Muse

In this chapter, Mr. Broad covers how yoga seems to stoke the fires of creativity.  Yoga seems to produce a retardation of mental functions, moving us out of the left, analytical and sequential hemisphere of the brain into the right, more holistic, intuitive and creative side of the brain.

Yehudi Menuhin (1916 – 1999) was an American-born violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in Britain. He is widely considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century.  In the height of his career he began experiencing physical and artistic hardship.   By the early 1950’s, he was complaining about aches and pains, of tension and deep fatigue and of the impossibility of getting any rest.  His art was suffering.  In 1952, while traveling in India, he met BKS Iyengar.  The ensuing yoga lessons gave Menuhin feelings of deep refreshment as well as better control of his violin.  Mr. Menuhin declared Mr. Iyengar his best violin teacher and wrote a glowing introduction to Iyengar’s book Light on Yoga.

Besides Menuhin, there are many famous creative people who have also practiced yoga:  Leopold Stokowski, Great Garbo, Sting and Carl Jung, just to name a few.  The problem is that we don’t know how much yoga influenced their careers.

The inspirational power of yoga seems to arise, at least in part, from nothing more complicated than the release of psychological tension and the quieting of the mind.    In this chapter, Mr. Broad looks at the power of yoga to act as a muse.  He considers everything from the difference between the right and left hemispheres of the brain to the production of neurotransmitters that create a state of calm to the phenomenon of rising Kundalini energy.

Over the years, a number of intriguing clues about the relationship between yoga and creativity have come to light.  Other topics more central to the discipline – health, fitness and safety – have received more attention.  Have you noticed that yoga has had an effect on your sense of creativity?