Center for Yoga Drawing and Painting

Embodying the River of Creativity

Trust that still, small voice that says, “this might work and I’ll try it."
Diane Mariechild

There were many days in the past twenty years where I longed to be a professional dancer or yoga instructor instead of a visual artist. I loved drawing and painting with all my heart but was hungering for the heightened state of embodied awareness that comes with focused and flowing body movement.

Its not that I felt I could only paint or only dance. I simply had a need to experience utter union between the two. Just as if lovers do not make physical contact – a certain intimacy is never born. I struggled for many years regarding how I could tend to my body’s need for flowing undulation while painting. I finally trusted that still, small voice – and found permission to trust the body movement that naturally emerges when my creative instincts are ready to flow. The River of Creativity is now alive in my body. The truth is, this River was always alive in me; it’s just that I’ve learned how to feel it. And so can you.

I shut my eyes in order to see.
Paul Gauguin

Kirsten D'Andrea Hollander

How do we learn to not only feel, but also trust the River of Creativity that flows in us? At TOSA we begin by drawing with our eyes closed. One hand chooses to be the seer of edges, form, pulse and space and the other hand holding the artist’s material is invited to be the messenger of that which is seen through touch. Mystery takes over and we see with the eyes of our entire body. We recognize that the breath drawn into our bodies is our core creative act and that our exhalation of breath is the life force behind every mark that flows from our hands.

When we shut our eyes to see we have no choice but to slow down. When we slow down we give ourselves the opportunity to check in with the basic needs of our human bodies, regardless of what we are doing in any moment. At TOSA we consider the body’s basic needs to be conscious breathing and awareness of where we are sitting, lying, standing, walking — what surfaces our bodies are making contact with and how? Is there any way you can adjust your body in this very moment so it is supported and receptive? And of course we drink lots of water or how else will the River of Creativity flow through us?

So, how are you making contact with the chair you are sitting on? How are you making contact with the matt you are lying on? How are your feet making contact with the surface you are standing or walking on? And most importantly, please take a moment to recognize that whatever is supporting your body, is, in this very moment being supported by the Earth. Are you willing to recognize that the Earth holds you in this moment?

Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does
the painter do good things.
Edgar Degas

It is in our power to make adjustments with our posture, moment-to-moment so the abundance of the Earth’s energy can flow through us. We breathe and let go of being in control, we breathe and let go of our ideas of what is supposed to happen with our art. The deeper we fall into the lap of the Earth the more we give ourselves over to the process of trusting our creative instincts -- even if we do not have a clue to where the River of Creativity is taking us. The River knows. The River will never abandon us.

We begin by opening up the space between our finger and toes, by lengthening our necks, lifting our heads and chests and taking a full breath into the deepest territory of our bellies. At TOSA this is how we activate a safe space in which to create. When we are focused on the breath, the body, and what is happening right now, there is less opportunity for the inner-art-critic to mock our creative passion. In turn, when we feel safe we can give ourselves permission to no longer know what we are doing. Let Go! Let Go! Let Go!

I allow myself to follow blindly the images that
suggest themselves to me.
Louise Bourgeois

After a safe space is activated at TOSA we begin to instinctually follow the pulse and subtle movements of our bodies. This often gives permission to draw and paint into the atmosphere with our hands and feet. Because we are not attached to these invisible marks we are etching into the air, we have the opportunity to cultivate spontaneity without our critical thoughts halting us with ideas of success or failure. We are free from success and failure.

I might say that there is a place beyond success and failure where our brains and bodies become co-workers, but my experience is that when I move beyond success and failure my brain and body become one. When this occurs all of our dreams, memories, as well as the mythical and archetypal consciousnesses stored in the very cells of our bodies become ripe and are available to emerge through our mark making process. As a result, we can indeed follow blindly the images that suggest themselves -- the River of Creativity flows.

Here in the body are the sacred rivers…all the pilgrimage places…
Saraha

Dreams, memories, mythical and archetypal consciousnesses are all gateways to the Mystery. The Mystery hungers deeply for our attention so that we may meet it eye to eye – so that we may walk hand in hand with its magnificence. I often hear how people are filled with awe and gratitude when an aspect of the Mystery reveals itself through their artwork.

Kirsten D'Andrea Hollander

When we pilgrimage to the Mystery filled places in our bodies we are invited to acknowledge our relationship with bliss. We make the intention to notice when bliss shows up in our bodies. We notice when bliss feels unfamiliar and when we cut it off. We honor when bliss asks to be revealed through our artist’s mark.

Sometimes before we discover bliss we may have to visit some dark places. Artists often do. The difference that makes the difference is this; if we are adept at living in our bodies, the River in us flows with grace and strength. In turn, we are empowered to flow through dark places while we learn, honor, and ultimately set the darkness free. Once we truly hear what the darkness has to tell us, we do not need to dwell. Bliss is our birthright.

We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings
having a human experience.
Gurmukh

There is a historical precedent of artists putting their bodies second to their artwork. As artists we can become disembodied when we become attached to what our image is supposed to “look like.” We are no longer in the nourishment of the present moment. Instead we are thinking about outcome of our image in the future. I often see my own art students leaving their feet, then their legs, then their torsos till their awareness is only in their hands and eyes.

At TOSA we practice noticing when we begin to leave our bodies behind. Out of devotion to our human experience we stop what we are doing and massage our feet. Some people choose to lie down in the fetal position. Then we begin again by opening up the space between our finger and toes, by lengthening our necks, lifting our heads and chests and taking a full breath into the deepest territory of our bellies. We come back. Come Back! Come Back! Come Back!

We travel the seen and unseen worlds when the River of Creativity takes us on any journey. The edges of where these worlds begin and end are always shifting, just as the water’s edge shifts with the tides of the ocean. If we are, indeed, spiritual beings having a human experience, we must breath deeply into our bodies in order to navigate these worlds. When we tend to our bodies needs moment to moment we partake of the privilege of standing on the Earth.