Creativebug by Liza Laird
The New Year is known as a time for resolutions, which usually means setting intentions to grow in some way. I have always found that my intentions work out much better when I take them in baby steps. Instead of making some grand promise about the future, I try to add in one small thing each day. As a yogi and knitter, my priority is to knit, meditate, and move each day. With three young children, there are days when I can’t knit more than three stitches or meditate for more than a couple minutes. I try to focus more on the quality and habit rather than on reaching any self-imposed minimum time commitment. Just a few minutes every day goes a long way.
Mindfulness & Making
Knitting, like many hand crafts, is meditative by nature, because it’s both repetitive and requires a singular focus. It not only produces a calm state of mind but can teach us to trust our creative selves.
In my class on Creativebug, Yoga of Yarn: A Daily Practice in Mindfulness and Making, we explore a range of movements, meditations and breathing exercises not just for knitters, but for creatives of all shapes and sizes. I urge you to start by trying a few at a time, turning into habits the ones that speak to you and leaving for another time the ones that don’t. It only takes a few minutes each day trying a few of these techniques to realize growth, whether that growth be physical, emotional or mental — and usually a combination of all three! Whether you are new to movement and yoga or have been doing asana (yoga postures) for many years, the class invites you always to be a beginner.
Approaching Our Craft with a Beginner’s Mind
A beginner’s mind is an open and clear mind. When we approach our crafts with a beginner’s mind, we rid ourselves of expectations or comparisons. We learn new things without any preconceived notions of how they should or could be. As knitters, crocheters, sewers, and artists of any ilk, each time we try a new technique and go out of our comfort zone, we appreciate that life is our teacher. We recognize that the end product is not the scarf or sweater or quilt or painting but the new us that was formed in the process.
Approaching our craft with a beginner’s mind makes our experiences richer, more varied and complex. We free our mind from judgment and the apprehension and procrastination it causes. When we remove self-judgment from the equation, we create space for our innate curiosity to take over.
Sometimes I take stock of my current projects, where they’re at, which ones are making progress and which ones are lagging. When I do this, I often notice that for some projects I spend more time thinking about them than actually working on them! This is often because of expectations I have around the project, comparisons I make to others, considerations and tradeoffs I balance due to other demands on my time — all these thoughts renting space in my head are samskaras (mental impressions caused by thoughts and intentions) inside me that shape my view of myself and the world. When I find my mind turning over these unproductive thoughts I turn to journal writing, meditation, yoga, and breathing exercises.
By taking a step back I am able to reflect, turn on a beginner’s mind, and when I practice these techniques, I move forward effortlessly and with grace. The Yoga of Yarn Daily Practice class is designed to provide you with tools that, when used routinely, will promote this kind of effortless grace that comes from the beginner’s mind.
So give it a whirl right now — why not? Try this short and simple practice to activate your beginner’s mind.
Practice: Begin Where You Are
Supplies: paper and pen
Location: chair or sit on floor
Instructions: Read all steps thoroughly (a couple times if necessary!), gather supplies, set aside these instructions, and try it out.
- Close your eyes, take 5 deep breaths.
- Keep your eyes closed as you relax your jaw, stick out your tongue and take a deep exhale. Allow the mouth to close, jaw relaxed.
- Keep your eyes closed as you shake out your hands 5-10 times and then rest them on your thighs.
- Roll your shoulders up, back, and down 3 times in a row.
- Tilt your head side-to-side 5 times.
- Crack open your eyes. Take your pen and paper. Complete the following sentences:
- I am excited to make…
- I want to try to…
- I am curious to learn…
- I release my judgement of ….. and will knit [or insert your craft of choice] with ease and joy.
Liza Laird is a knitter, yogi, mama of three little humans, three alpacas, ten chickens, a giant angora bunny, and a feisty Shiba Inu. She is the author of Yoga of Yarn A Knitter’s Handbook for Self-Discovery.