose

‘’Stand like a Mountain’ is Part 3 of my Mindful Creativity Toolkit – Exploring the Eight-Limbed Path. It includes:

•  An overview of the the eight-limbed path of yoga and how it can help us find new ways to ‘breathe more deeply’.
• Exercises to help you reflect on how you can use simple stretches and yoga poses to bring a sense of feeling grounded
  in your creative work.
• Prompts and guidance to explore Mountain Pose, and journal what happens when you practice ‘Standing’ – it’s more powerful than you might think!

Download this great resource now, and deepen into quality creative work. Enjoy the art of creative wellbeing to help you play and have fun, be intentional in your work, reflect deeply on your goals and values, and and get meaningful things done.

You’ll also receive my fortnightly Mindful Creativity email. And, each month, I’m releasing another part of the Mindful Creativity Toolkit – so you’ll also get that delivered to your inbox for free.