January was a strange month for me. It passed quickly, and though I was aware of the dates advancing on my calendar, I somehow felt like I was an observer rather than a participant. When the 24th arrived, the day I had scheduled to start my monthly blog post, I was jolted awake and suddenly realised how little writing I had done since Christmas. Thankfully I had a yoga class that evening which calmed my panic and helped me put everything into perspective.
During the class, our teacher shared how she often takes lessons from her yoga practice and applies them to other parts of her daily life. Her observations seemed so timely and lit several light bulbs in my mind. As I lay on the mat, I began to see many parallels between yoga and my writing and wished that I had a pen and paper to jot down some notes. Here are some of the examples I thought of:
Familiar Setting
The yoga studio I attend is part of a holistic health centre. When I step from the bright, cold hallway into the warm dimly lit studio area, I immediately become aware of the pleasant aromas and gentle music that drifts in from the treatment rooms beyond. Within the few minutes it takes me to remove my shoes and sit on a yoga mat, my body and mind have already begun to relax, aware of their surroundings and of what is expected of them for the next while. It’s not always possible to select the time and place where we write, but having created a ‘writing space’ in one room of our home, it now has a similar effect on me as entering the yoga studio. My mind and body know that I am there to write and they usually yield to that intention rather than resisting. It often takes very little to create such a familiar space. Items such as your favourite mug, the scent from a herbal tea or a packet of mints, a few coloured pens, a familiar tune playing in the background; these sights, smells and sounds can create that familiar setting and ease you into writing mode.
Warm-Up
Facing the blank page can be daunting for writers, especially if the next scene to be written is a traumatic confrontation or a complicated backstory. In our yoga class, we always warm up before tackling a tricky reverse warrior pose. These warm-up movements are so easy that our bodies barely know we’re doing them. A writing warm-up is just the trick to ease our imaginations into action before demanding a thousand words of perfectly coherent dialogue. Write anything at all, any subject, any genre, any rubbish. Write for ten minutes, or even five if you’ve only a half hour in total. Ease your mind into action, be gentle with it, then move into a higher gear.
Connect to Your Body
After a day of living in our minds, often staring at a computer, yoga is so good for restoring a connection to our bodies. Unless we feel the contact of our feet on the floor and become aware of our core muscles during a balance, we are likely to fall over. As writers, we’ve often been told to ‘show, don’t tell’ and how better to achieve this than to feel a physical and emotional connection to the scene we are writing. I often imagine myself in the story and try to experience the emotions of the character, so that I might have a better sense of how they will react as it unfolds.
It’s Not a Competition
Our yoga practice is not a competition. Over time, we learn to move within our own limitations and abilities, instead of straining to match the person next to us. We are all different with unique body shapes, muscle lengths and old injuries. As authors, we need to do the same and not compare our writing to others. How often do we read over something we’ve written and think how inferior it is to our favourite author. Our writing styles are as different as our bodies, and there are plenty of potential readers for all of us.
Regular Practice
Yes, we know that we should write every day, that habits are good for us and that we’ll never become a member of the ‘club’ until we rise at 4 am every morning like all best selling authors! Believe it or not, it’s true (the daily part, not the 4 am bit). If you only do a single two-hour yoga session once a week, you’ll likely be stiff and tight by the start of the following week’s class. However, do 30 minutes every day or two, and the moves will flow much easier. Our creative muscles are so similar. They too can tighten and stiffen when not used for a week, but exercise them for even 15 minutes every day, and we can see the difference.
Even if you don’t practice yoga, maybe you participate in another sport or activity which has similar traits. I often consider writing to be a mental activity, due to being seated at a computer or desk. However, at its core, writing is highly creative and relies on our life experiences for the best ideas and descriptions. The more we can tap into those experiences at a physical level, the better we can present them on the page.
Namaste,
Harry.
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