This month, esteemed author Nadia Colburn shares her thoughts on yoga and writing for finding purpose and clarity, especially during times of transition. Nadia leads workshops on this topic at Om Namo Center.
As I’m enjoying these last days of summer—taking last swims even though the weather is getting colder, celebrating mu daughter’s 13th (!) birthday, walking out to see the sunset—I’m thinking about how to go back into the routine of the school year with positive energy. And I find that the more clear I can be in what I’m doing—and why I’m doing it—the more positive I feel about entering back into a more regular work routine.
I often bring together writing and yoga. But why do I do this? You might think that if you were a really serious writer, you wouldn’t want to dilute that serious intellectual pursuit with something like a yoga practice. And vice versa: serious yogis wouldn’t want to interrupt their yoga flow and freedom from thought with writing.
But in fact, when we bring mind and body together, both mind and body practices grow deeper and stronger in all kinds of powerful and unexpected ways!
We live in a culture of fragmentation; from the cartesian mind-body split to the ways in which society itself is fragmented among different groups of people, our paradigms keep things separate. But this fragmentation hurts us.
One of the most powerful, healing things we can do—individually and as a society—is to come back into integration.
And bringing writing and yoga together is one of the most powerful way to do this! Because they both, rather than being fringe activities, remind us who we really are.
Here are three powerful benefits of bringing writing and yoga together:
1) Greater health—yes, really!
2) Greater and deeper creativity
3) Greater clarity of purpose
We live in a time in which so much is going on at once, and there is so much uncertainty, that it is easy to feel fragmented and torn in different directions. But when you invest in these practices and in yourself, you will be more available for your whole life and for others as well.
I invite you to take a moment and get clear on your own intentions for the fall: what are you doing and why? How are you connecting to your own deep calling?
Learn more about Nadia on her website.
