Nuki News #25: Physical Foibles!

Previous Artie Asks Artists Post: https://www.patreon.com/posts/40387328

I just finished my 50th live stream this year, meeting my goal 4 months sooner than anticipated, which is great! Gotta say though, drawing for 12 hours is pretty intense, and is not going to be something I aim to repeat any time soon if ever, haha. My wrist was definitely displeased, and I had to lie down shortly after the stream, but I got a lot out of it and enjoyed drawing for many people in one day. This does tie into a point I gleaned from the artist questionnaire I sent out as well;

Your Physical health is just as overlooked and just as important as mental health; take stretch breaks every hour! Maximize your time away from your desk just as much as your time at the desk. Make time to exercise daily!

I’ve been challenging myself to get 30 minutes of walking done and 30 push ups when I can. I admit I’m not at the daily part of it. But even with this change, I have definitely noticed more energy and aptitude to get things done than usual. Starting from 0- no exercise at all- to doing something as simple as walking for an extended period will do a lot even if you’re taking it slow like me.

But one thing I do need to work on that I failed to do yesterday during a 12 hour stream was take proper stretch breaks. It’s typically recommended to take a break and stretch every hour, and I tend to only do so every 4 hours basically. I feel my own blockage to going through and adopting this part of the advice into practice is that I get into the ‘zone’ and time starts flying - I don’t want to interrupt my flow state, really. But I think perhaps I think of breaks incorrectly. Just standing up, stretching and twisting around probably won’t totally break my flow. So, I’ll try that! However if I am feeling easily distracted, walking away from my desk for a more extended break is probably the thing to do(it definitely works at my dayjob, bahah). 

I think the tricky thing about habits, especially good ones, is that it can be difficult to notice the benefits they give you when it becomes your new ‘normal’- and you end up falling out of the habit because it starts to seem like an inconvenience. That’s a part of it I tend to slip up on. Sometimes it’s something that makes sense to me to stop doing- such as doing rudimentary drawing exercises on my laptop, after doing so for 2 months. I suppose with no end goal in sight, it’s hard to stick to something for me. The last time I was making a habit of exercising, I had a goal of making moving(and all of the heavy lifting that comes with it) a lot less strenuous, and it worked out that way. But, that’s where simplifying comes it- I’m not exercising, I’m just doing some push ups once a day. At least 10. I usually end up doing 3 times that amount, but keeping a smaller goal in my head and not calling it 'working out' or exercising makes it easier for me to trick my brain into doing it. 

What about you, do you do any physical exercise regularly? What keeps you doing it? Or do you feel more like me, doing it sometimes but then falling off for a while?