Creativity helps to support our mental health and well-being by allowing for a connection to self-expression. Modern research suggests mindfulness-based meditation practices can help us contact creative flow by:

• allowing for purposeful, attentive mind-wandering
• enhancing focus
• reducing judgement and fear
• encouraging open thinking patterns (Henriksen et al 2020)

Age-old yoga and mindfulness philosophies have always reminded us that when we intentionally pay attention to present moment experience with kind curiosity and care, we create the space to connect with our innate strengths, including creativity.  When we can bring a caring, mindful presence to whatever it is we are doing, we naturally create the conditions necessary for creative intelligence to flow through us.

Looking for a quick creative boost in the middle of your day? Consider trying this mindfulness meditation practice known as the Sky of Awareness. Invite a fresh perspective, and explore what arises.  Enjoy:

1. Taking a few moments to settle into a comfortable seated posture, eyes closed or gazing gently to the floor, allow attention to rest softly upon watching the breath just as it is.  You could also choose to gather attention around an intentional word, mantra, or short prayer as a grounding anchor.
2. Using your anchor for support, invite attention to broaden, imagining the mind as wide and expansive as the Sky.  Opening attention up to include sounds, allow their pitches and tones to come and go in this vast Sky of Awareness.
3. Also held in this Sky are sensations within the body. These too, like sounds, have the quality of arising and falling away.  Returning to your anchor as you need, explore the quality of bodily sensations available right now in the company of sounds, just letting it all be.
4. You may have already noticed that the broad Sky of Awareness also holds space for thoughts, mental images, and emotions.  They shift and change like varying weather patterns within this expansive Sky.  Instead of ignoring them or pushing them aside, see if it is possible to allow them to come, linger, and move on, along with sounds and sensations.  Allow for the unfolding of life just as it is, remembering your anchor is always available to return to whenever you need it.
5. Once you are feeling ready, gather attention back to the breath, or whatever supportive anchor you have been using. Notice the quality of your presence and rest here for a few more moments. Invite a sense of gratitude to yourself for exploring this vast Sky of Awareness within. Thank you.
   

by Rashmi Bismark, MD, MPH, Mindfulness educator and author of Finding Om

The events of this past year have certainly amplified the importance of self care and community care for all. As a kids yoga teacher, one of your priorities has been family wellness. What does that look like for you at home, and where does yoga fit into it?

Family wellness has definitely been the core inspiration behind all that I do. It's a work in progress and often changes. I talk to my family about eating a balanced diet, hydration and exercise to maintain a healthy body, but we also talk about maintaining the spirit within our body. We talk about how breathing can change how you feel, and we practice different ways to do it. The conversation about wellness is continuous in our home. This helps because kids will call you out on just about anything! So when I slip into a funk and am not being mindful of what I am providing for nourishment, or if we haven't moved our bodies in an intentional way they say, "Hey Mom..." One thing that stays pretty consistent is our breath.

What inspires your relationship with yoga?

My relationship with yoga is inspired by the memory of how I felt before beginning a practice with meditation and the difference in how I felt once it became a lifestyle. I was at a breaking point, and not only did I benefit from my practice but my whole family did. My relationship with my husband improved. My interaction with my kids improved, and my perception of things completely changed. When I reflect on the trauma that has affected generations of Black people and the lack of access to heal, I am inspired to share my passion for yoga.

Part of your mission is expanding the face of wellness for Black kids and families. Tell us more about your vision and the @blackkidsdoyoga Instagram movement.

My vision of expanding the face of wellness for kids wellness started with our social media pages, helping others to acknowledge that representation is a problem and supporting the cause to change the media. It extends to providing resources and a community through our books and Black Kids Do Yoga Club. My goal is to flood various platforms with positive images of black children learning, understanding and being empowered by mental and physical wellness. I want those children to have available access to resources that support their practice. Finding books, videos and communities that mirror and embrace parts of your identity should not be a research project. 

Your work has also led you to self-publish a picture book called Our Family’s Doing Yoga and start a YouTube channel to explore yoga as a family. What were some of your inspirations for this book and your YouTube channel? How do you hope kids (and their adults) will be impacted?

As a child I was blessed to have images of people who positively resembled my reflection presented to me in my home. Outside of my home it took more work to find. Books that showed positive images of the Black community weren't readily available. Images on television often portrayed us negatively, and even within our own community we faced internalized racism. When I envisioned motherhood one of my top priorities was to be a mother whose children felt seen and heard. When my children took interest in my yoga practice, I wanted them to know that this practice was for them. I wanted them to visibly see it in the books and videos we used as support but the options were slim.  Writing Our Family's Doing Yoga was a way to share our story and empower my children to embrace their practice as theirs. As we began to influence others, I was often asked about YouTube videos that showed children of color.  Once again our children were underrepresented in the industry on the platform, so we began creating videos to share. I am a mother and an educator. It is woven in my make up to nurture and nourish. That's what I hope my work is doing.