Yoga, Zen, and The Artist's Way: Finding Flow in Uncertain Times
/By Carrie Garcia — Last Updated: September 4, 2025
Lately, I have heard from many people who say they feel stuck. What is happening in our world feels so heavy that we feel unable to move forward, to choose a direction, join a movement, or contribute in any way. We feel frozen. How do we find a sense of meaning or purpose, and engage in the flow of life?
This “stuckness” is something I know personally from my years of practice in Soto Zen Buddhism. In Zen, we are encouraged not to fight against this feeling, but to meet it directly. Eihei Dōgen, the founder of Soto Zen in Japan, taught that the heart of practice is simply to show up wholeheartedly, even when we don’t know what the outcome will be. He called this practice-realization: the understanding that practice itself — whether sitting in meditation, breathing on the yoga mat, or putting words on a blank page — is already the path.
The Flow of Creativity and Presence
There is a presence, a state of being that modern psychology refers to as “flow.” Flow theory was developed in 1975 by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who describes flow as a “mental state of optimal experience characterized by deep focus, enjoyment, and a sense of energized focus.” What’s fascinating is that Zen teachers from centuries ago described something nearly identical.
Dōgen wrote in his essay Genjōkōan: “To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be confirmed by all things.” In other words, when we loosen our grip on control and let go of self-doubt, the world itself moves through us. Creativity flows not because we force it, but because we step out of the way.
Yoga offers this same possibility. In each posture, we are invited to soften the mind, open the body, and be present with our breath. Suddenly, movement is no longer something we do — it becomes something that flows through us. Just as in Zen meditation (zazen), we practice forgetting the small self and reconnecting with a larger sense of being.
When we Feel Stuck
Still, it is important to honor how real it feels to be stuck. Maybe you long to write, but the page stays blank. You dream of moving to a different state or country, but fear and uncertainty keep you rooted to one place. You want to exercise, but your energy is low.
When the world outside feels turbulent, we may feel more stuck, as if in the middle of a cyclone. We can’t find our way out, and we wonder if what we do will matter, if we are even ready for the task. Yet the truth—and what both yoga and Zen remind us of—is that we don’t need to fix ourselves before we begin. We simply begin. The breath itself is the first act of creativity. A gentle stretch is already a step toward presence. Writing a single word on the page is enough to open the door.
Yoga & The Artist’s Way
That is the spirit behind my upcoming workshop, Yoga & The Artist’s Way. Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way, has helped countless people to find their creative flow, whether they were self-proclaimed artists or not. Through simple and consistent tasks that include writing reflections, Morning Pages (daily writing), and a weekly Artist Date, where you take yourself out to enjoy something you love, energy is moved, creativity is ignited, and WE step out of the way.
Pairing these practices with yoga, breathwork, and awareness, something beautiful happens: body and mind support one another. Yoga clears the way for the body to express itself, and awareness increases as we sit with our bodily sensations, thus releasing the mind to the flow of creativity itself.
You don’t need to consider yourself an artist to join. Just come as you are, trust the process, and show up with an open heart. If you’re feeling stuck, uncertain, or uninspired, this workshop is especially for you. There’s a simple Zen teaching that reminds us to “turn the light inward and return to yourself.” In that spirit, we’ll gently shine awareness on the places where we feel blocked and discover how to move forward with more clarity, freedom, and creativity.
An Invitation
Soto Zen has taught me that every moment is a chance to practice. Yoga has shown me that every breath is a chance to return home. And The Artist’s Way reminds us that creativity is not a rare gift for a chosen few, but the natural expression of being alive.
I invite you to join me for Yoga & The Artist’s Way, a six-week workshop designed to support your practice of presence, creativity, and renewal.
Carrie Garcia is an RYT 500 yoga and meditation teacher and Success Coach. She is certified in yoga through Lifespan Yoga with specialized training in vinyasa, yin, and Rainbow Yoga. Carrie creates spaces for people to share movement, mindfulness, and laughter. She grew up in Minnesota, immersed in music and watching her mother practice yoga from a library book. She has been practicing meditation since 1992 and was ordained as a Soto Zen Buddhist priest in 2022. Carrie brings her passion for yoga and mindfulness to adults and youth with an intention to decrease racism, bullying, isolation, and anxiety and to increase compassion, connection, and well-being.
Carrie is deeply grateful to her amazing teachers including Gopala Yaffa (Rainbow Yoga); Francoise Freedman (Birthlight - fertility to school-age yoga, and Street Yoga trauma-sensitive yoga); Michelle Pietrzak-Wegner (yin yoga); Amelia Ruth (vinyasa/power yoga); Michael Moore (Iyengar yoga), and Ben Connelly (Soto Zen Buddhist Priest at Minnesota Zen Meditation Center). And she is grateful to the many wonderful human beings who she has met in elevators, on the streets, and on mountaintops – all her teachers.
