By Jayde Kolb | Source

Overcome burnout and reignite creativity with yoga, meditation, and honoring energy cycles to co-create joy with Spirit.

I’ve always been bursting with creativity. When I was little, I hosted game shows in my living room, convinced my cousins to be my backup dancers, and launched new craft projects like it was my side hustle. (I actually tried to sell my parents a picture from second-grade art class for two dollars. They didn’t buy it). What I remember is how immersive it all felt. My environment would narrow to a single, sacred space where my work and I seemed to dance with God.

There’s a magical mystery wrapped in sparks of inspiration. Creative ideas don’t come from us so much as they move through us. And it goes beyond a simple painting or poem—it’s how we rearrange a room, solve a problem, or combine the exact right words at the right time. Creativity is life in motion.

When an idea comes to us, it needs a way to come alive. Humans are the only species that can bring form to the formless; our bodies are active participants in creativity. One time, an idea for a textural art piece, a new creative adventure, came to me, and I was swept up by the overwhelming urge to spend too much money on art supplies. I bought a tub of spackle (which got everywhere, by the way) and made eight canvases of glorious squiggles. My body had taken over the control panel.

Burnout

I have always been a fast-paced, outgoing person who made time to be creative, even with a full-time job and regular gym habit. But after years and years of constant motion, my body couldn’t keep up. Ambitious, imaginative, a bit quirky—and completely depleted.

Burnout is depression’s little brother, and I became a family friend to both. Fatigue took up residence in my bones. Simple tasks demanded high amounts of energy. My temper was short, my brain was foggy, and creativity was elusive.

I tried to pick up a paintbrush. Nothing.

I tried to start an interesting project at work. Disaster.

I tried to make new friends. Crickets.

There wasn’t a single breaking point but moments that built up like snowflakes into an avalanche: crying in the ladies’ room, doomscrolling on social media, canceling another get-together with a loved one. One friend mentioned to me that it seemed like I was always going through a rough patch. Ouch.

Learning to Rest

This is where I finally paused and wrestled with the idea of slowing down. Wellness had become a chore, and ambition had become an obsession. My body, spirit, and mind were crying for help. The way I had been living wasn’t working. Finally, I had to learn to rest.

I say learned because resting is beyond a simple good night’s sleep. I was introduced to the idea of “energy givers” and “energy takers.” I thought about what inspired me and gave me a breath of fresh air versus what stole my time, energy, and joy. I dove deep into the roots of my stress, reexamined my relationship to the word busy, and learned to set boundaries. True rest is preserving your energy on a mental, physical, and emotional level.

I felt as if the more I nourished my body, the more spiritual input I could receive. I was tuning the dial to a creative frequency and bit by bit, my imagination returned. She dusted off the shelves so ideas had a place to stay and freed up space in the living room so God and I could dance together once again.

Moving New Energy Through the Body Through Yoga

I started to live creatively again when I became a yoga instructor. I had been practicing yoga for years; it was one of the practices I used to recover from burnout. Breathwork, meditation, and asana fell into the “energy givers” category. But teaching? That required a new mindset, and between you and me, I was scared it would put me in a burnout spiral.

To serve others, I was going to have to serve myself and stay tuned in to a greater power. My wellness practice became the foundation of my creativity. Rest, yoga, meditation, and seeing the flow of the world helped me co-create with Spirit in ways I couldn’t before.

Yoga helps me move new energy through my body—and find grace off the mat, too. Meditation has taught me stillness to listen to God. Rest is a non-negotiable way to relax my nervous system and surrender. Seeing life as a cycle has taught me how my body and creativity move through ups and downs.

Living in a way that supports creativity doesn’t just generate good ideas; it’s helped me find more joy in the world around me. I’ve slowed down to enjoy what has already been created for my pleasure. Honey is sweeter, the stars sparkle, and I see magic in the mundane.

Practices for Creating Space

If you’re longing to see the world with fresh eyes, here are the practices that helped me create space:

• Enjoy rest: This does not include doomscrolling, folks. Enjoy sleep, stillness, and nervous system recovery.

• Move mindfully: Practicing yoga, stretching, or taking a walk can help move stagnant energy and encourage new ideas to flow.

• Practice stillness: Meditation, prayer, or reflection create space for inspiration to enter.

• Honor your cycles: Notice the natural ebbs and flows in your energy, body, and the world around you. Work with them instead of against them.

When you create, you’re not only expressing yourself—you’re expressing the Divine. It’s the most fruitful way God can work through you. When the body is strong, sparks of inspiration can catch fire, and then you can delight in the creative act of simply being alive.