8 yoga for creativity

Published bySwami Vivekananda Yoga Prakashana

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YOGA FORCREATIVITYDEVELOPMENT

Contents

Ch.no. title Page no.

1 INTRODUCTION

2 ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF

THE VOCAL SYSTEM

3 CAUSES OF INJURY TO THE

VOCAL SYSTEM

4 VOCAL DISORDERS AND

VOICE DISORDERS

5 VOICE CULTURING

DEVELOPING MUSICAL TALENTS

6 VOICE CULTURE FOR

DEVELOPING ORATION

7 YOGA PRACTICES FOR

VOICE CULTURE

Yoga for Creativity Development | 7

Yoga in Education for Total Personality Development SERIES - 7

CReAtIVItY AnD InteLLIGenCe

What is Creativity? How is it different from Intelligence? What are the uses of Creativity? We will try to understand in this Chapter. Creativity and Intelligence are facets of our mind. The Mind called as Chitta has several functions. The gross-est function is of the random mind. The mind jumps from one subject to another. Concentration helps us to channelize these energies which get wasted in a random mind and chan-nelization of energy is useful. When the dam is constructed and channels and control valves are arranged, the whole water becomes so useful for irrigation and for generation of elec-tricity. Similarly the energy of our Chitta has to be properly channelized to make use of it effectively. But in its gross form of Manas, it cannot be done as it jumps randomly. The whole effort in education is to develop power of intelligence, power of discrimination, logical mind, analytical mind, discriminative mind. So in that you try to unravel the mystery by going to the root cause of what do you see. From diversity to unity is the key essence of intelligence. That is called the Buddhi. We have yet another faculty also. It is cre-ativity. What is creativity? From one thing you start developing many things. Take for example a seed. Plant the seed, put water, it starts sprouting. Slowly stem comes up and gradually develops

8 | Yoga for Creativity Development


into a beautiful tree. The leaves and the flowers and the fruits grow. This is creation; all that is contained in the seed. What type of mango you get? What is the taste of the mango? What is the shape of the mango? What is the size of the mango? What is the colour of the mango? Everything is predetermined in the seed that is planted there. So the diverse manifesta-tion outside is all contained in the potential form in the seed. So creativity is to create from potential to the kinetic or the manifest; from one to many. In the beginning, for the creation the Lord told that I am one; I am going to become many. Ba-husyam prajayayet iti ….. I am going to create many. In the same way that power is also within us by which we will be able to create newer and newer things, diverse things. This is what is Creativity. Nava Navonmesha shalini manah. Cre-ative mind is that which has the power to bring out newer and newer things. Each time you go to a dream world, you have a new dream that is coming up; each time you are creating the world of your own. What dream you had yesterday you will not have it today or tomorrow. Very rarely you have the same type of dream. So there is a creativity in the dream world. what you see in the dream is a totally new world of your own. It is all the creation of your mind. Your dream is created out of your mind, my dream is created out of my mind. Every one has their own Swapna Prapancha. Something very fascinat-ing, something very enjoyable, But some dreams can be ter-rific. You have been going towards an isolated region and from the forest comes a lion and you run for your life and the lion is chasing you, you are running with a high speed for your life and suddenly the lion comes pouncing on you and you scream aloud. Suddenly you come back to the wakeful world and



you say ah I am saved. What happened? This was all your own creation. In another dream you are the king of the whole country. You have got everything so wonderful, so enjoyable, so comfortable, so palatial. But when you come back from the dream, you are back in the poor hutment where you are living with a petty small little salary and you have to do hard labor. Then you regret how I wished that dream was true. Therefore sometimes we are happy about coming out of a dream world and sometimes we regret.

So when you come to the Jagrat, as the dream is over, all that appears as a swapna. So dream is a very creative mani-festation of the mind. So what is the difference between intel-ligence and creativity? In intelligence we move from diversity to single, trying to find the root cause of the effect that we see. All the diversity that we see in this physical world is made out of energy. Everything is nothing but different quantum of energy. The intelligent discriminative, logical mind is referred here. Creativity is opposite to it. Creativity is a power to mani-fest, a power to create a new thing. That is very necessary for technology, for engineering. Because having understood the principles of electricity, it was given to the engineers. The technologists made use of that electricity in various forms. In the form of the light to get the magnetic effect and to use it for heating and through that several gadgets started coming up. A large number of its utility started coming up and all that we see today in the physical world either in the Super Bazaars or the Metros are creative manifestation of that entity. They all are brought through the power of creativity. Creativity there-fore is from one to many, intelligence is from many to one. In



the random mind, we have many thoughts. Large number of unconnected thoughts, unconnected subjects are in the gross mind or Manah. But in the power of Buddhi, they get a clear understanding going deep into the subject and try to unravel the mysteries of the diverse world moving from effect to the cause, moving from diversity or multiplicity to unity. That is the scientific mind, that is the Buddhi, that is the work of Buddhi, that is the power of Buddhi. However exactly the op-posite of that is in creativity. In creativity we move from one to many. That is from single entity to this entire divergent world. But both are equally useful. Just as intelligence is useful, cre-ativity also is useful. But intelligence is the work of the left brain and the creativity often is the work or the functioning of the right brain. The two things are complementary. A per-son can develop essentially intelligence, or logical frame work, analytical mind, brilliant mind, sharp mind to go deeper into the subject. But another person may be an artist, may be a musician, may be a sculpturist who is full of creativity, but he may not be intelligent. An intelligent person need not be creative, a creative person need not be an intelligent one. But when you are both creative as well as intelligent, you have full blossom of personality and that is what Yoga wants us to do. Not merely one sided development. But it should be a total development of the personality and that is what we are trying to learn in the next chapters.



sILenCetHe soURCe oF CReAtIVItY

In the last Chapter, we tried to understand the difference between Buddhi the intelligence and Srijanatmaka Shakti the creativity. We understood that it is the work of Buddhi, Dis-crimination power with which you go deep into the subject. From multiplicity you go to the unity to find out a single cause from where this diverse universe has come. But creativity is the reverse of that. How to create a multiple existence from a single thing? A single mind is creating a new world with a new dream every day. When we go into the deep sleep every day, that day you create a new dream, new swapna prapan-cha what a fantastic creative dimension? So creativity is from single entity to multiple entities.

The manifestation of this intelligence and creativity are found in the left and the right lobes of our brain. Left brain’s func-tion is intelligence. This is also called as discrimination Power. Creativity is the function of the right brain. Though there is no exact fixed functions of the right and the left brains, they although are little overlapping one another, predominantly we can say that the right brain is creativity and the left brain is intelligence. A person who is very intelligent, need not be very creative, a person who is very creative need not be very intel-ligent. Fine arts, Music, Dance, Drama, Painting, Sculpture, aesthetic they all belong to the category of creativity. The right



brain activity, intuition is yet another dimension of that cre-ativity, whereas the left brain essentially is a logical brain. But as we go higher and higher, a person may be growing higher in his quest for arts, dance, drama, music and so on is creative manifestation. Similarly, on this side a Scientist will start growing deeper and deeper. His power of intelligence becomes more and more sharp. then we start developing the creative dimension. Ultimately both the things come to the same logic in the Vijnanamaya Kosa. So creativity is the power within us to manifest that which is in the seed form. From the potential to the manifest. Swami Vivekananda said the goal of life is to manifest that divinity, the divinity which is hidden within us has to be manifested. So how can this happen? The mind has to be calmed down to go into the single thought. So from that single thought emerges the whole gamut of this multi-ple (thousands and millions) of thoughts. What is that inner state of oneness that creates everything? That is what our Scriptures, our Yoga Shastras tell us emphatically that we all possess that immense potential inside us called Anandamaya Kosa. But it is in the potential form. Its manifestation comes outside in the form of dreams, in the form of multiplicity, in the form of the thoughts in different directions. Now the ques-tion is how to fathom that creativity and what are the Indian contributions for the development of that creativity? So Pa-tanjali is the person who codified, collected and summarized and edited all those techniques that were available earlier to him. And he, in fact, talks about the calming of the mind, the silencing of the mind much more than any one does. The process of meditation is to calm down the mind, to silence the mind and to see that the whole thing starts manifesting. So



calming of mind is the key essence to tap the subconscious. That which is deep within us has to be brought to the surface for manifestation. That is what a creative mind does. Invari-ably the creativity starts blossoming up when you face chal-lenges. When there are many challenges, then your creativity will blossom more and more. So creativity is a very interest-ing phenomena. It searches for newer and newer routes. It starts manifesting newer solutions and thereby it starts grow-ing. Creativity not only gives the techniques as to how we can develop this creativity but also gives techniques to develop total focusing called Dharana. In Dharana you take a single object, a single subject, a single picture then put the mind on to that single thought, single picture and that is the one that calms down the mind, takes us to deeper realms and there you start developing a new dimension. For a long time, peo-ple did not understand what is deep down in the ocean. They thought it to be a large bulk of water. But as we learn to go deep into the ocean, we started fascinated about underwater world. It is more fascinating than the world around us. There are exhibitions after exhibitions of this. Exhibitions to show the fantastic features of the underwater world came up. In the same way when you calm down the mind, when you si-lence the mind, you will be able to manifest from that silence all that was hidden. Just like in a seed we have the whole plant, the flowers and the fruits. When we are able to silence the mind and be in that silence, creativity blossoms. There is a wonderful manifestation of creativity. So creativity has got the multiple thoughts. All those multiple thoughts are con-nected to bring out a harmony, aesthetics, love and affection wonderfully by harmonious combination of all those multiple



thoughts. Therefore both the dimensions are necessary. One side the logical development, discriminating power, thinking power, that are enhanced by the education system we have, on the other side we use that creativity to creatively manifest, to creatively create things, that will be most useful to us and creatively offer solutions to the problems that affect the soci-ety. Therefore creativity development is very very important and extremely useful.



CReAtIVItY DeVeLoPMentYoGIC APPRoACH

We bring the Creativity in our education system among our students. So we have now a day’s very simple techniques to invoke the creativity. Here are some simple questions.

Show 5 and 1 is equivalent to 4One of the student came and wrote like this. I V. Show 2 and 1 is equivalent to 21.Another girl came and told, look at this sir, this is 2 , this is

1 = 21

The teacher asked students, look here, I have a wooden stick. Can you demonstrate various uses of this stick? One boy came trembling pretending to be beaten with a stick. Another boy used it as a flute. One boy used it as a pen. These are the creativity games that we use. This is played with a simple stick that we use with lot of creativity to bring about various dimen-sions.

We tell children: Look at this figure. A short line by the side of a long line. Now the teacher



asks the student can you make this short line as longer and this long line a shorter. But you should not just rub it off. It should remain as it is. Without mutilating this you should make it short. Then one of the boys came, OK sir, I am going to show you and he just drew a very short line by the side of the short line which made it look longer and one more very long line by the side of the long line which made it look shorter. Creativity is finding your ways of creation.

There was a king and he want-ed to know his horoscope. Many Astrologers came and everybody looked at it. ‘O’ King, your horo-scope is horrible. In front of you, your wife, your father, your mother, even your son are going to die. What a horrible horo-scope you have? The king got very angry. He put him behind the bar. One, two, three, four, five, six Astrologers all were behind the bar. Now nobody dared to go to the King. But an Astrologer from a neighboring city came. All people cautioned and said be careful, you will be behind the bar soon. Then the Astrologer asked, what was the matter? As they told, he said OK. Don’t worry. He went to the King boldly and the king welcomed him. O king I am a great astrologer and I came from a far off place to predict your horoscope. Then the king presented his horoscope. Looking at that the Astrologer said, o King, what a fantastic horoscope it is. I have seen so many hundreds and thousands of horoscopes none had this kind of wonderful horoscope. You have a very long life ever I had seen. On hearing this, king was extremely pleased and honored him



highly. What did this astrologer do? He used his creativity and pre-sented the same truth ( what was predicted by the previous astrolo-gers ) in a different way. When we look at things and then when our mind becomes silent, we get newer flashes about those things. It is through newer flashes that you invent. Our education system should develop this cre-ativity dimension. How to develop this? Yoga is a wonderful way of doing this. In modern technological era, we use brain storms. Here in our class rooms the teacher is Creative. He should pick the brains of the students. He should allow them to relax, he should make them calm down and then he should be able to pose such simple things, such puzzles by which the creativity will blossom. In our experiments we have tried to ex-amine the development of creativity in children. There are ten days personality development camps normally in April. April 1st to 10th, 11th to 20th, 21st to 30th. Ten days programme. Before and also after the Creativity development programme we measure creativity. A number of Yogic Games for Creativ-ity and different asanas and the whole Integrated Yoga Module that we are going to present in the practical session are all taught to these children and we measure creativity later. Vari-ous forms of creativity will be measured. We find wonderful results. Enhancement of the creativity takes place. We have been able to document these results showing that there could be as much as 60% of increase in creativity just within ten days. The IQ can develop 14%, 15% in just ten days. Three cardinal principles of Yoga, relaxation of the muscles, slowing down



of breathe, calming down of the mind can all bring wonderful blossoming of the creativity. This is because we are basically Anandamaya Kosa, a state of total silence, a state where the Chitta Vritti Nirodhah had happened. From this silence the whole creation takes place and from here the whole creativity blossoms. This is the main difference between the other cre-ativity development programmes and that which is conducted here in our yoga programmes. Every Integrated Yoga Module is essentially meant to relax the muscles of the body and slow down the breathing by different types of pranayamas, cooling pranayama and others. We use calming of the mind, silenc-ing of the mind by meditation. By so doing, there is going to be fathoming of that inner silence, touching of that inner Anandamaya Kosa and there will be blossoming creativity that comes out. This is the whole approach of yoga which is quite different from others. They create number of songs, number of stories, sketches, dramas, games, yogic games and all re-lated to yoga dimensions and the children love them, students like them so much that they automatically involve themselves in these things and their creativity blossoms.

Now we have seen that creativity is Nava Nanonmesha Shali-ni Shaktihi. It is a very special power of our mind which can think very creatively to find newer and newer things. Whereas in Intelligence we look at the things and try to find out from where these things have come and what is the root cause for them. Whereas in cre-ativity we use some of the principles to see how best it can be utilized. For example, electricity was found by modern science and



the technologies have started using electricity for various pur-poses, the Heating effect, the lighting effect and the magnetic effect. Today we see all the grandeur of applications of elec-tricity. This is the creativity. How to use that creativity is a key essence.

There was a King and he had a very wise Minister. The Wise Minister was such a great strength to the whole country and they had built almost an ideal social order. The Minister was getting old. He was very wise. He said, I want to select the next Minister. Not from my family, no selfishness, he was absolutely selfless. I want to find best of the person in the city. Therefore they announced that there will be selection of Minister and people can apply. People applied. There were tests and screenings and with all that finally three persons were selected. The three persons were asked to come after two days. They will have the final testing to select one. The first two people were very practical people who found out what would be the test.

The test will be that each one of them will be sent into a dif-ferent room and the doors will be closed. Each door will have a number lock. Immediately the two practical people got into ac-tion. They started studying about all types of locks and keys and how to open the number locks? How to open that exact number by which they can open the door? They burnt the mid night oil to get all the information. They wrote down all the formulae, the calculations done, the simultaneous equations solved. They prepared themselves wonderfully. Whereas the third man, he said, I am not going to do any preparations. He



thought If had the capacity he would win. He calmed down his mind.

At 9 ‘O’ clock and the three of them came and exactly what they got in-formation was true. All the three people were lead into seperate rooms and the doors were locked and inside they saw a beautiful number lock and the two practi-cal people were very happy. Each one of the practical people started working faster and faster. The third man who was there just sat in silence, calmed down his mind, looked at the door very closely. Looked at the wonderful number lock and ob-served carefully. He slightly pulled the door, opened the door and came out. The Minister then announced that the third man is selected. The other two people got very angry. What nonsense? The Minister is so selfish. How can he choose the third person? Then the Minister said, please open your doors and come out. Those two people said, how could they come out when the number locks have not been solved. How other fellow opened the lock? The Minister just pushed in the doors and doors were opened. They felt so ashamed. They missed a simple and most important solution to the problem. Normally in our anxiety and stress we ignore and miss the simplest facets of life. Here comes the importance of creativ-ity. The creativity is a manifestation of something very simple. That is the state of inner mind, which is full of inner creativ-ity. Therefore the development of creativity is a very important



factor. In the methodology of yoga it is es-sential to take the mind to its source. This is the source from where the thoughts arise, intelligence arises and all the aspects of the Antahkarana blossoms. It is Anandamaya Kosa. It is that vast field of silence. Manah Prashamana Upayaha Yogaha. Yoga is de-fined as a process by which you calm down the mind, silence the mind, tranquil the mind and take the mind to the deep silence and there we have all the creativity which can blossom up. Therefore in contrast to many other techniques which are being used in the Western approach, in Yogic approach we work with the mind. We directly handle the mind to calm down to go to silence and bring out the wonder-ful creativity. This silencing often happens when there is a Vishya Vishayi Sambhoga, when the senses come in touch with their sense objects. The famous example of Archimedes, he was given the toughest of the problems of the times. He was to find out whether there is adulteration of gold and the King said you are given 15 days time and you have to find out this without cutting or mutilating this jewelry. Biggest of the chal-lenge of the time was given to the biggest of the Scientist of the time. Archimedes started thinking. Well, if I had the chance to cut, open, measure and weigh, then I could easily make out how much gold is adulterated. But that was not the case. He had to think of newer ideas, he was having just two days left. If he was unable to find the solution, the Capital Punishment would be given. He had that inner anxiety, the rush and inner zeal to find the answer. With that intense zeal to find the an-swer, he entered into the bath tub. Then a miracle occurred.



What happened? He jumped up with Eureka. I found out, I found out. What happened? People don’t understand the mechanism. It is the Upanishads, it is the Yoga Lore that ex-plain us how this happened? How did he get the new thought? How did he get that new solution? How did he get that won-derful creative power? When he entered into that bath tub, the wonderful sense, Sparsha, came in touch with the soft warm water and Vishaya Vishayi Sambhoga occurred. The Vishaya is the lukewarm water, the fine hot water and the Vishayi is the sense. When two things come together some miracle oc-curs within us. That is the mind that goes into the deepest of the silence and from that silence emerges a new light. That is the secret of developing creativity in the Yoga way.

Therefore, if you want to develop creativity, use calming of the mind, silencing of the mind. That is the core essence for the development of creativity. In Integrated Yoga Module, we use all different techniques to calm down the mind, to silence the mind, to tranquil the mind and take the mind to the deeper layers of silence, Anandamaya Kosa. It is the state of immense bliss, immense joy. What a joy and bliss Archimedes got when he said Eureka. Let’s all, go to that state of Eureka, the state of deep silence, deep state of wonderful fullness, Poornatva.



LAYeRs oF sILenCeAnD tHe sIDDHIs

In this Chapter we are going to deal with, the powers of Cre-ativity. What is creativity in contrast to intelligence? Our Yoga and Spiritual Lore takes us to great heights of not only development of creativity but to the creation itself.

In Taittiriya Upanishad Bhrugu, the young student being guided by the great Seer Varuna, unravels the mysteries in this creation. The source from where all creation has come. In the first step, the teacher guides the student please go and find out from where you are born and what is that which sus-tains you and into which you go back?

Yato va yimani bhutani jaYente Yena jaataani jeevanti

That is what is called as Brahman. Please go, find out. The student went. Bhrugu, the young lad with all the zeal and vitality and the commitment and dedication started thinking what is it that I am made out of? What is it that sustains me and into which I go back when I die? Just a day or two he found the answer. I got it, I got it. He jumped with joy and starts running to his teacher to give an answer. haa….uu… haa….uu… haa….uu… ahamannam, ahamannam, ahaman-nam. I am nothing but Anna, I am nothing but the matter principle. What am I made out of? All matter, atoms, mol-



ecules and what is it that sustains me? The food I take. Into which I go back after the death? I go back into the atoms and the molecules. So he was very clear in his mind. He went to the Guru and said that he has found the answer.

Annam brahmeti vyajanat ………….

The teacher patted him on the back, wonderful! You have begun the journey and don’t think that you have reached the end. Go and investigate further. Tapasa Brahma .. Sent back to investigate further. Bhrugu comes back, starts thinking Oh, I thought atoms and molecules and Anna are the final, the Brahman. Now my teacher said tha I have to go further. What is it? After few days he understands the difference between a dead body and a living body. All matter is common in both. There is something special. Prano Brahmeti vyajanat and again with all the joy he jumps back to his teacher. There the teacher sends him back saying to go further. Tapasa …. This time the student comes back and he starts thinking what is it Beyond the Prana? Suppose one gets hit on the head and he falls unconscious, he goes into Coma. Though Prana is still there, something is missing that he is not conscious. What is this something missing? The body is there, breathing going on, but he is totally unconscious. That is the Mind which is missing. Mano Brahmeti vyajanat…….. again the story re-peats. The teacher is his father, Varuna sends him back to go beyond the Manas. Bhrugu this time thinking deeper, tries to understand the whole mechanism of the mind and under-stands that mind can go mad and can become a Neurotic and Psychotic. What is that that is missing there? It is the con-



troller of the mind Vijnana. Vijnanam Brahmeti vyajanat……. And it is the Buddhi, it is the Intelligence, it is the knowledge and this time the student was very confident that I have found the answer and the right answer as the modern scientists find. But the teacher says no. You have to go one step further. Find the source from where all intelligence emerges, all Vij-nana comes. This time Bhrugu goes, into deep meditation. He starts finding out the root from where the thoughts come. Every thought comes up and subsides before the next thought comes. There is a silence and again the thought comes and goes back. This continues. He started fathoming the gap be-tween thoughts. A gap, a thought. What is that gap? Silence. Soon he found that the silence is all pervasive. It is in the background of this silence that the thoughts come and go. He is goes deeper and deeper over days and weeks. Months have rolled. The mind has became calm and tranquil. His mind was all the time in inner silence. the thoughts are coming and going back. At last miracle happened in which there was an explosion inside. That explosion of quantum jump of the mind took him into the ecstatic state, the Anandamaya Samadhi. He understands that it is all the field of silence called as Ananda. Bliss is silence, Silence is bliss. He understood and it is from this silence, the whole thing emerges.

Anandadhyeva khalvimani bhutani jayante……… ananadam

He got established in that silence in that wonderful state of Ananda. Therefore, all creations starts from that Anandama-ya Kosa, from the state of silence. If one can start taking his mind to the deeper levels of silence and get into that phase



of Samadhi, then he starts getting the high-er dimensions of per-ception called Extra Sensory Perception. All his senses start blos-soming into the higher level of perception and this is the famous ESP. This is called precogni-tion, the telepathy. Understanding the mind of other person and mind to mind interaction all these start coming up. The perception becomes so sharp, so intelligent. Silencing of the mind, calming of the mind is the key essence for ESP. Lot of work and research has taken place round the world, but peo-ple have not been able to understand this secret of developing ESP. This is told by Patanjali in the third chapter Vibhutipada. He says there will be an internal transformation. The mind transforms itself and goes into Samadhi. From one Samadhi to another Samadhi it jumps up getting greater powers of Ex-tra Sensory Perception. So from the silencing of the mind emerges the higher powers of the mind. That expansion of silence through Samadhi brings in higher levels of perception called Extra Sensory Perception. This is a perception in which one can go deep inside to understand the mind of another and interact with others. Precognition of events is another special power to see prior to the happening of the event which latter becomes a reality. All that power starts coming up. In Patan-jali Yoga Sutra in the Vibhutipada it is said that, there is a methodology for this transformation. It is through the Parina-



mas and entering into higher states of Samadhi one gets this Extra Sensory Perception.

The most important thing is that all these powers should be used for the good of the society and not to aggrandize, to cut others, beat others, terrorize others and deteriorate ourselves to enslave ourselves. That is the direction given by Patanjali. and don’t get lured and attracted by this Extra Sensory Per-ception and the Siddhis. On the other hand use all the powers for the good of the society to bring healing powers to others, healing others to bring positive health. So let us develop these powers to do good to the society, to develop health, harmony, love and peace for the society.



HoW to Use tHe sIDDHIs?

In the last Chapter, we saw how a student goes deeper un-derstanding the higher dimensions of creation. He reached the source, the causal State from where the whole creation takes place. This is called Ishwara. The power of creation is called Ishwara Shakti. When it gets manifest, it is called Brahm. The Chaturmukha Brahma is the symbolism for the creation that takes place. How did that happen? Satapo Tapyata ………… that’s how the Upanishads describes. Through the Tapas he wished this entire creation and the creation started coming up. So what is that secret of Tapas? This is beauti-fully brought out in Patanjali Yoga Sutra, in our Yoga and Spiritual Lore. Tapas is a process by which one goes into deep silent state of mind. There are different types of Tapas. There is Kaasta Tapas, there is the Gross Tapas, the Tapas in which you stand in a river with one leg like the Parushurama did to get the greatest power. Then there is a Tapas to see that the mind is focused on your God from whom you want to get the boon. All the Raakshasas and many others used to have this intense Tapas sitting continuously and calling for Brahma to give them the boons. The highest form of Tapas is for self de-velopment for reaching that ultimate state of ultimate reality and that is Moksha with the total understanding that this is our source from where we all have come and that is the Satvik Tapas. So when Brahma does Tapas, it is for the manifestation of this cosmic order to be brought into life as ordained by the ultimate reality and he sits and does the Tapas to create the



world at large. When Brahma is doing that, he is creating the whole world. When a Bhakta comes and intensely does Tapas to get a boon, what happens to Brahma? How does he give this boon? He invokes the power of creation and then gives. That is Ishwara Shakti. That is the power of the Ishwara. The power of the Lord. The power of the God, the Supreme and this is how the world is created. Then world has to be sus-tained. That is the work of Vishnu. World will get destroyed going back to the Pralaya. That is the work of Shiva. Shiva represents Pralaya. So Sristi, Stithi, Laya forms the set of laws and what is the connection between these ultimate realities, the Trimurtis, the Trinities and human beings as we are. The connection is unraveled by the yogic secrets. When you start taking the mind to deeper levels, calming down of the mind, taking them to the different Samadhis, then there is an explo-sion inside. In the last chapter we saw how Extra Sensory Per-ception starts coming up. Patanjali says start going further to deeper levels through the transformation process called the Parinamas. Ekagrata Parinama, Nirodhapari Parinama, Sa-madhi parinama taking a person from one level of Samadhi to the next. There are eight different types of Samadhi. Vitarka anugata Samprajnata samadhi, Vitarka anugata aSamprajna-ta Samadhi, Vichara anugata Samprajnata samadhi, Vichara anugata asamprajnata Samadhi, Ananda anugata Sampraj-nata samadhi, Ananda anugata aSamprajnata samadhi, As-mita anugata Samprajnata Samadhi, Asmita anugata asam-prajnata samadhi all these come under the broad heading of Sabeeja Samadhi in which there is a beeja still and therefore further purification is required. All the samskaras and kar-mas are not burnt totally. But only when you burn up all



the sabeeja then you go into the Nirbeeja Samadhi and Dhar-mamegha Samadhi which is the ultimate called the Kaivalya by Patanjali. But what is very significant and interesting and more fascinating for many people is that different types of Sid-dhis are associated with the different levels of Samadhi and in the highest type of Samadhi which is almost the Asmitanugata asamprjnata, in that region a person gets all the Ashta Siddhis such as Anima, Mahima, Garima, Prakamya, Prapti etc and when the person is so purified, when his mind fathems the totality, how do he use this power?

The great example of Hanuman having all this power of Ani-ma and the Mahima and what not and used all these to fulfil the mission of Sri Rama to establish Dharma in the society and that is the direction being given to us. So there are peo-ple who have precognition. Some people who have got the power of Psycho kinesis, some people develop some powers automatically and normally they get lured and they get lost, they get enslaved with these and they deteriorate the society, cause harm to the society. Instead if these people are given an understanding right from the beginning the right thing to do, to use all the power for building the social harmony and love and the affection, then they are in the right direction. That is called establishing the Dharma to build ideal social orders in the country, using the powers. That is what our great Ma-harshis used is to do in our ancient times. They were using all these powers ( which they were developing consciously) for the good of the society. They had that clear vision as to what and how they have to use these Siddhis or the powers. They were using all the eight Siddhis for the greatness and development



of the society. That is the wonderful message that we get from the epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

Therefore when we start developing our power of creativity, we do it by silencing of the mind, calming of the mind, going to the causal state from where the whole creation comes up. If we are so purified, then we can start raising higher to the levels of Samadhi and explosion and expanding inside. When we go to the higher levels, there could be higher possibilities of getting different siddhis and it is then the real test comes. The biggest of the attraction of the Siddhis can lure and take us down, enslave us back into clutches of the sensual attraction. It is then we have to use our power of discrimination, power of intelligence, the power of logic and higher wisdom to see that we elevate further and use all these powers for doing good to the people around. That is the message that we get in our Shastras to work for the society. Renunciation and Service should be the twin ideals and use all these powers for recon-structing of this land, the land of greatest of wisdom. Let us all move in that direction towards yoga way of life. Yoga way of life is featured by love, harmony, peace, sacrifice and service. The great master Swami Vivekananda has given us this mes-sage. Let us march ahead arise; awake, stop not till the goal is reached is the Clarian Call that he gave and let us all move in that direction.



CReAtIVItY DeVeLoPMent

sItHILÉKARAnA VYAYAMA • Alternate Leg Rising in Standing • Padasancalana • Tiger Stretch (Prabheda) • Baby Walk • Makarasana Cycling • Clap Jumping

YoGÄsAnAs • Veerasana • Ardha chandrasana • YogaMudra• Karnapidasana• Dhanurasana• Cakrasana

BReAtHInG PRACtICes • Sectional breathing - Abdominal• Sectional breathing – (Thoracic)• Sectional breathing – (Clavicular)• Sectional breathing – (Full Yogic breathing

PRÄëÄYÄMA• Nädi Suddhi • Sitali• Çitkari



KRIYAs Agnisära

BAnDHAs AnD MUDRÄs• Cin Mudra• Cinmaya Mudra• Adi mudra• Brmha mudra

MeDItAtIon(On inner fullness)



YoGA PRACtICe FoRCReAtIVItY DeVeLoPMent

sItHILIKARAnA VYAYAMA1. ALTERNATIVE LEG RAISING IN STANDING:Sthiti: TadasanaStand in Tadasana.

PRACtICe:Stretch both hands forward with palms downwards. Inhaling raise the right leg up ( with knee straight ) to touch the right palm ( if possible ). Repeat on left side. Repeat 10 times.Relax in Tadasana.

2. PÁDA SANCALANA Sthiti: TádásanaStage-I (Forward-backward movement)

PRACtICe• Bring the right leg upwards and forwards and at the same



time stretch the foot forward. Bring the leg back to center.• Then move the leg backwards, now stretching the foot back-

ward. Bring it back to center.• Raise the right leg sideways to the right as much as you

can.• Return it to the center and then move it towards left.• Repeat in the same way with the

left leg.• This is one round. • Repeat 10 times.• Slowly increase the speed after 3

rounds. • Increasing and decreasing the

speed brings greater voluntary con-trol and that helps in increasing the creativity.

3. TIGER STRETCH (Prabheda)Sthiti : Dandasana

PRACtICe:• Fold the roght leg and sit on the heel.• Fold the left leg and sit on both the heels in Vajrasana.• Measure one arm distance between the knees, separate the

knees..• Measure one arm distance Farward from the knees and

place the palms there.• Inhale through the nose while raising the head and depress-

ing the spine so that the back becomes concave. Simulta-neously straighten the right leg and raise up from the root



of the thigh. While exhaling bend the leg at the knee, simultaneously making the spine convex and bringing the head down.

• This is one round. Repeat 10 rounds.

• Relax in shashankasana.

NOTE:• Stand firm on the palms and the knees so that they remain

vertical to the ground all through.• The final position here, is the same as in case of tiger breath-

ing. Before starting the practice ensure that you are quite comfortable while standing on All-Fours (i.e., two hands and two knees). Accordingly some adjustment to the palms, knees or feet can be made.

• Co-ordinate the breathing with the movements properly• Keep the eyes closed and do the practice with awareness.• Don’t bend the arms or move the thighs forward and back-

ward.



BABY WALK: Sthiti: Dandasana

PRACtICe• Fold the right leg and sit on the

right heel.• Fold the left leg and sit on the

left heel. Sit in Vajrasana.• Place the palms on either side

of the knees.• Stretch the right leg back fully

take the support of the hands to balance and look back over the right shoulder.

• Feel the stretch at the back.• Bring the right leg back coming into Vajrasana with palms

on the sides of the knees. • Simulteneously stretch the left leg back fully take the sup-

port of the hands to balance and look back over the left shoulder.

• This is one round. Repeat 10 rounds.

MAKARÁSANA CYCLINGSthiti: Prone

PRACtICe• Widen the feet, heels in-

wards touching the ground, toes out wards.

• Bending the right hand,



place the right palm on the left shoulder. Keep the left palm on the right shoulder, the chin on the hands such that the chin is supported at the point where the two arms cross.

• Bend the legs and start rotating clockwise and anticlock-wise direction.

• Repeat 10 times.• Relax in makarasana.

NoteThe forehead can also be rested instead of chin.

AsAnAsVirasanaSthiti: DandasanaVira means a hero, warrior, cham-pion. This sitting posture is done by keeping the knees together, spread-ing the feet and resting them by the side of the hips. The pose is good for meditation and pranayama.

PRACtICe• Fold the right leg at the knee and sit on the right heel.• Fold the left leg at the knee and sit on both the heels.Keep

the knees together and spread the feet about 18 inches apart.



• Rest the buttocks on the floor, but not the body on the feet. The feet are kept by the side of the thighs, the inner side of each calf touching the outer side of its respective thigh. Keep the toes pointing back and touching the floor. Now interlock the fingers and stretch the arm straight over the head, palms up. Feel the stretch.

• Stay in this position for a minute with deep breathing.• Exhale, release the finger lock, place the palms on the soles,

bend forward and rest the chin on the knees.• Stay in this position for a minute with normal breathing.• Inhale, raise the trunk up, bring the feet forward and relax.• If you find it difficult to perform the pose as described above,

try placing the feet one above the other and rest the but-tocks on them. Gradually move the toes further apart, sepa-rate the feet and bring them to rest outside the thighs. Then, in time the buttocks will rest properly on the floor and the body will not rest on the feet.

EffectsThe pose cures rheumatic pains in the knees and gout, and is

also good for flat feet. Due to the stretching of the ankles and the feet, proper arches will be formed. This, however, takes a long time and requires daily practice of the pose for a few min-utes for several months. Those suffering from pain in the heels or growth of calcaneal spurs there will get relief and the spurs will gradually disappear.

The pose can even be done immediately after food and will relieve heaviness in the stomach.



Ardha ChandrasanaSthiti: TadasanaArdha means half. Chandra is the moon. The pose resembles the half moon, hence the name.

PRACtICe• Stand in Tadasana and then

do utthita Trikonasana, fol-lowing the technique de-scribed earlier.

• After attaining Trikonasana on the right side, exhale and place the right palm about a foot away from the right foot by bending the right knee and at the same time bringing the left foot near the right one.

• Wait in this position and take two breaths. Then exhale and raise the left leg from the floor, toes pointing up. Stretch the right hand and the right leg.

• Place the left palm over the left hip and stretch up, keeping the shoulders well up. Turn the chest to the left and bal-ance.

• The weight of the body is borne on the right foot and hip. The right hand is only a support to control the balance.

• Hold the pose from 20 to 30 seconds, breathing deeply and evenly. Then slide the left leg to the floor and go back to Trikonasana.

• Repeat the pose on the left side.

EffectsThe posture is beneficial for those whose legs are damaged or



infected. It tones the lower region of the spine and the nerves connected with the leg muscles and it strengthens the knees. Along with other standing postures, this asana cures gastric troubles.

YOGA MUDRASthiti: Dandasana

PRACtICe• Place the right foot on the

left thigh, left foot on the right thigh. Come into Pad-masana. Take the hands behind the back, make a fist of the right hand and hold the right wrist with the left palm.

• Relax the shoulders.• While inhaling bend backwards from the waist opening up

the chest.• While exhaling slowly bend forward from the waist bringing

the forehead on to the ground in front of the knees. Collapse the shoulders.

• Maintain with normal breathing.• Come back through the same steps.

KarnapidasanaKarna means the ear. Pida means pain, discomfort or pres-sure. This is a variant of Halasana and can be done along with it.



Sthiti: Supine sthiti

PRACtICe:• Inhaling raise both the

legs to 45 Degrees.• Further inhaling raise

the legs to 90 Degrees.• While exhaling raise

the back and bring it to vertical position. Legs will come to parallel to ground.

• Further exhalation bring the legs down so that the toes touch the ground. Flex the knees and rest the right knee by the side of the right ear and the left knee by the side of the left. Both knees should rest on the floor, pressing the ears.

• Keep the toes stretched out and join the heels and toes. Rest the hands either on the back of the ribs or interlock the fin-gers and stretch out the arms as in Halasana.

• Remain in this position for half a minute or a minute with normal breathing.

EffectsThis asana rests the trunk, heart and legs. The spine is stretched more while bending the knees, and this helps the circulation of blood round waistline.



DHANURÁSANASthiti: Prone Posture

PRACtICe• Bend the knees and hold the ankles

by the palms.• As you inhale, raise the head and the.

chest upwards.Pull the legs outwards and backwards so that the spine is arched back like a bow.

• Stabilize (rest) on the abdomen.• Do not bend the elbows.• Look up.• Keep the toes together.• Maintain for about half a

minute with normal breath-ing.

• Slowly come back to Sthiti while exhaling.• Relax in Makarásana.

NoteInitially the knees will spread out, but with practice they can be brought very near, almost touching each other.

BenefitsUseful for diabetes patients. Removes gastro intestinal disor-ders, stimulates and helps in slimming the whole body. Gives good stimulation and flexibility to the back.

Limitations



People with general debilaity should be cautious while per-forming this Asana. Practice after expert consultation.

CAKRÁSANASthiti: Supine Posture

PRACtICe• Take the hands up and

place the palms on either side of the head on the ground under the shoul-ders with fingers pointing towards the back.

• Bend the knees and fold the legs, and place the heels on the outer side of the but-tocks.

• With palms and the soles of the feet as four points of sup-port, raise the trunk off the ground with an inhalation arch-ing the entire body convex upwards to look like a wheel.

• Maintain the position for about half a minute with normal breathing.

• As you exhale come back slowly step by step to supine sthi-ti.

NoteCome down with control by placing the back of the head to the ground,followed by the neck and the back. Do not collapse the buttocks first.



BenefitsBrings very good flexibility to the spine, stimulates and acti-vates all parts of the body. Strengthens the arms, shoulders and legs.

LimitationsOnly those who are free from any disease can perform this ásana.

BReAtHInG PRACtICesSECTIONAL BREATHING

VIBHÁGIYA SVASANA (SECTIONAL BREATHING)This is a preparatory breathing practice for Práïáyáma. It cor-rects the wrong breathing pattern and increases the vital ca-pacity of the lungs. It has three sections:

ABDOMINAL (DIAPHRAGMATIC) BREATHING (ADHAMA)Sthiti: Dandasana

PRACtICe• Place the hands resting on the thighs in Cin

Mudrá.• Inhale, (püraka) deeply, slowly and continu-

ously, the abdomen bulges out.• Before exhaling stop the breath for a few sec-

onds effortlessly.• Exhale, (recaka) the abdomen is drawn inwards

continuously and slowly.• Before the breath is reversed, stop the breath



for a second.• Repeat this breathing cycle five times.• There should be no jerks in the whole process. It should be

smooth, continuous and relaxing.

Note• In abdominal breathing the air fills the lower lobes of the

lungs.• Avoid movement of the chest.

THORACIC (INTERCOSTAL)BREATHING (MADHYAMA)Sthiti: Dandasana

PRACtICe• Place the hands resting on the thighs in

Cinmaya Mudrá.• While inhaling, expand the chest cage for-

wards, outwards and upwards.• While exhaling relax the chest wall and

return to resting position.• Repeat this breathing cycle five times.

NoteAvoid movements of abdomen.

UPPER LOBAR (CLAVICULAR)BREATHING (ÁDYA)



Sthiti: Dandasana

PRACtICe• Sit in any meditative posture.• Place the hands resting on thighs in Ádi

Mudrá.• While inhaling raise the collar bones and

shoulders upwards and backwards.• While exhaling drop down the shoulders

to the resting position.• Repeat this breathing cycle five times.

Note• Try and avoid movements of the abdomen and chest.

FULL YOGIC BREATHINGFull yogic breathing is a combination of all the three sections of sectional breathing.Sthiti: Dandasana

PRACtICe• Place the hands resting on the abdomen

at the navel in Brahma Mudrá.• During inhalation, the Adhama, Mad-

hyama and Ádya pránayáma occur se-quentially.

• Now exhale in the same sequence(abdominal, chest and clavicu-lar).



• Repeat this breathing cycle five times.

Note• The whole process should be relaxing and comfortable, with-

out any tension in the face.• Roughly gauge the time of your inhalation and exhalation.

Take one third of your inhalation time for adhama ,one third for madhyama and one third for ádya. Follow the same se-quence and timing for exhalation.

• This exercise can be performed - lying down in Savásana or sitting in a cross-legged position with head, neck and spine erect.

• All breathings should be performed through the nose and not through the mouth.

• As you increase the number of rounds of Full Yogic Breath-ing day after day, you will come to develop this practice as an automatic and normal function of the body.

BenefitsThe purpose of this practice is to make the practitioner aware

of the three different components of respiration (Abdominal, Thoracic and Clavicular) and incorporate them into Full Yogic Breathing.

Even 10 minutes of Full Yogic Breathing daily can work won-ders.• You acquire more power and vitality,• Calmness in daily activities,• Thinking and clarity of thought improve,• When you feel tired or angry practice of full yogic breathing



will help in calming down your mind and revitalising it.

LimitationsIt has no limitations.

PRAnAYAMANÁDISUDDHI PRÁNAYÁMASthiti: Dandasana

PRACtICe• Sit in any meditative pos-

ture.• Adopt Násika Mudrá.• Close the right nostril with

the right thumb and exhale completely through the (left) nostril. Then inhale deeply through the same left nos-tril.

• Close the left nostril with your ring and little finger of the Násiká Mudrá, release the right nostril. Now exhale slowly and completely through the right nostril.

• Inhale deeply through the same (right) nostril. Then close the right nostril and exhale through the left nostril. This is one round of Nádiùuddhi práïáyáma.

• Repeat nine rounds.



Note• This practice helps to maintain balance between Nádis.• If you feel headache, heaviness of the head, giddiness, un-

easiness etc. it means you are exerting much pressure on the lungs.

• The first symptoms of correct practice is the feeling of fresh-ness, energy and lightness of the body and mind.

BenefitsPhysical:It promotes balance between the two nostrils apart from cleansing the nasal tract. It increases the vitality. Metabolic rate decreases as in case of all other Práïáyáma practices. It increases the digestive fire and appetite.

therapeutic:It lowers the levels of stress and anxiety by harmonising the práïas. It is beneficial in respiratory disorders such as Bron-chial asthma, Nasal allergy, Bronchitis etc.

spiritual:It induces tranquility, clarity of thought and concentration. It clears pranic blockages and balances Ida and Pingala nádis,causing Shuúumna nádi to flow which leads to deep states of meditation and spiritual awakening. It helps to main-tain Brahmacharya which is a pre-requisite for spiritual prog-ress.

Limitations: No Limitations.



COOLING PRÁNAYÁMASSITALI PRÁNAYÁMASthiti: Dandasana

PRACtICe• Place the palms resting on the thighs.• Stretch the tongue forward partly out of

the mouth and fold it so as to resemble the beak of a crow.

• Slowly suck in the air through the beak and feel the jet of cool air passing down the throat into the lungs.

• Slowly exhale through the nostrils, feel-ing the movement of warm air all the way up from the lungs through the throat and the nasal passages.

• This completes one round of Ùètali Práïáyáma.• Repeat nine rounds.

SITKÁRI PRÁNAYÁMASthiti: Dandasana

PRACtICe• Place the palms resting on the thighs.• Fold the tip of the tongue inwards hori-

zontally. The folded tongue slightly comes out between the two rows of teeth and provides a narrow opening on both sides.

• Slowly suck the air in through the two



sides of the tongue.• Feel the cool stream of air diffusing throughout the mouth

and throat into the lungs.• Exhale slowly through both nostrils. Feel the warmth of the

exhaled air.• This completes one round of Sètkári.• Repeat nine rounds.

KRIYAsAGNISARA• Stand in Tadasana• Separate the legs slightly. Bend for-

ward from lower back and place the palms on the knees. Inhale taking the head backwards, while exhaling bring the head forward, after completion of exhalation adopt Jalandhara bandha.

• Move the abdominal wall in and out vigorously like a pump as many times as you can (while holding the breath in exhalation).

• This movement of the abdominal wall is done through mock inhalations & exhalations i.e., it seems as if one is inhaling and exhaling whereas it is not so.

• Then stop the movement of the abdominal wall, release the bandha and while inhaling come up to Tádásana and re-lax.

• Repeat a few times.



BENEFITS• It massages the abdomen, stimulating the associated nerves,

strengthening the muscles and encouraging optimum health of the abdominal organs.

• It improves blood circulation to the whole trunk area and strengthens all the internal organs.

• It is a panacea for many abdominal & stomach ailments in-cluding constipation, indigestion, and diabetes.

• The digestive fire is stimulated nicely.• It can also alleviate depression, dullness and lethargy.

BAnDHAs AnD MUDRAsCIN MUDRÁ• Touch the tips of the thumbs with

the tips of the forefingers. • Keep the other fingers striaght.• Rest the palms on the middle of

the thighs.

CINMAYA MUDRÁ• The tips of the forefingers touch

the tips of the thumbs and all oth-er fingers are folded in to the hol-low of the palms.

• Rest them on the thighs.

ÁDI MUDRÁ• Make fists of both hands with the



thumbs tucked in.• Rest the fists on the thighs.

BRAHMA MUDRÁ• Make fists of both palms with the

thumb tucked in and place them on either side of the navel with the palms facing upwards and the knuckles touching each other.

Note• Keep the elbows bent to ensure relaxed arm position in all

the above mudras.

MeDItAtIonON INNER FULLNESSMeditation is most important. From this silence in meditation all creativity comes. According to yoga , the Anandamaya Kosa is the source of all Creativity. Therefore the whole trick to blos-som creativity is to blossom that anandamaya kosa. Let each and every muscle fibre relax nicely. Relax the facial muscles and bring in a scerene smile on the face. Slowly breath in and very slowly breath out. Allow mind to calm down. Allow the breath to get heald. Feel the kevala kumbhaka before you in-hale. Inhale slowly and deeply. When breath is about to turn to exhalation, let it stop for a moment. Enjoy that wonderful kevala kumbhaka. Allow the breath to slow down. Go into the silence. Deeper and deeper. Silence is the abode of all creativ-



ity. Sanaih sanaihi uparamet says Bhagavadgita. Slowly and slowly. Take the mind to vast beautiful expansion. Imagine a vast ocean. Let the mind tune itself to allpervassiveness. Tune to the Anantasamapatti. Allow the mind to achieve deeper and deeper silence.

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8 yoga for creativity