What the Yoga?!
There was a time in my life during which I would have laughed in your face, and started choking on Haribo Tangfastics, should you suggest I would ever talk about yoga on this blog or, in fact, actually do yoga. Luckily, that time has been and gone and now we are left with a more yoga welcoming Mia. Mia 2.0 spiritual explorer and yoga extraordinaire.
You can’t see it because we’re on a blog but right now I’m doing my best yoga pose at you. Right now. It’s really a shame you can’t see because this is definitely the best pose ever.
Why to Yoga
I don’t think much in terms of spirituality in my life but I reflect a lot on the bigger questions in the universe and have come to recognise that maybe that’s basically the same thing. I have also come to understand that even though I love science and everything associated with it there’s nothing wrong with a bit of peering into the void every now and then and listening for something peering back. There is also nothing wrong with staring deep into yourself every once in a while.
What I do know for certain is that yoga helps me recharge my creativity and shoo away my demons. Exercise, I find, is great for basically punishing yourself in the most excruciating way possible. It is also great for sprinting and then getting shin splints and not even knowing the stabbing pain in your leg had a name until somebody let’s you know other people feel this way too occasionally and you’re not dying. It is also great for breathlessness, practicing apocalypse scenarios, and getting stronger. For me, exercise of the heart thumping variety is not so great for contemplation. Yoga is. It refuels me, keeps me going, and is a joy to dabble in.
How to Yoga
If I’ve learned one thing in my time it’s that you can yoga basically anywhere and on anything in the world. Chair yoga is great for quick boosts in calm. Home yoga is good if you, like me, feel awkward about that one dude who invariably falls asleep in yoga class and starts snoring and even telling you about this I feel like I’ve betrayed the sanctity of yoga but it’s fine he can snore if he wants there’s nothing wrong with a snorer.
Yoga comes in many varieties and when I started (like many people) I didn’t know this. I didn’t know there were, like, a thousand different types and prior to my exploration I just hadn’t found one that suited me. I didn’t know there were entire yoga classes where all you do is stretch, and ask your mind to stretch with your body. Even writing that sounds a little bit too deep for me, and we’re teetering in unchartered territory for this blog, but what I’m saying is my fave yoga is Yin yoga because it gives my mind space to just kind of be for a little while. It helps my creativity recharge.
I think the best approach to yoga is to try and see what suits you (and if it suits you). We’re all different and need different things to keep our creativity flowing, after all.
How much to Yoga
I don’t yoga that often. I could easily yoga daily, or weekly, if I needed but in all honesty I do yoga when my mind feels cluttered and my creativity wanes. That could be as often as every day or as little as once a month. Maybe people who use yoga for other purposes would see this as chaotic. Maybe you’re not supposed to yoga willy nilly or like a maverick but it feels right for me and I think when it comes to creativity you’ve got to do you above all else.
How do you keep creative?
0 Comments
-
-
Mia Hayson
It is relaxing! Some days I’m more into it than others but when I need a boost it’s a fab way to lift my spirits.
-
-
Loni Townsend
I think the only yoga I’ve done is the sweat-pouring-down-my-face-while-I-try-not-to-tip-over-because-I’m-holding-warrior-1-pose-for-what-feels-like-a-half-hour type of yoga. I’m glad you’ve found a yoga that works for you. Drawing helps me clear out the mind clutter.
-
Mia Hayson
Drawing is great too! I’m not so skilled at it but I like the motion of colouring.
I think it sounds like you weren’t doing Yin Yoga. I’m telling you, it’s a really easy one to get into! No warrior poses (that I know of… or do…) no balancing really; just a lot of stretching and being relaxed 😉
-
-
Janie Junebug
I edited a book about yoga, Creating a Joyful Life, by Jennifer Williams-Fields. I loved it. All the happiness and misery in my life make me more creative.
Love,
Janie-
Mia Hayson
Ooh that sounds great! Never read a book on Yoga but I bet they’re real fab. 🙂
-
Janie Junebug
I don’t know about all yoga books, but I love the one I edited. I compared it to being wrapped in a soft, warm blanket because the book made me feel so good.
-
-
-
Kara @ Diary of a Teen Writer
Yoga is something I’ve been thinking about doing for ages! I get a lot of stress/anxiety, and I know yoga is great for that. But, ah, I just never feel like I have the TIME to do it, you know? I think, though, I should make the effort and see how it goes for me. Wonderful post! <3 🙂
-
Mia Hayson
Thanks! It is HARD to find the time, but I really feel like once you do the benefits outweigh the amount of time it took to do the yoga if that makes sense?
-
-
Olivia Roach
It’s so cool that you do this and you know it also helps keep you creative as well! I do yoga actually as well :3 I started it because I decided I wanted to do some exercise which isn’t as strenuous as my usual sport and I liked the idea of meditating and stretching. It really has worked well for me, and I love the quiet time to reflect.
-
Christine Rains
What a great post. I sometimes do yoga too. I try to at least stretch every day because it helps when I’m sitting in front a desk most of my time. For some reason, my cat is very interested in my warrior poses and tree pose (though I understand that one!).
-
Helpful Resources for Nano: Top ten | Literary Jam & Toast
[…] I do yoga so here’s more on why the noodle I do that […]
POST COMMENT
Related Posts
How to write a book in 30 days (or less)
You could do anything in thirty days. You could run 30 marathons or 780 miles. You could (probably) sail across the Atlantic, from east to west. Thirty days seems like it holds so much possibility in the abstract. This year, I spent the last four weeks concertedly writing a book. —— Every year, as November […]
How To Write When You Don’t Feel Like It
Few people disagree that it’s hard to write when you’re uninspired. So how to write when the words don’t come? Here’s how:
How To Write a Novel in 30 Days 2016 Edition
I do this every year, November after November I write this post, but with each year the topic on my mind changes and I think it’s worth doing. As many of you may know we’re currently knee deep into November, a month known to some as Nanowrimo during which they write 50,000 or more words […]
Creativity Hacks: Going for a walk
TY for everyone who took part in my 2016 kind of unexpected but totally fabulous planner giveaway! Remember you can still download it for free because everyone’s a winner digitally! The winners are Carla Domingo & Fatimah Mardhiah Omar! Congrats guys! I’ve emailed you so we can get the physical planners sent to you. Why to walk [&
How to Write Dialogue That Seems Real (NANOWRIMO-STYLE)
During my first Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month), over ten years ago now, I was determined to write a novel in 30 days. And that was all cool. Writing every day was a challenge, but I quickly realized that authentic dialogue was the toughest hurdle of all when it came to writing something worthwhile. Dialogue […]
Best Opening Lines From Books
First lines aren’t the only thing that make me want to read a book but they are powerful. I love lines that give me heart palpitations. Lines that make me sit up a little and smile. Lines that dance around the corners of my mind long after I’ve closed a book. Here are some of my absolute favourite first lines.
Anna Soliveres
Oh gosh, that cat! >_< So darn cute! Yoga is quite relaxing. I definitely miss doing it daily. I haven't had much time (or the motivation, really), but I hope to get back to it!