Thursday, March 1, 2012

My Kind of Exercise

I have an on-again-off-again love affair with yoga. I love the simple contemplative art of it. I like to feel each muscle as it stretches and works with the others. I like to feel like I have a big ball of breathing light in the center of me besides a messy jumble of organs and half-digested food. I like the way my mind reconnects in its simplest form with my body - simply as a driver, not as a commentator. I love the focus of in and out and filling myself with new air and releasing the old. I especially like that it's a solitary form of exercise and that there is no need for bouncy pop music and overly enthusiastic cheerleading: "O-K! One! Two! Up! Two! Clap! Two! Feel the burn!" I like to do yoga by my wood stove in the winter for the whole Bikram experience in the privacy of my own home. It is one of the few occasions on which it is not only acceptable, but encouraged, to sweat like a farm hand. I imagine the tiny demons pouring out through my pores and dissolving in my salty sweat. This is the sort of exercise I love but alas, life gets rearranged with alarming regularity and my exercise ritual disappears for a while.

I have been doing a different sort of exercise lately. Not the kind that burn very many calories or keep my muscles strong and limber, but the kind that keep my brain oiled and focused. I picked up a book at the library, The Practice of Poetry: Writing Exercises From Poets Who Teach, that has become a useful tool. I dabble in poetry, don't really consider myself a poet in any sort of exclusive way, but the exercises are great for really any kind of writing. Most of them focus on freeing up your thoughts for breaking the bonds of regular association of words and for enabling the play and rhythm of language. That may sound like so much hokum to some, but my writing style lends itself to hokum. Besides, any sort of kick in the rear end in the direction of regular writing practice is a good thing for me. I want to share an exercise I stumbled upon last night that tickled my fancy.

It's called the "Ten Minute Spill" and is suggested by Rita Dove - she was a US Poet Laureate and has assorted hardware to her credit, so I think she might know a thing or two about writing.
Here's the gist of it:
Write ten lines in ten minutes- she suggests poetry, but I think it would work for lyrical prose, too.
These ten lines must include the following:
- A proverb, adage, or familiar phrase that you have changed in some way.
- Five of the following words:
cliff           blackberry
needle           cloud
voice                 mother
whir           lick

How fun is that?! I'm going to give it a go, but because one of the wonderful things about blogging can be the interactivity of it, I found myself thinking about what various other bloggers would do with it. I want to see. If you feel inclined, join me in this exercise and post a link or even just your ten lines in the comments or on my Facebook page. It will be fun. We will get to stretch our writing muscles, distill and focus, maybe sweat - but nobody will actually see us!

21 comments:

  1. This sounds like fun. Might have to try this one!

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    1. Do it! It will be so much fun to see what people come up with!

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    2. Well. .. I tried.
      http://papaisapreacher.blogspot.com/2012/03/not-just-crust.html

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  2. Love the idea and will have a go also.

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    1. Yay! I can't wait to see the results!

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    2. Thanks TangledLou I had fun with this http://feeding-the-cat.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/where-is-my-mother.html

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    3. Woops, not sure if it's allowed but I used the plural of needle/s.

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  3. I will try this tomorrow night, but be terribly late to the party, as usual:)

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    1. No, not late at all! I'm so excited people are going to try this with me. Ridiculously excited. I'll probably make a post out of them with everyone's links and whatnot if I get a few! Yay for nerdy word games!

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  4. Sounds like fun! I'll let you know if I come up with anything. And thanks for the description of yoga. I'm going to my first class next week and this made me very excited.

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    1. Please do let me know. It will be fabulous. I hope you enjoy your yoga class next week. In my estimation, it is the workout of choice for introverted perfectionists.

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  5. Love the idea though and look forward to what everyone comes up with.

    This has my brain buzzing--now whether or not I will get up the courage to do anything more than buzz is a whole other question. :)

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    1. No courage needed. It's just us folks, here. I would love to see what you come up with!

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    2. Nine days late and fifty dollars short. ;)

      Here's my link:
      http://maskedmom.blogspot.com/2012/03/all-cool-kids-are-doin-it.html

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  6. LOVE IT!!!

    Good for you, sweet thang!
    Shine on & on & on!
    xoxoxo

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  7. I'm in! Tomorrow's lunch hour will involve ten less minutes staring out the window!

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    1. Whoo hoo! I'm so excited to see yours!

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    2. Thank you! I really enjoyed this!
      http://butteredtoastrocks.blogspot.com/2012/03/kisses-scolds.html

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  8. Love the idea! When my brain wraps back around to something more useful than daydreaming of Spanish speakers and luscious fruit, I will give it a go.

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  9. Oh this is a great idea...but I'm no poet! In High School, I wrote some (terrible...TERRIBLE) poetry, which was subsequently published (because my parents purchased the poetry volume). Ten years later I read it and oh my gosh, I can't believe my name is associated with that crap. I've been shy on pulling the trigger of poetry ever since! LOL FYI, I once rhymed absurd with herd (as in herd of cows) that was absurd and it hurt OUCH!

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