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Los Angeles-based yoga teacher, life design coach, and writer Mary Beth LaRue is sharing her secrets to inspired sequencing and a creative life in our upcoming Yoga for Creativity online course. (Sign up now.) Get a sneak preview here with her three favorite asanas for creativity.
To stimulate creativity, I love the fluidity of a vinyasa practice. Finding ease and fluidity in our physical movements is a great way to also encourage flexibility and suppleness in our thinking. Here are my go-to poses to get me into my most creative mindset.
Dynamic Cobra Pose
I love this dynamic variation on traditional Bhujangasana when I’m looking to be creative.
Bring your hands to the floor just to the side of your mat and come up onto fingertips. From there, practice inhaling and exhaling deeply as you undulate your spine down to the floor and back up into the full expression of the pose. The wave-long oscillations help to stimulate a flexible spine and mind.
Pigeon into Mermaid Pose
This one is all about awakening the second chakra, which governs creativity. I love the hip-opening and surrender of a deep Pigeon Pose, paired with the expansive chest and shoulder-opening of a regal Mermaid Pose.
Set up Pigeon Pose as a base, and spend 8 breaths folding forward with the chest draped over the front leg to get that nice hip opener. Then, come back to sitting tall, take a couple of deep breaths, and make your way into a majestic Mermaid Pose with the back leg bent and back foot in the crook of the elbow and hands clasped together overhead.
Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose
This pose is one of my go-tos. It puts me into a mellow space, which helps to release stress and anxiety, and get those ideas flowing freely.
Practice this as a gentle, supported Shoulderstand variation—by stacking two blocks underneath the tailbone and lifting the legs—or by sidling your hips up to a wall, dropping back and letting go.
See alsoThe Unexpected Ways Yoga Stimulates Creative Thinking
ABOUT MARY BETH LARUE
Mary Beth LaRue is a Los Angeles–based yoga instructor and life-design coach. She loves riding her bike, scribbling ideas over coffee, and taking long road trips with her family (including her English bulldog, Rosy). Inspired by her teachers Schuyler Grant, Elena Brower, and Kia Miller, LaRue has been teaching yoga for more than eight years, helping others connect to their inner bliss. She co-founded Rock Your Bliss, a yoga-inspired coaching company that helps clients “make shift happen.” Learn more at marybethlarue.com.