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Out, Damned Knot, Out!
Terri talked yesterday about doing things that were good for us as writers, things we should not feel guilty for doing: going to conferences, networking, making the connections to take us to the next step of being a professional writer. I’m going to talk about taking care of your writer self in a completely different way. Not the mental game, but the physical one.
Writing is grueling work. I know you wouldn’t suspect it with all that sitting and typing we do. We’re not exactly ditchdigging here, but all in all, I think on the whole ditchdiggers might be healthier than we are. They’re outside, working hard in a cardio sort of way, sweating, working the muscles, breathing fresh air (mostly). Yeah, I’d never want that job either—much too hard and in sunlight—but I admit, they’re probably in much better shape than I am.
Granted that’s not going to take a lot. I’m not exactly little Miss Cardio. And if my lack of stamina wasn’t bad enough, there’s my posture. I’m a sloucher. I’m constantly holding up walls, doorjambs, and curling up in my office chair in inappropriate manners because it’s too exhausting to sit upright with my feet on the floor for the whole eight hours. I curl over my keyboard, my shoulders rounding skyward, my ears lowering, and I’m literally petrifying into this tight little knot of tension. If my bad posture and bad work habits were not enough, I like to make it worse by going to the gym, exercising with weights, and then not stretching after. (Oh, yeah, right, I’m the only one guilty of this. Whatever.)
I could blame my horrible posture on my job, but I also have that unassuming personality. You know the one I’m talking about. The low self-esteem turtle hunch. The one that says if I round my shoulders and curl up into a ball, I’ll be invisible and maybe no one will notice I’m still that geek from high school.
Yeah, whatever. Everyone still knows I’m a geek. I should do my shoulders a favor and stop trying to be invisible in the middle of a room. It’s not going to work. Invisibility cloaks only exist in Harry Potter’s world, not the Muggles’.
Here is what I’m learning: You can’t be an effective writer if your neck is out of joint. How can you expect to get into your character’s head if you’re plagued by pain? (“A plague on both your houses!”) Be a good writer and take some preventive measures already.
Now there are some writers who ascribe to the House of Pain method of writing, where they’re drinking, smoking, cramped over a computer keyboard, drinking coffee like it’s a nutritional equivalent of fruits and vegetables. I call these people Sadists. Don’t be that writer. It doesn’t make you a nice writer. It saps away your concentration; and I assure you, if you’re using your pain to tap into so you can inflict it on your characters, there are easier ways to do it than to give yourself a backache.
First, do some “good posture” exercises. Petrified into a hunched curl over a keyboard is not Survival of the Fittest here, guys. Don’t undo all the good our ancestors did us by evolving into an upright position, by hunching back down again. I think this guy offers some very good exercises to stretch out those key areas and improve our posture. Plus I think one of them is what my massage therapist was showing me to do, and that I always forget to practice. Surprise, surprise. I’m sure my massage therapist has a support group with my dental hygienist. “I tell her over and over and she doesn’t listen!”
Secondly, get some exercise. Take a walk, go for a run, go to the gym and take a class. Try to work in some yoga: it’s good for the muscles and the mind. And as a writer, we know you’re pretty screwed up anyway. You could use yoga.
Thirdly, consume things other than cigarettes, coffee, and chocolate. You get bonus points if you fix something other than a sodium-laden popsicle meal. Some fruits and veggies, guys. You’ll thank me later when you don’t get scurvy and colon cancer.
Lastly, if you can afford to get a massage once a month, do so. You’ll thank me later. You’ll thank everyone later, it feels that good.
Taking care of yourself in these simple ways really improves all areas of your life, including your writing. As women, I believe we tend to take care of ourselves last and feel guilty if we move ourselves ahead of anything on our mental lists. We should really stop. As Erma Bombeck said, the world isn't going to stop turning if we stay in bed when we're sick. Well, I think we should take it a step further and throw some preventive measures in as well. As my yoga instructor always says at the end of each class: Know that this one hour you've taken for yourself makes you a better person for you and those around you for the other 23.
What do you do to take care of yourself and nurture the "physical" writer? And do you also find taking care of your physical self pays off in big dividends on your mental game as well? (I do. Taking care of myself physically gives me a big mental boost that "I'm worth it." I feel like a Clairol ad.)
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41 comments:
This is one I'm really working on. I try to walk or do stretching exercises every couple of hours when I'm working at the computer. Today I got caught up in trying to finish a project, worked for a five-hour stretch, and almost ended up in the emergency room with neck pain. Fortunately for me, I have emergency help in the family. So no hospital trip. But I did get a stern lecture about exercise and posture and the need for a more ergonomic computer chair. :)
Hee, hee. We get two new blogs today? Hey, I'm game! I had this whole day meditation thing a few weeks ago and it royally screwed me up, physically. I mean, sitting in a chair, so still and unmoving for so many hours? I finally got a massage on Saturday to untie that blasted knot. My back was one messed up energy center.
So, you bet. Walk, stretch...walk with the dog... Get a massage. I know after my whole day experience, I realize I move more than I realize in any given day. Made me feel better in regards to my everyday life...
I have much sympathy for your approach Cap'n!
After years of hunching over a computer terminal I developed 'Theoreticians Back'. Its like 'Tennis Elbow' put is located in the lower back.
Non Theoreticians tend to scoff and joke,suggesting sexual over indulgence, but its no joke if you suffer.
Then 'Health and Safety' got frightened and insisted on buying me an ergonomically designed chair......definitely worth considering Janga!
This helped a lot and I also did regular back exercises on the office floor. I had my own office but there was no lock on the door.I guess it was inevitable that one day I gave the message lady the fright of her life when she brought the post and found me prostrate on the floor. She ran out shouting for help and I ended up with half the corridor's populace making cups of tea and telling me to rest more!
I have now seen the light and got myself an ergonomically designed arm chair and a laptop. I now ease myself into the chair, located next to the coffee machine, and dream of what Einstein would have done. :wink:
LOL!
How can those coffee-holics be sadists when ultimately we like to be abused and rejected in the end. I'm of the opinion that all writers are masochists. We take a beating and get right back up for more.
And I've switched to decaf coffee in the evenings. I was getting terrible headaches by the time I woke up in the am from caffeine withdrawal.
do I take care of myself as a writer, physically. Hmmmm.... Probably not as much as I should.
I walk about 20 minutes total a day (I'm a fast walker no strolling). The most important thing I do, though, is eat right. I can't live off fast food/processed food. So I think that is about as good as I'm likely to be. I can't just get up and exercise, so not me.
Corsets (even when not fully cinched) are great for posture.
Pedicures are wonderful. I haven't had a professional one in a year, so you've inspired me to make an appointment. I'm not just talking about the pretty patch of color on my ugly toes, but the massage, the salt scrub, the hot stones...all of that. I hate wearing shoes and my feet feel all muffled up. I want my flipflops!
Drink lots of water. Much better than coffee.
Wonderful blog, Capn!
Wow, corsets and pedicures, so early in the morning....
I've been eating a lot better of late. And I should be working out more but whatever. I chase a 2 year old. That should be its own form of cardio.
I have been working on my posture, though I suspect not as much as I should. I'm a hunch too. I think it definitely is a hazard of the job. LOL!
And I love coffee!! Though not at night. Wine at night. I'm surprised Tiff didn't bring that up.... :)
The older I get the more I realize how important taking care of myself physically has become. It is the most apparent when I want to stop my day to day grind and go have some fun - I don't have the stamina or the energy. Walking through an amusement park or zoo is painful. That's just not right.
This is an area where I'm really trying to make some big improvements. Thanks for the words of encouragement, Captain!!!
I second Maggie on the water!!! I was a water only gal for years and then started on caffeine when I went back to work (I needed to stay awake!). I'm paying for it now. I'm back to my 8 glasses of water a day.
I'm taking notes here. I already drink nothing but water, so I'm good there. I have scoliosis and have had to work on my posture for years. I hunch much less than I used to, but I'm sure I could be better.
I am making note to get that ergonomic chair. Right now I have a stiff dining room chair at my desk at home. Must fix that.
Now, to work on that mani/pedi appointment. I'll save the massage until this summer when kiddo is gone and I can get all the school final knots out at one time. Or three times.
My guess is if I feel better about myself, have less guilt for all the things I should be doing and haven't, and get the proper fuel, the brain will work better which means better writing. I do think the Captain is onto something here.
Janga: Yeouch on the neck pain! Definitely look into the ergonomic chair--and do some neck stretches. Carefully, of course. *LOL* You have to ease into stretches.
I don't think we stretch/move nearly as much as we should when we're at the computer desk. Hell, I don't think I blink as much as I should. *LOL* I really like the stretch where you tug down one arm/shoulder (you're holding onto that arm at the wrist with your other hand), pulling down; then stretch your neck to the side, opposite of your arm. It stretches your shoulder and neck. Man, I wish it would undo that knot.
2nd: *LOL* I love how sitting all day made you realize how healthy you actually were with all the movement you normally did in a day. *LOL* Nice.
I don't move, though, unless absolutely necessary. Or I'm paying for it. Or I really want to see something (I'll walk forever at a museum or a landmark site.) But I'm not interested in my office; and I've worked here 9 years. I've seen it. It's not great. Nor historic. So I end up paying the gym so I'll go work out because if I just go home at night, I don't move much either. (The most I'll move is on the weekend when I clean the apartment.)
Q--*laughs*--Yeah, we've got jokes about how we got our neck problems. Well, it depends on who I tell the problem to. If I tell my co-workers I have a neck problem, they're all grandmotherly sorts, so mostly they go: "Are you okay?" and offer me pain meds. If I tell Matty at the gym I have a neck problem, he says, "I bet you do, you dirty minx." (Okay, he calls me a name much more vulgar, but I was channeling a Hugh Grant moment there.)
I'm totally cracking up that you were caught on the floor and sent the whole office in a tizzy. I just love the image of all the British ladies fussing and trying to smother you with tea!
*LOL* And I love the stories about Einstein taking that job at the patent office so he could sit around and think all day. I know this is the understatement of the millennium, but: Smart guy!
Tiff: You're right! I guess as writers we're more masochists than sadists. I always get those mixed up! Sheesh!
Frederick's of Hollywood has this adorable corset I've been wanting, but I'm pretty sure it's not a real one like yours are. (However, considering the state of my posture and my waistline, I'm sure it would be real enough! *LOL*)
http://www.fredericks.com/Hollywood_Dream_Corset/51786_2738,default,pd.html
Maggie: see, I prefer your style of treatment. *LOL* I could get pedicures all day. (I love having my feet rubbed.) I did give my feet a quick rub the other day and throw some polish on them, but it's just not the same. *LOL*
I should definitely drink more water. *sighs* And I don't. But I should. *LOL*
Marn: I've totally thought a gym should tap into having mothers bring their small children into the gym (ages: 3-7) and leaving them off at the desk to be entertained at a new cardio class called "Chase the Kid", which would only be attended, I'm sure, by people who don't have children. It would be touted as the next exercise revolution.
The mothers, then, would get to do something less stringent for their exercise routine, like kickboxing or weight training.
Fabulous blog, Hellion. I definitely need to do something every thirty minutes, or else the pain in my back and neck becomes so bad, it brings on a migraine.
Irish: My friends and I frequently turn to each other and say stuff like, "I'm getting too old for this shit" and we are not even trying to keep up with children. We don't even *have* children. I don't know why we're so damned tired. *LOL*
Okay, that's a second vote for water.
The side benefit would be if I drank my water, I'd have to get up to pee...so I'd at least be moving more and not be a petrified piece of office furniture.
You are spot on here, Hellion. I am awful at taking time to take care of myself. Witness my four hours of sleep per night here at the infirmary. I haven't been to the gym in ages and my bones feel it. Considering that I have had blood clot issues I really need to get up and stretch more.
It's about time I put some me time in. I like your instructor's quote. Brilliant insight from both of you.
I vote for the Three Times, Terri. I find knots are stubborn. However, I do find the knot will release more easily if you concentrate on breathing through it rather than focusing on "OMG, my massage therapist is a sadist! Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!" before she finally lets go. Seriously the breathing works. She even noticed.
There is one move she does--and I think it's supposed to help with carpal tunnel (it helps with your wrists, fingers, and hands), and she twines her hand through your fingers, bends back your fingers, then rubs her thumbs against the pads of your hand. And for some reason, the area between my thumb and pointer finger has a huge knot that will not release. (For some reason it's bigger on my left than my right.) If you pinch it really hard until it hurts for 15 seconds, then pinch it harder for another 10--(I know, it sounds completely sadistic!)--it feels good after. No really. And not just because you quit pinching the damned area either, but you can feel the muscles easing up.
Terri, speaking of guilt, massage is definitely one of those guilty pleasure that I'm feeling LESS and LESS guilty about. *LOL* Now it's just necessary and wonderful. *LOL* Seriously. When I first started going, I'd be all whispery, but now I'm all "I'm GOING to the massage therapist! And I'm scheduled for TWO hours!"
Actually that gets some looks too. It's indulgent apparently to go for one hour, but if you go for TWO hours, you're Paris Hilton.
Keira, ouch! Yes, migraines are definitely not conducive to productive writing!
Santa, definitely take more time for yourself. And I adore that quote from my instructor too. You should listen to her say it, too. She has the most soothing voice.
Actually you should come take a class. This woman is the best in the world. We love her. Every time she changes gyms, we follow her. *LOL*
You go for TWO HOURS?! We are definitely going to start calling you Paris. LOL! Actually, I don't think you hit Paris level until you throw in what Maggie suggests, the stones and the whole works. If you start sitting in a tub of mud, we may have to schedule an intervention.
I think that chasing kids thing is genius. I used to go to a gym that had a kids room so you could work out while someone watched them. It cost $19/mon to belong to the gym, and I was paying $1 or every 30 mins kiddo was in the room. I ended up paying $25 a month for the child care! For a total of $45 a month, I could have belonged to a better gym.
I don't always go two hours (I can't afford it), but if I save up my massages, I will knock them off two at a time. And I assure you, she still can't get out all my knots. (Actually I'm not sure anyone can...but she comes close.)
My sitting in mud days have been over since I was four and that was no longer cool. You have no worries.
I definitely need to take better care of myself too, esp the posture thing. I sit and write in bed, or on the couch, where I most certainly do not sit up straight. Though I'm trying it now at my office, and you're right - it's exhausting! lol
I have been working out like mad recently though. Mostly because my pole-dancing instructor expects us to be able to lift our body up the pole with one hand, with our legs held out straight to the sides. Are you freaking kidding me???? But I refuse to be the only person who can't do it, so I've been doing hideous amounts of push ups and pull ups. Social humiliation really is the best motivator to make me exercise!
HMOG! That is Social Humiliation! *LOL* ONE HAND? Really? I would so suck at this! (However, I did buy some really cute shoes that would totally work for pole dancing class. You know, if I could pole dance and all...)
Lord, we do about 6 push ups in our bodypump class--and mind you, they're the on-the-knee pushups, and I die. Eek! I can't imagine trying to pull up my body weight. (Though it would probably inspire me to drop about 75 pounds just so I'd have less to have to pull up.)
I can't imagine lifting my weight on a pole with one arm. Or two for that matter. Hell, I can barely lift myself out of a chair. LOL! Though that's because of my knees, not because I'm the size of a barn, thankfully. At least not yet.
I'll be happy if I can just get back to the fitness room at the complex and work up to a slight trot on the treadmill.
Yeah. One hand! And the instructor is all "just reach up with one hand and lift up." Uh, right. That's SO not going to happen.
So does this mean you're doing kickboxing tonight?
Another goodie is use tennis balls. Yup, lay on 'em. Got a knot? Find it, get that tennis ball centered at it and ease back onto the ball...relax into it... The ball works the knot away. I had one helacious knot in my right butt cheek that was bellowing at me...got out the tennis ball... viola! Works on the back knots, too.
My meditation instructor said, "Self care is the highest form of service."
Not much better than water...though I do like me green tea... Pole dancing...sigh. In my dreams!
Off to walk Bonnie!
Now that it's getting warmer outside, I'm a running the trail kinda girl. It would help if I got off work earlier than dusk so I can get down there before dark; but I don't so I have to run the treadmill instead. I've always hated weight lifting. I used to lift for school because of sports and I hated it. I get into it sometimes but it's not often. I do love some yoga though. And kickboxing. This kickboxing class I'm in isn't as intense as I like, but when I'm throwing punches at least it puts me in a happy place.
Sin, I don't know yet. I have my clothes with me. That's half the battle. I also am contemplating making Jason some cupcakes since his birthday is tomorrow and he wanted some German Chocolate Cake. (You know, and it's been what, a two whole weeks since I've gotten to make cupcakes!)
I'm exhausted...and rather pissed off actually. *pauses* Though the kickboxing might help with the latter.
I do think kick boxing would help my arms but I'd have to do a tape at home and only do the upper body part. And be very careful not to jar a knee. At this point, if I turn too quick in the kitchen I nearly throw the damn thing out.
But my upper arms are my WORST area. And throwing punches should would be great therapy.
Manda wants to start our own fight club. I'd let you come as long as you can take a punch and not get mad about it. LOL
I have to skip the kickboxing tonight. Mattycakes is home sick. Though, if it keeps raining like this, my road will be flooded out and I'll be stuck.
I could never be in your all's fight club because I'm sure the first rule is: You *never* talk about Fight Club. And we all know I can't keep my mouth shut about shit.
Ter, get yourself a punching bag. It's really good for cardio and tones arms and shoulders.
LOL! I just saw Brad Pitt giving that speech in all his sweaty, shirtless glory. LOL!
*sigh*
Sorry to hear Mattycakes is under the weather. And about the crappy weather. The rain gets here sometime tomorrow afternoon and then sticks around for a few days I think.
I don't have any way to hang a punching bag in my apartment but I bet I could rig one up on the balcony. I might just look into that. I learned to throw a punch at a young age so I know I could do it.
LOL. That's right. If you go to work and your missing a tooth, you tell them your door has a mean right hook and walk away. LOL
Ter, don't feel sorry for Mattycakes. He's all congested. I could be throwing up a kidney and whine less than him.
Men are such whiney-babies when they're sick. Don't miss that AT ALL. LOL!
I couldn't join that club because as much as I like to hit things, it's not fun getting hit back. And I'm pretty sure there's no crying in fight club.
Haven't had to the chance to read everyone's post, but hell yes, uh, Hellion (I can't swear with that word without seeming redundant, huh?). Some VERY good points and ones I do not practice.
I've found, my posture has gotten so bad, I'm making myself a belly paunch. What's more, my shoulders are so rounded, a massage therapist once told me I'd end up like those old lady Quasimodo types with the big hump. Niiice.
So yeah. I hear you.
I do eat lots of veggies though.
I really like the idea of a bag...wonder if I could find room for it somewhere. I had to give up the gym...just not in the budget for the moment. But I like the idea of something to beat the crap out of.
J: even when I sit up straight, I have a paunchy stomach. Damn.
I probably should eat more veggies. :)
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