Tool: Movement and Flow
Professional writers will tell you that they find exercise helpful, not just in counteracting the sedentary lifestyle, but in finding the "Flow" state most useful for writing.
A working writer should have a physical practice. For Murakami it's running, he's got the runner's zeal, that cult-like devotion to putting foot to pavement. For Beth Kempton it's yoga and walking meditation before and during writing sessions to enter into ritual space. For Julia Cameron its long walks in the desert for ideation and breaking through blocks and to bring the body and mind into harmony.
We know intuitively that sitting all day is bad for us. What's more, if you're over 25 or so, you will start to feel the aches and pains of even a short writing session. But it can be hard to find the time, the space, or the will to exercise. Still, most professional writers will tell you that they find exercise helpful, not just in counteracting the sedentary lifestyle, but in finding the "Flow" state most useful for writing.
Flow is the state where you become so immersed in a task you lose track of time and your surroundings¹. You typically emerge energized, excited by your work, and looking forward to the next session. It is part of a "runner's high" or "perfomance high" found by actors and musicians and the intense feeling of control, challenge, and creative freedom can be addictive.
Research into states of Flow² is emerging, but studies have shown that Flow lowers your heart-rate, increases information absorbtion, and improves performance on both physcial and mental measures. Further, athletes and authors alike report that being in one state of flow (say from running) can increase their ability to access other states of flow (say while writing). While that evidence is anecdotal, it does seem to be repeated across several channels and by many people. And both the physical and mental benefits are not to be dismissed either.
CHALLENGE:
- If you are mostly sedentary (and you are physically and mentally able to) consider finding a gentle exercise that you can sustain. Start slow, but do start.
- When was the last time you were in flow? That state where you are totally unconcious of the world around you and completely absorbed in a task. If you haven't been there in a while, think back about what activities get you there. What do you need while writing to make that happen? Do you hit flow doing activities other than writing?
- If you are struggling to get into a writing session, take a page out of Julia Cameron's toolkit and try taking a walk with no music and no other distractions for at least twenty minutes.
¹ Flow on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)
² NIH. A Review on the Role of the Neuroscience of Flow States in the Modern World. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7551835/
Image Credit: "The Hobby Horse". London: Published July 15 1894 by The Leadenhall Press Ltc., 50 Leadenhall Street, E.C. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2015647077/>
