Recently, my good friend got into sourdough bread making. Lucky for me, I’ve been the happy recipient of a delicious loaf (or two!). I’ve always loved baking, especially making bread. I’ve posted about if before – this is still one of my favourite bread recipes! The process is deeply satisfying—mixing, kneading, waiting, baking. It puts me in a meditative zone, a place of presence.
And it’s not just baking. Another friend told me how she got completely lost in building a Star Wars model. The careful assembly, the attention to detail—a form of meditation for her as she got lost in time. My sister has recently discovered a love for knitting, and also gets absorbed in the process of making something with her hands.
Chad, who taught my sister to knit, wrote about sharing knitting with a woman with Alzheimer’s disease. He describes a moment when she looked up at him and smiled. “Knitting stimulated her mind in ways that other therapies could not, pulling her out of her disease and into a space of presence and joy.” (Chad Knits) How beautiful is that?
Have You Ever Gotten Lost in Creating Something?
Think about a time when you were completely immersed in making something. Maybe you were painting, knitting, writing, or even organizing a space just right. How did it feel?
The process of creating requires patience, presence, and maybe even a bit of surrender—just like a yoga practice. Kneading dough, carefully assembling a model, or mindfully shaping something with your hands is a lot like moving through a yoga flow with focus and care.
Yoga for Patience, Focus & Creativity
Here are some yoga poses that can help cultivate patience and focus:
- Forward Folds – Encourage introspection and taking a moment to pause. Some of my favourites are Janu Sirsasana and Wide-legged forward bend. Check out some tips for forward bends here!
- Standing Poses – Help you feel grounded and present (like working on a long creative project). I find this especially true of the Warrior poses like Virabadrasana 1, 2 and Extended Warrior Variation. View a video demo here!
- Wrist & Hand Stretches – We don’t always focus on our wrists in yoga, but they’re essential for so many creative and manual activities. Not to mention the importance of wrist health for those of us who work at computers all day! Yoga with Kassandra has a great 5-min video on wrist stretches.
Your Creative Challenge
What do you love to create? Is there something new you’d like to try this week?
Next time you sit down to bake, build, paint, or write, notice how you feel. There’s no right or wrong—just awareness.