Calling all locals!
The Evansville Local Authors group is hosting a workshop on Create Space–Amazon’s self-publishing platform. It’s Saturday March 4th from 1-3 at the East Branch Library.
More information HERE.
I'm a writer, wife, and mom. I love food, music, the outdoors, cats, ducks, books, family, and being cheap--not necessarily in that order.
I love to read. If you’ve found your way here, you probably do too. But life is busy and reading often gets shoved to the side. There are probably a bunch of reasons for this, but I think that–ironically–one of the biggest reasons for reader/writer types is that reading is so fun. I mean, it just feels so indulgent. Now, laundry–laundry needs doing. Laundry can’t be put off for too long lest your tighty whiteys get, um, less whitey. And laundry is not fun at all, so it must be more virtuous than writing, right? So we do the laundry and a bunch of other stuff too. And how can we possibly justify pushing our jobs and our chores and the bills aside to tear into the latest Kelly Barnhill novel (it’s fantastic, btw) or launch into that five-book series your read-a-holic son has been pestering you to try (#brandonsanderson). I mean, those socks aren’t going to wash themselves (though we writers really should create a world where they do…)
Today I’m writing this to tell you to do it. Just read. It’s good for your brain. It’s good for your soul. Do it as a duty to your mind and mental health.
And, now, because there are so so many things that really do need doing and that must be done because you are an adult and there is, as near as I can tell, no fairy who will come over and help out (or maybe mine’s just a hopeless slacker), here are some ideas for squeezing your reading in when squeezing needs to be done.
To close off our little fitness for writers, I wanted to include a few poses for insomnia.
Sometimes writers are infamous for being terrible sleepers. I don’t know why, but my guess would be that sometimes it’s hard to turn off the stories in our heads (or, worse, the marketing ideas in our heads). I know that I’ve had more than one night with a bunch of ideas swirling around in my brain (I try to keep a pen by my bed or type things into my phone so I can let go of them). And I’ve occasionally gotten up to hide in the bathroom while I quickly jotted down an idea for a story or a weird dream. I don’t even find anything inherently wrong with this type of behavior. On occasion. However, if you’ve got kids or a day job or anything that you need to be somewhat awake for during the day. your insomnia might get in the way and your days might start to feel a little wrecked. If you embrace your insomnia, then embrace away, but if you’ve gotten to the point where you want to get some sleep so you can be more productive during the day, then try these three movements.
Oh my goodness… After sitting at a desk for ever this is one of my favorite poses in the world. It stretches out my hamstrings, inner thighs, and even shins and feet. And per all the yogis, folding forward can relax you towards sleep.
2. Twist. This one is very relaxing and stretches and realigns your back. It’s also really nice after sitting and also seems to say to the body, “Let’s get ready for sleep.”
3. Legs up the wall.
Since a lot of us writers don’t like to have to change out of our pajamas, it’s often easiest to work out at home. I do this most of the time. Below you’ll find a few of my favorite workout sources. All you have to do is hop on Youtube and you’re done. No changing of clothes or wearing of pants required.
For Yoga:
Five Parks Yoga
Leslie Fightmaster
Yoga with Adrienne
Yoga by Candace
For Weights/Body weight workouts:
For cardio:
Well, I just got an Xbox Zumba game for myself that I really like. I even learned how to turn on the TV and sort of how to use the Xbox, so I’m basically really cool now.
And there’s always Popsugar, which is a reliable find-any-kind-of-workout-you-want site.
And, truthfully, there are a million other resources on Youtube that you could use. You can literally type in, “Yoga for hands and wrists” and something will come up. Or try, “Yoga for desk dwellers” or “Ten Minute Afternoon Cardio,” or “Cardio Like a Monkey” (serious, this link came up when I typed that in, and it played the song, “Jump Like a Monkey,” which I have never heard, but there you go).
Anything. You can find just about any workout on Youtube. And it’s all free.
Here’s me in today’s workout outfit–sweatshirt and pajama bottoms. I know, it can’t be unseen. Sorry about that. Just be grateful you didn’t have to see my morning hair and face.
Check out my article in Author’s Publish Magazine (you should sign up for their newsletter; it’s great). My article is titled, “10 Tips for Staying Active When Your Work Is Sedentary.” Throughout January, I’ll be throwing out a few tips to help us authors stay off our butts (because it’s such a comfy place for us to be).
To start us off, let me share this little move for the wrists. It won’t make you skinny, but it helped relieve some mild pain that I had after typing approximately ten jillion words one day. Try it. Hold it for about 30 seconds. It took care of my wrist immediately.
Want more for your wrists, check out THIS SHORT VIDEO, created by a professional yogi and not me in my living room.