I just finished a grueling ninety minutes of hot yoga. After a relaxing shower, I feel much better about writing this blog post. My mind and body is relaxed and calm, and I feel like I did something good for myself. Those tangled plot lines and subplots now feel clearer to me now that I’ve disciplined myself and cleared my mind of all worldly things.

What methods do you use to help clear your mind and prepare for writing?

I’ve found that hot yoga is the perfect exercise to help me get back into my story. The room is heated to about 106 degrees, increasing the difficulty of the exercise. Concentrating on my breathing g helps keep me in the moment and focused on the task at hand. During these poses, my mind is not wandering about or thinking about other things, but clearly on technique. One pose flows naturally to the next, and the instructor walks around the room helping each and every participant to do their best. This is the best time to let everything go and be totally present in the moment.

The poses are difficult, at times nearly impossible. Many of the others in the room are much better at than I am and way more flexible.There are all different age groups in the room, but I make it a point not to compare myself to them. It’s sort of like writing; comparing your own prose to someone else’s is always a bad idea. But the goal in hot yoga is to proceed at your own pace and make incremental progress with each visit. Healthy body and healthy mind go hand in hand. The discipline is the same one uses when writing. Practicing yoga and the practice of writing go hand in hand,

I love the intense, moist heat. It warms up all the muscles and helps you sweat out all the toxins in the body. The mind goes into survival mode as you transition into the next pose. Sweat drips from every part of your body as your muscles stretch to their limit. During the ninety minutes, we will perform twenty-six poses in perfect stillness. Later, feeling refreshed and energized, all  y creatively thoughts will flow more freely into my mind.

I stopped going to hot yoga years ago but just recently returned, and I can’t tell you how much it has helped my mental clarity. It’s one of the few activities where I can clear my mind of all the monkey chatter and self-doubt. Even exercising, walking, lifting weight or using the elliptical machine, I can never totally stop thinking. But after doing yoga, I am eager to get back to the keyboard, my mind fresh and ready to get back to the task of writing. Let’s face it, writing  can be bad for our bodies. We sit for hours at a time, drinking coffee, our postures poor. Yoga he,ps me get everything back in alignment.

If you have any other ideas that help you achieve mental clarity, please let me know.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Joe