Artists' Unhealthiest Habit and How to Stand Up to It

I have some NEAT advice for all my fellow artists, as well as my charming friends who: love to read, love to relax in their porch swing, are computerized office workers, or those who love to take long road trips. This advice is perfect for all of us who lead lives primarily from the seated position. Stand Up for your Health!

Two recent studies show that being sedentary for long stretches might be one of the unhealthiest things we do each day -- even if we regularly exercise. Guilty!

The second we sit down, three important things stop or slow down in our body: the calories we burn, our enzyme activity (digestion), and electrical activity in the leg muscles shut off. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the average American spends 9.3 hours each day sitting. As an artist who creates behind a sewing machine and operates an online boutique, I am certain I meet or exceed this statistic.

What is my NEAT advice for everyone who thinks their chair is the best place on earth? 

NEAT is an acronym for Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis, a term used by James Levine, MD, PhD, for all the incidental movement you do throughout the day that is not considered formal exercise. I believe that my smart phone is my greatest advocate in this goal to increase my movement throughout the day. I set my timer to ring every 60 minutes with the song Happy by Pharrel Williams. Have you ever tried to not move around when this song is playing? It has become the cue in my fiber art studio to stand up, dance around, and shake my backside. This is a healthy and silly prompt to reinvigorate my circulation.

Here are some more NEAT ways to get moving:
Strap on a fitness-tracking device. I use a BodyMedia armband to keep track of how much I move each day. It is incredibly motivating to me!
Watch TV while doing chores. I fold clothes, dust my furniture, and go up and down stairs throughout commercial breaks. I don't feel like I am missing any plot points...heck, does TV even have a plot anymore?

Learn a new hobby. I've gone old-school and am taking up again some of the playground favorites of my youth. I am determined to relearn how to jump rope! Yes, think Mohammad Ali and his quick-step jump rope training. I especially want to master those awesome cross overs and double jumps!
Give up a few conveniences. Operating a fiber art studio is a physical job. There is a lot of moving around, heavy lifting and bending/twisting action. To make sure my body is not sedentary for long stretches of time in the studio, I have learned to be a little less efficient with my seated tasks and instead, add in bouts of action throughout the day. Is it inconvenient to interrupt a lengthy machine-quilting session with cleaning duties? Yes. Does it decrease my risk of future cardiovascular disease? Yes.

Let's all stand up for good health!

Thanks for stopping by,
Georgianne

P.S. I would love it if you'd follow my blog and share it with your friends. It is my goal to surround myself with people who love textiles, art, creativity, vibrant living, colorful home decor, healthy food, loving friends and inspiration! Best wishes, Georgianne

Exercise Good Ideas

It has happened to me again. After 30 years of this type of thing, you'd think I wouldn't be so surprised. Today I had another exercise-induced Good Idea. Has this ever happened to you? Maybe you are taking a nice, long walk through a tree-filled park, and like a bolt from the blue, a great idea comes to mind. Or perhaps you are riding away on the stationary bike and you forgot your ear buds, so you are just minding your own business, thinking about silly little things. Then, without any warning, the solution to a nagging problem is handed to you from the heavens! I've been known to say, "What?"

What is it about exercise that gets the good idea juices flowing?  When I was a young mom, 30 or so years ago, I started a small in-home business that I named Gifted Ideas. I did this because I kept coming up with genius new product ideas while I was pushing one of my kids in a stroller around the block. Genius may be an exaggeration, but they did certainly feel like little gifts.

In questioning how this happens to me and lots of other people, I learned from Leo Widrich that our brains are much more active during exercise than they are when we are on the couch. Belle Beth Cooper agrees. She says, "A lifetime of exercise can result in a sometimes astonishing elevation in cognitive performance, compared with those who are sedentary. Exercisers outperform couch potatoes in tests that measure long-term memory, reasoning, attention, problem-solving, even so-called fluid-intelligence tasks." There you go.

Crochet Brain, filled with great ideas!

Our brains truly are amazing in their ability to support us and our best interests. They secrete a particular type of protein that acts like a memory enhancer as well as a reset switch. This same protein will add endorphins to your blood and increase your good mood, which is perhaps why I believe my ideas are so wonderful. All I have to do to get these great ideas flowing is to get off my couch, perhaps even out of my fiber art studio, and move my body for 20 minutes. The next time I get a great idea while exercising, it will not be a surprise. My memory enhancers will make sure I don't forget how all of this works. That's the plan.

Thanks for stopping by,
Georgianne

Exercise as a Creative On-Button

Perhaps you can relate to this. I spent 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer today (go me!) and had to have a note pad and pencil handy for writing down my wonderful ideas. I propose that exercise pushes some sort of creative "on button" in my mind.

I understand that exercise feeds oxygen to my brain, as well as other parts of me. That oxygen may be what is helping me think big thoughts. Maybe as I exercise, my increased circulation loosens up stuck energy, and that helps me open myself to inspiration? When I walk around my neighborhood for exercise, I daydream quite a bit; I can imagine for instance new circumstances for my life. And sometimes, and this is really great, I solve a long-standing problem by the time I've circled the lake! Like a bolt out of the blue, the simple solution presents itself to me and I have to laugh at myself---I should take more walks! Does this ever happen to you?

When I have a pillow in my studio that is very popular, I make it over and over again. Now don't get me wrong---I will never be a mass-producer of folk art. But there are some skills in my artists life that are certainly repetitive, like embroidery or stuffing pillows with kapok! What I am noticing is that the creative On-Button that I'm talking about can be pushed when I stop making art. Maybe that's what exercise does for me? It takes me out of my studio! I can think in fresh ways when I push this button. But exercise is repetitive, too. Maybe it is the fresh air? I really do need to have a pencil and paper to keep track of it all. My mom told me that I should walk around with a tape recorder and talk to myself as I walk. Maybe she doesn't know that I wear a big floppy hat, huge sunglasses, baggy shorts and orthopedic shoes when I take a 6 mile walk. All I need now it to be talking to myself all along the way. The neighbors will go back into their homes, shaking their heads, and tell themselves how sad it is that just last week they saw me at the library and I seemed to normal to them!!

I hope that within all the busyness of your day today, you had a chance to just stop, move your body around a bit, let your blood flow and your mind clear, and say yes to whatever comes to mind...best wishes from here.

Warmly,

Georgianne

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