Waiting for inspiration to grab you by the throat, drag you to the easel and produce a beautiful painting, is a fallacy. If I don’t put the time and the work in I won’t get improve and chipping away at it a little at a time is more helpful over all (more on that later). So here are some of the things I do to stack the deck in my favour.
Diet
I am a migraine sufferer. I have just lost three weeks of work time, being too exhausted to do anything but lie in bed, not being able to see properly and and take ibuprofen. And this is how I spent, December and January. Something had to give.
Here’s a reccomended reading list if you are suffering a similar issue:
Pilates
Even as a kid I was a knot of aches and pains (scoliosis and kyphotic!) and I didn’t even know what my core was. After a session I just feel so much better and able to give my all to a project. Along side <a href=”https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trigger-Point-Therapy-Workbook-Self-Treatment-ebook/dp/B00ECLGALG/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1500387645&sr=1-2&keywords=Trigger+points”>The Trigger Point Theropy Workbook</a> (also good for migraines) I’m a new women!
Exercise: Running, walking and dogs
I am not a natural athlete. I have two young boarder collies, and they can always go that extra ten miles. Running is a new thing that i give myself permission to be crap at (it’s more jogging running is only achieved if the dogs are attached to me and start pulling. Useful up hill, a bit hairy going down!
When I was revising for an exam, taking a couple of hours to take them for a long walk really helped me maintain my zen long term. And i find taking time away from the laptop really helps me think things over. And of course there’s the act of petting the dogs themselves, which according to ‘the secret life of dogs’ on the BBC, mutually releases Oxycontin.
Susanna Heath 