Why Yoga and Writing?

Many people have asked about the connection between yoga and writing.

Yoga practice can be a tonic to the ceaseless inundation we face every day.  Bombarded by the electromagnetic waves of cell phones, microwaves, WiFi, PDAs, computers, iPods, we turn up the volume to drown out any possibility of hearing the inner stillness. Even in yoga classes, sometimes students spring up before shivasana, needing to be off and about their business, back to crammed schedules and ceaseless hurried, harried busy-ness.

Any yoga at all is a good thing, even when it’s treated more like calisthenics than meditation. And the special secret, the magic and true power of yoga — when you fully give yourself over to the fullest and deepest experience of that  — is its ability to quiet the mind and transport you — body, mind, and soul — to completely different levels. Yoga practice is a time and space to settle deeply into the body and hush the surface chatter of the mind.

What can emerge, what can be heard in that profound inner silence, is what some call the still small voice. As a writer and conscious creator, I treasure any practice that helps me unplug and connect to that deep, quiet place, the wellspring of words, the source of flow.

Yoga is like the bucket on the pulley of my grandmother’s old-fashioned well.  The bucket, on the end of the pulley,  travels down the well shaft to the surface of the water far below ground. Using the pulley, the bucket submerges then is drawn back up, bringing forth a vessel brimming over with the waters from deep and dark places.

Yoga serves as bucket and pulley, drawing up from the depths the elixir of life to be savored then, above ground, in writing and on the page.  Such is the perfect precursor for writers and creators of every stripe, the palpable connection to the deep inner world.

If you want to explore these inner connections and possibilities, please read about the Yoga + Writing workshops, here. Feel free to call or email me with any questions or for more information.

Author: Bobbye

Bobbye Middendorf, MA, partners with evolutionaries as mystic-catalyst, healer, and poet -- evoking experiences of hope, self-grounding, self-trust, resilience, and joy. Spoken Word Alchemy opens portals for Yin Arising via mentoring; she offers inner wisdom guidance and word altars. With WayMakers, this award-winning wordsmith regenerates their clarity and expansive expression to live life as a work of art. View all posts by Bobbye