Yoga & Stress - Artists stress

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Hi! I have yoga classes and the teacher told us to make a research about “Yoga and something” so I decided to investigate about “Yoga & stress” mostly related to artists stress (because I have more experience with the stress that we, the artists, have).
So I would like to ask you how have been your experience with yoga, related with the stress, and how yoga changed your working life.
And if you are musician, illustrator, actor, singer, animator, etc, I would REALLY appreciate your comment.

Thanks for everything! and bye~ :heart:

P.S.: english isn’t my native language, so if there’s something you don’t understand, tell me and I’ll try to make it clear. Thanks.

#2

Whenever you look at stress you must consider the source of the stress. As an artist, my source of stress comes from distraction. The everyday invading and blocking the creative process. Practicing yoga greatly enhances my ability to focus, and at the same time gives me the discipline to let my thoughts wander and to be gathered again at will.

Of cource, the other source of artist’s stress is financial as it is my experience that most artists are underfunded. Yoga again helps to put this in perspective by teaching a value system not ruled by money.

Hope this helps.

#3

Thanks ;D it helped a lot!

[QUOTE=FlexPenguin;29826]Whenever you look at stress you must consider the source of the stress. As an artist, my source of stress comes from distraction. The everyday invading and blocking the creative process. [/QUOTE]

It happened to me too, but my problem with the stress was another case. I love what I do (animation and drawings) but I used to become a workaholic and get stressed, but I didn’t want to stop what I was doing 'cause I loooooooved iiiit, even if I was dying and not sleeping. So, after doing yoga, I just don’t know how but I don’t get stressed, and I’m more relaxed while I work (before I was always anxious) and now I can really say that I enjoy working. And I don’t keep awake until 6 am anymore : D

#4

As an artist, painter and career graphic designer, I have to agree with FP about the origin of the stress. I used to think that the origins of my stress was deadlines, difficult customers, not selling enough paintings at exhibition etc and got really anxious and stressed about matters, especially financial matters. The one thing that yoga and my beloved teacher Sri Durga Devi taught me is to breath and I mean to really breath properly. Correct breathing has helped me to over the years to relax. In the beginning of my yoga my teacher used to do many sessions of yoga nidra with me, I find yoga nidra extremely conducive to relaxation and to getting my creative energy to flow.

Another aspect of yoga for me is the ability of my practice to refresh my creative spirit, to bring clarity to creative issues.

Something that yoga has taught me as well over the years is that the issues are in our tissues. In other words, looking deep within, we carry much of our issues, especially emotional ones, in our tissues and they find expression in our lives as stress sometimes. Yoga has taught me to listen to my body and what it tells me about these issues as well.

Good luck with your assignment.

#5

I used to feel stressed when the creativity becomes low and sit infront of an incomplete
track without knowing what to do next… Working on a track for days with an urge to complete in this kind of condition can be really frustrating. It used feels like I have lost my creativity for ever.
The worst experience of this kind of stress was when I had worked with two guys as a band. I was forced to make the style of music I hate. The stress from that also destroyed my natural creativity at that time. Only relief was smoking weed.
But now after enlightenment my attitude towards art have changed greatly.
Now I create when I feel to. There is no urge to complete a track. Completeness and
incompleteness are just imaginations of mind, but I am always complete.
Now I understand that art must not be considered as a way to make money. All I have to think about is staying in my own nature and do my work for god.If one stay in his own nature and does his work for god without fear the nature supports him. Actually it is the light of truth and knowledge of Dharama that made me careless about the future.When a person work for his ego, he is not happy even if the work is happening. But he who work for the all pervading consciousness is not under stress even if he cannot do his desired work
I think an artist must create out of his ecstesy not from stress

#6

Thank you very much to everyone who posted here their experience! I’ve already given my research work to my teacher. Your stories helped me a lot :heart:!!

#7

aleh, you can visit my blog (yoga-with-melissa dot com) since I got very positive experiences in there about yoga that you can add to your research. Hope you get good materials here and on the blog. Good luck!