Nurturing Your Body
A Creative Illustrator's Guide to Health and Mobility
Serious Question to you all; Should I be writing more like this?
The piece of writing below is in response to a question posed by a creative illustrator over on Substack Notes.
Basically, the question was something like…
“How do we take care of our bodies when we use them for work and that involves being hunched over a desk for hours at a time”. —All Creatives Everywhere
What follows is my ‘corporate’ response to that prompt.
It’s NOT how I want to answer the question.
It’s not how I want to answer that question because the body is so much more than a physical vessel for our minds.
“I think therefore I am” is how I feel most of us view the body.
As a Bodyworker, people come to me with cranky stiff bodies but when I touch a human body it’s emotions that surface…long forgotten tears are finally shed or images that were too painful or scary at some point in their lives are finally registered and processed from a more resourced place.
Left to My Own Devices
The way I typically write involves you, my dear reader, doing some really heavy lifting.
Partly that’s an inadequacy in my technical writing but mostly it’s the nature of the material I’m presenting to you. If i’m doing my job correctly, it’s unfamiliar.
From this simple question about posture and back health, I want people to reimagine how they see and therefore hold their bodies from inside out.
However, I also appreciate people just need solid practical advice when it comes to back and neck pain.
Annoyingly, I actually quite like how my vanilla article turned out. The advice is solid and I’m pleased to be doing the heavy lifting, for once.
My hope is that you guys get to relax and just take onboard some basic self-care.
I’m tempted to write the article again from the perspective of the Emotional Body and maybe even our Energetic Body but for now I present to you my lovely Substack readership…the Physical Body…
I’m a Creative, Please Help, My Desk is Killing Me!
Introduction
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Are you a Substack writer/creative hunched over your desk all day, or maybe your phone is pulling your attention, and your body, downwards and inwards.
As a Stretch Therapist, Yoga Teacher, Advanced PT, and Massage Therapist with a degree in Exercise Science, I'm thrilled to share my insights and decades of clinical experience to help you take care of your health and prevent injuries while pursuing your artistic passion.
If you've ever wondered how to stay physically well amid long hours hunched over your desk, this essay is tailored just for you.
Section 1: The Power of Daily Routines
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The best routine is the one you'll actually commit to.
That’s unlikely to be an hours worth of a dozen different exercises and stretches and more like, one or two you can fit in whilst the kettle boils.
Wait, let me go record something…
*There you go…my gift to you! I’ve literally just broke off my writing to film this!
Grab an egg timer
Never underestimate the power of setting a 15min or even a 7min timer and just moving in any fashion you’re called to, daily.
Embrace the idea that it doesn't have to be perfect or rigid; rather, consistency and commitment to your own process is what matters most.
A Strange Note on Self-Care
This daily act of care can be confrontational…oh I have a body, oh it’s tired, oh it’s getting old…Oh, oh, oh, one day it won’t be here!
It tenderly asks of us our utmost care and attention.
At the same time, don't be afraid of it. It’s been through generations of fire to get to this point. You can be mean-spirited, clumsy and ungenerous and it will always forgive you.
Section 2: Embrace the Art of Movement
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Let's lose the idea of right and wrong ways to move our bodies.
There's no need to get caught up in complex protocols or techniques - the body thrives on simple, natural movements.
Think of your routine as a meditation with your body. Spend just 10 minutes a day, exploring its capabilities, limitations, and potential for growth.
Section 3: Breath and Bliss
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After a day at your desk, give yourself the gift of relaxation.
Relaxation can look like cushions and hot baths but it can also look like hard wooden floors and spikes.
There’s a different conversation to be had when you lie down on a hard floor versus lying on a couch or your mattress.
“I’m not cut out for this”
“This is too much”
“I don’t like it”
“I can’t cope”
These thoughts are nothing if they remain unanswered.
What are you not cut out for my dear?
What is too much? Am you really so small and powerless?
is it OK to do things we don’t like if our future selves are grateful?
What can’t you cope with my dear? Life, relationships, parenthood….that’s right…that’s right, let it all out!
Pressure Leads to Softness
This is perhaps a paradox but it’s how acupuncture and acupressure and deep tissue massage work.
Consider lying down on a hard wooden floor or using a Shakti mat for a few minutes.
Breathe into any discomfort or tension, and observe how it transforms into a blissful state.
If you wear a heart rate monitor, as I have done you too may observe your heart rate going down despite the intensity of feeling.
If you can make friends with the hard floor you can make friends with it all. The day will have nothing to phase you. It’s a beautiful Surender.
Listen to your breath. It’s your guide and hand holder throughout.
Section 4: Tuning into Your Body
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Incorporate these 10 minutes of daily care into your life, and you'll see profound changes. The more you tune into your body, the more benefits you'll experience.
If I spend 10mins of the day tuning into and just being there for my body I find other things flow off the back of that…like drinking more water or simply noticing my hunger or tiredness levels.
This act of tending to your body is a gateway to transformation.
Section 5: Embrace Forgiveness and Reconnection
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Life happens, and there may be days when you fall off the 10-minute routine bandwagon. That's perfectly okay; forgive yourself and get back to it as soon as you can.
Understanding the "why" behind your commitment is very helpful.
Are you doing these 10mins because I told you to?!
Because it sounds sensible?
Have you even thought about who you might be after a year of doing this stuff…what thoughts that more open person may think, how you may not recognise your own movement, how you now walk or enter a room…? Does that scare or excite you?
Reconnect with your deep-seated reasons for nurturing your body and creativity.
Section 6: Understanding Your Relationship with Your Body
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You’re a creative right?
So, use that creative process to explore and dive deeper into your relationship with your body.
What does your body mean to you? Is it a friend, partner, vehicle, or servant?
How would you draw/sketch/paint/dance/dream that out?
Exploring these subconscious connections can lead to profound self-discovery.
My Conclusion:
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Incorporating a few minutes of daily care for your body can lead to an extraordinary transformation. As fellow creators, we must embrace this act of self-love and exploration. Let's nourish our bodies, celebrate our creativity, and unlock new dimensions of inspiration. Remember, you have the power to create not just beautiful illustrations but also a beautiful, harmonious connection with your body.
Good luck on this journey of self-discovery, my artistic friend!
Substack is a wonderful place of relationship, lets embrace the relationship we have with our own body.
Yours in personalised wellness always,
David Venus Stretch Therapist, Yoga Teacher, Advanced PT, Massage Therapist, B.Sc. Exercise Science
Concluding Notes:
I’m not sure how well I did maintaining the corporate trajectory of this post after all!
I’ll leave Bonnie here, who’s been teaching embodied movement longer than I’ve been alive, for anyone who wants to go off the deep end and explore this stuff further.
Notice how she teaches…how unfamiliar…. jarring even… her teaching style lands with us. I could go on to say how 2-dimensional she makes the vast majority of exercise/movement videos look.
As much as I appreciate the cascade of twenty and thirty year old movement teachers bouncing and pumping out there, I can’t help wonder where they all disappear to by the time they reach their 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s.
With a few notable exceptions, Bonnie here included, we are bereft of Exercise Elders. I don’t know about you but I appreciate a teacher who has multiple generation of seasons in their body to draw from.
I really enjoyed this and found the video you made very helpful. This is 100% the kind of content I needed that I didn’t expect to look for this morning.