Creativity

Creativity is one of our values, something we feel is fundamental to Re:Connect. The word creativity though can have so many misconceptions attached to it, misconceptions that I have certainly fallen foul of and struggled with at times. However I feel I now have an understanding of what creativity means to me.

Growing up my perception was that my sister was the academic one, my brother was the sporty one I was the artistic one, being artistic and creative was my thing. I trained as a secondary art teacher, as this seemed like a logical step after an art degree. I enjoyed teaching, however I started to feel out of place in the art world, it brought up feelings of inadequacy. Was I a ‘proper’ art teacher? how could I be because I didn’t have my own art practice. This caused a lot of internal struggle for me as I was attached to my identity as being ‘artistic’, I had to explore what this meant for me. Through my rigid ideas of what creativity is, I was actually stifling my creativity.

Then a random twist in my career saw me move from teaching art to running an alternative provision school for young people with social, emotional and mental health difficulties. Here I found my fit, and I knew this is what I was meant to be doing. Slowly as I left the art teaching behind I began to realise that what was part of my identity was creativity not being artistic, and that creativity doesn’t have to be about creating art. So I can now see myself as a creative person and feel valid in saying this.

In my work in education I have been inspired by the advisor and author Sir Ken Robinson who has explored the role and importance of creativity in our education system. He believes creativity is the process of having original ideas that have value, it is applied imagination.

Yoga is a creative process, the movement of body and breath together, exploring how each subtle shift feels and the balance of opposites in the body, effort and ease, tension and release. As your body and breath adapt with the movement you develop flexibility in your body and mind enabling you to adapt your thinking to allow for the flow of the unknown.

Creativity is one of our values because Re:Connect is committed to a yoga practice that is inclusive, accessible and responsive to people’s needs. Being creative enables you to become a better problem solver, to see things differently, it is compassion. We approach yoga with an explorative mindset, always encouraging people to be curious about their body, movement, breath and mind. This is creativity in action on the mat.