Care for Your Creativity

Three moves break through physical and energy blocks.

Feeling dull—mentally or physically? You can use your breath and move your body to rejuvenate and reenergize. Celebrity fitness and self-care expert Jill Miller has three simple techniques to rekindle that creative spark.

To get started, you’ll need one Yoga Tune Up® Ball and a blanket or beach towel.

Third-Eye Ball

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPPoA132ll4

Equipment: Yoga Tune Up Ball

The procerus muscle is the muscle between your eyebrows that gives you the mask of anger or frustration. It’s hardly the look of unbridled creativity. When this muscle is constantly contracted, it can lead to headaches and alter your vision—and it sends many to the dermatologist for injections to smooth out its stress. The yogis call this point “ajna” chakra and believe it’s a trigger point for intuition and the mind’s boundless creativity. See if you get better insight by massaging your “third eye.”

• Begin seated on a chair or stool.
• Place a Yoga Tune Up Ball between your eyebrows and twist it to gather the skin, fascial tissues and muscle underneath.
• Contract the muscle to try to squeeze the ball, and then relax. Repeat several times.

Out-with-the-Old-in-with-the-New Breath

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-8uCLsXbNA

Equipment: None

You know when you’re stuck in a dull, stale building or an airplane or up against a deadline, and it seems as if the air is stagnant and nothing feels vibrant or bright? It’s challenging to feel creatively inspired in that environment, and sometimes our own lungs model those conditions. This breath practice completely refreshes your lungs with new air to inspire your creativity—with the added benefit of toning your abs.

• Begin seated on a stool or chair or lying down.
• Exhale in three quick, active bursts.
• Inhale completely, filling your abdomen and rib cage, and repeat several cycles of exhalation and inhalation.

Sidewinder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8s36yq-GQY

Equipment: Blanket or beach towel

The snake is the ultimate symbol of fertility. It’s also believed to represent the umbilical cord—literally the “feeding tube” of creation. This self-care move mobilizes and strengthens the muscles on the sides of your body and lower back. It also gets the synovial fluid moving up and down your spine to help juice your creativity.

• Lie on your back on a blanket on a sliding surface.
• Bring your knees to your chest, and lace your fingers together behind your head.
• Pack your ribs in, keep your sacrum ribs and skull on the blanket, and slowly contract your body from side to side using your lateral core muscles.
• Breathe naturally as you move.

Photo/video credit: Todd Cribari, inspirostudio.com
Hair and make-up: Mariah Nicole, mariahnicole.com