Writing to deliver content in text or presentations is a full-contact body experience. We need to be fit, and so we continue from the post Write, Move, Breathe: Self-care for Creative Longevity Part 1
Do tips on the care and feeding of creatives differ from those of ‘regular folks’ pursuing other professions? Possibly, let’s dive in. Earlier posts gave examples of writers whose success included some highly disciplined health habits. They swam, rowed or jogged or had specific food routines. Find more examples below this post, for fun and inspiration!
Today’s tips are brought to you by my fave Latin phrase, Mens Sana in Corpore Sano, a sound mind in a sound body. Being healthy in body and strong in mind are interconnected, and they never lose their impact, so I cling to them as I mature in my writing and advance in my years. Let’s call it a 10-point tune-up.
10 Steps for Creatives to Live Better as They Work to Deadline
These tips are based on recent and popular conventions
- Eat a protein-rich breakfast
Some say within 30 minutes of waking, others like to intermittent fast first, but all consume at least 25–30 g of protein.
It might include eggs, Greek yoghurt, seeds, turkey sausage, avocado on whole-grain toast, and berries. All in the service of preserving muscle and improving energy.
2. Do resistance or strength movements
Simply spend at least 5 minutes on bodyweight squats, wall push-ups, resistance band stretches, or chair exercises. This activates muscle protein synthesis, preserves balance, strength, and prevents falls when you rise cross-eyed from the screen or feel stiff.
3. Get thee to the morning sunlight (Vitamin D)
Step outside for 10–15 minutes of sunlight exposure within the first hour of waking. You’ll reset your circadian clock for good sleep later and energy now. Even on cloudy days, outdoor light is still stronger than your light box or blinding fluorescents. In winter, consider Vitamin D supplements. D is really a hormone that adjusts a great many body functions.
4. Hydrate with electrolytes, maybe
You win with water as your first drink of the day. Some drop in a pinch of sea salt/Himalayan salt and lemon is a nice additive. You may have to make it through all the new info on water: structured, filtered, enhanced with electrolytes. I like it room temp or hot with salt pinch, lemon or whatever health powder I fancy downing that day. Either way you hydrate the body, get things, including your creative juices in motion, restores minerals, improves muscle contraction, balance, and reduces cramps. And, it avoids headaches.
5. Take omega-3s
Include omega-3-rich foods (salmon, sardines, chia seeds, walnuts) or supplements (≥1000 mg EPA/DHA) in your daily menus. Armies march on their stomach, as do creatives, even if it is to their own beat. Omega-3s reduce inflammation, support muscle repair, and slow down muscle loss. I have recently swapped my oils and capsules, which can sometimes be rancid or not contain what is advertised on the container, for the newbie courtesy of dolphin research (none were harmed, only studied) of C:15, aka Fatty15. So far, so clear of mind.
6. Manage morning stress & cortisol
Boy, this is a big one for me right now. Less contracted writing with my alleged retirement, yet more stress due to age, lifestyle, and reduced movement. I’ve become my own full-time job to keep all chins above water from mood to money.
What to do? Spend 2–5 minutes after waking doing calming activities: deep breathing, gratitude journaling, affirmations, or quiet reflection. This lowers cortisol, reduces inflammation, improves muscle recovery, and protects strength. I’m on it… Now to remember self-compassion and consistency.
7. Practice meditation & breathing exercises
In my university years, I was ‘given’ a mantra by the new in town, Transcendental Meditation Society. Student rate. But a simple do-it-yourself routine will do! A 3–5 minute mindful breathing exercise: inhale deeply (4 count), hold (4), exhale slowly (6).
A longer exhale purges the all-important carbon dioxide. Breathing mindfully calms the nervous system, enhances oxygen delivery, reduces stress hormones, and supports coordination and balance. I need it all. What do YOU want the most from your next breaths?
8. Drink bone broth or collagen-rich broth
The science and social practice of this is shifting all the time since bone-broth nation went wild with the concept. You may NOT need extra collagen, but unless you are a vegan, a cup of bone broth or a little chicken soup made from feet – oh the horrors, but once cleaned, they are a great source of collagen. Most devotees now take it in the morning. I like mine as a meal.
It provides collagen and gelatin to strengthen muscles, joints, and connective tissues. It can do wonders for your face and neck skin, too. Read up. Make your own decisions.
9. Start a social connection ritual
Connect with someone within the first hours of waking (call a friend, chat with a neighbour, greet family. I’m more solo or even isolated compared to my high-earning and greater health years, but there is always the gift of writing. An email, a note, a social post, a text message. Try it, you might not only like it but lift someone else’s day, too.
As the phone commercial used to say: Reach out and touch someone. It reduces loneliness, lowers cortisol, boosts oxytocin, and improves both physical and mental resilience.
10. Swap coffee for leucine-rich tea
Up to you if you want to replace (or rotate) morning coffee with green tea + spirulina + matcha. That will give you the wake-up, and although I do like coffee or tea or just herbs steeping in water, that extra green too early in the a.m. doesn’t appeal to me. However, it does provide leucine, an amino acid critical for muscle protein synthesis, while also delivering antioxidants.
I find there is comfort in the routine of making a fresh hot beverage to wake up with, get the body moving by hydrating in and getting toxins out. You pick your pleasure.
Now for the promised peek into the gossipy goings on of writers you might know:
Writers and Their Health-Like Rituals
Ernest Hemingway – Morning Strength & Sunlight
Hemingway rose before dawn to write while his mind was sharp. He kept his writing sessions short and focused, like a workout. When in Cuba and Key West, he’d step outside into sunlight, then spend much of the day fishing, boxing, or hunting. His routine mixed strength, sunlight, and discipline — not unlike the “movement + Vitamin D” habits suggested above.
Haruki Murakami – Endurance and Daily Rhythm
Murakami famously compared novel-writing to marathon training, so he ran 6–10 miles a day and swam regularly. His schedule saw him spend mornings writing, afternoons in exercise, evenings reading and enjoying music. A strict daily rhythm keeps both body and creativity in shape.
Toni Morrison – Early Morning “Mind Before the World” Ritual
Morrison, who raised children and worked full-time, would rise before dawn to write. She described this as catching her mind “before other people’s demands intruded.” As a writer and a senior, I also see the benefit of morning rituals before the world’s noise: quiet time, light movement, and intention-setting.
It’s funny, I have less to do now than since my university years, through adulthood, married life, parenting and ageing, and YET it can be a struggle to actually devote time to true self-care. How about YOU??
Joyce Carol Oates – Running to Reset the Mind
Oates has said running “is the high point of the day” and compares it to writing for its meditative qualities. Like Murakami, she treated physical endurance as inseparable from creative endurance.
Virginia Woolf – Walking and Social Balance
Oh, Virginia, I am with you on those long daily walks around Bloomsbury or the countryside that you relied on. Of course, like me, when she was out, she also kept strong social ties and lived the balance between solitude for writing and connection for vitality. Exhale. This is my daily minimum of physical activity and social interaction, too!
The Common Thread
Writers who last — especially into their later years — tend to protect their minds with strong routines and their bodies with daily movement, nourishment, and mindful practices.
The writing life now at work parallels a quality press towards life’s deadline or senior years’ health.
Both depend on rhythm, ritual, and small daily investments that add up to resilience and creativity that lasts and is productive.
Next up, we’ll tackle procrastination. I’ve been thinking about why we procrastinate, as I skipped every other week of posting. Our shadow self is with us, always, eh?
