Inspiration

Finding your own inspiration is easier than you may think. for me, I can do one of the following for inspiration.

For inspiration to write non-fiction
I may read acticles or other informative sources on the subject of interest.
I may think of a topic to write about, and then just write out my opinion of the subject.

These two things give me a concrete starting point and open the door to add more information as it comes up.

For inspiration to write fiction
I may read a novel (or three) from the genre I want to write about

For the novel I started for NaNoWriMo, I was reading Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series. It is a very different and unique perspective on the fantasy genre and it really piqued my interest

I may listen to upbeat music

A lot of people can listen to music with no lyrics to hype up ttheir creative energy. Personally, I can't focus on anything to 98% of wordless music. I'll just play anything upbeat. My playlist right now includes Glee, Adam Lambert, Lady Gaga, and many many others. It keeps my mind active and since I only listen to it passively the lyrics don't end up in my work.

This works with some non-fiction as well, but it depends more on the subject.

For other important things that involve action

Usually I really have to think of what I call a "consequence worksheet." This is rarely actually a 'worksheet' in that it is usually in my head and not written down or typed up. I will pick an action that I want to do, for example: yoga, and I work out the positive and negative repercussions of completing or not completing the action.
I have only begun doing this consciously recently and I am still experimenting with following through on optional consequences.

Other things I do to stay inspired

I will write out lists of thoughts and ideas, often giving each individual thought at least two full pages for full expression.
I am trying to meditate and expand my abilities of this skill. I am told it is learnable, so I try it. It does seem to help.
I also will talk to my wife. I will confess that many posts, musings, and rambles are based on conversations that her and I have had that cause the ideas and words to bubble around in my mind until I express them through the written word.

What do you do to inspire yourself? It can be for something as simple as getting up in the morning and eating breakfast. Or something as complex as bringing yourself to start programming a huge computer program. Or anything in between.

What keeps you going when you don't want to do anything?

Peace and serenity,

Simply Me

To routine, or not to routine, that is the question

Sooo, yoga has pretty much fallen to the wayside, and sleeping in has taken over. I know, I know, not a good idea seeing as I'm just that much more exhausted when I go to work.

It's a vicious cycle really. I can't stop myself from falling asleep, sleeping in, almost being late for work, drinking 2-4 cups of coffee (with my reusable mug so it's really more like 4-8 cups of coffee) and shuffling through the day.

I need to boost myself up and force myself to stay awake, but it's sooo hard...

I will retry to restart my yoga routine this week, starting Monday.

Wish me luck!

More on my personal yoga visit

Since I have time in the morning between when my fiancee leaves and when I have to wake up Emily, I have decided to do yoga in this time instead of go back to sleep.

The upside of this decision is that I am definitely more awake throughout the morning, and I have better energy.

The downside of this is that my legs are very sore right now! I couldn't even finish the tape this morning, my legs were shaking too badly.

Hopefully my strength builds up, and I will be able to do this tape more easily. I've evolved from Gentle Yoga to Ali MacGraw - Yoga Mind & Body which is a fair bit harder, but it also has better direction (in my opinion) and also more enlightening poses.

Any preferences in your own personal exercise or yoga routines? Let me know, I'd love to hear.

If you do click the link for Ali MacGraw's Yoga Mind & Body, a small commission goes to me. I would recommend however to always check out second hand shops and libraries for the lowest footprint :)

Personal revisitation of yoga

The child, Emily, was home sick today, so I also stayed home from work. She has some sort of stomach flu, and it is likely due to the fact that she doesn't let herself sleep.

This aside, I took time today while she was sleeping to revisit yoga. I had tried it many years ago, and could not slow myself down enough to enjoy it. Now that I have matured and begun paying attention to the pace I live my life at, I am able to step back and enjoy this simple activity of self-actualization. I thoroughly enjoyed attuning myself with, well, myself.

I watched and participated in Intimate Yoga (which played on channel 20 at around 12:30pm on my Rogers cable). Then took a few hours to do other stuff, talk to Emily, do some crocheting. I then decided I wanted more. So I took out my age old VHS tape called "gentle yoga for beginners with Suzanne Deason"

Also gave me a chance to actually use my exercise mat, which has been sitting, rolled up, in the corner for a few months now.

I definitely recommend yoga to anyone who wants or needs to take time out of their day to reassess themselves and to realign their energy.

Yoga tapes and DVD's can be found cheap at secondhand stores, and at the library. There is also tonnes upon tonnes of yoga videos and tips online such as HERE or HERE. Of course, a simple Google search will help you find exactly what you're looking for.

How about you? Any of you already do yoga? Have some favourite types or preferred poses? Have questions about the different types? Let your thoughts out here.