Salon.com Life | I want to write

In Salon this morning, a would-be writer asks advice columnist Cary Tennis how to overcome a deep lack of motivation to write. In response, Cary shares his best yoga postures to energize writing. Enjoy!

Dear Ready,

I have this yoga posture that I use. You must be sitting at your desk with the computer on to do this posture. Close your eyes and put your elbows on your desk. Then bring your hands together so the little fingers are touching, and then bring your face into your hands and sit there with your chin in your palms and your fingertips over your eyelids. OK, now just sit there with your head in your hands. Breathe through your nose. Do you hear anything? Do you hear the birds? Do you hear the whining of the computer? Do your shoulders ache with tension? Ah, that's good. Let your head rest in your palms. Let the tension go out of your shoulders. You're yawning. That's good. Yawning is good. Do you feel sleepy? Me too. There's a couch over there. Go over to the couch and curl up in a little ball and go to sleep.

That's my favorite writing exercise. Whenever I find myself unable to write, I do that.

When you wake up, come back to the computer. Sit and stare at the screen. Do the "sitting up at the computer" posture: Sit straight in your chair and place your hands on the keyboard. Make sure the computer is turned on. Make the "opening a word-processing program" motion with your hands. Then stare at the screen. Make sure your back is straight and your hands are on the keyboard. If you start typing, don't worry. It's just your fingers moving over the keyboard. Pay attention to the screen. Did some words appear there? Good. That means you are writing. Don't worry what the words mean. Just keep making them appear on the screen. If you find yourself slumping over, tense your abdominal muscles to keep yourself sitting up straight. If your legs become uncomfortable, place one ankle under the opposite thigh on the chair. Alternate ankles. Breathe. Let the tension go out of your shoulders. Keep moving your fingers over the keyboard, making words appear on the screen.

You may experience intrusive thoughts. Observe those thoughts with interest. One thought I call the "cappuccino" thought. The image of a tall cup with foamy milk over espresso appears; sometimes I even seem to hear the sound the steamer makes. This is an intrusive thought, but it can also be a sign that it is time to perform the "ordering a cappuccino" posture. Other thoughts can be intrusive and detrimental to the writing process. Observe these thoughts with interest but do not fight them. Let them go. If some of these thoughts make you feel like a worthless piece of shit, observe that with interest, and let it go.

Keep doing these postures until you feel depressed, irritable, murderous, suicidal or find it hard to breathe. Then perform the face-in-hands posture as described above, with your elbows on the desk and your fingertips over your eyelids. When you begin to yawn, go back to the couch, curl up and go to sleep.

If you alternate between those two postures, the "face in hands" posture, and the "sitting up straight at the computer" posture, you should be able to spend enough time at the computer that the words will accumulate. Once you have accumulated many words, perform the "printing out my story" function. Look at your words and try to understand why they are there. Do they seem to have some purpose? Do they tell the truth? Look for places where the words do not seem to tell the truth, and when you find those places, draw a red or black line through those words. When you are done, see if you have any words left. If not, no big deal. Just repeat the "curling up on the couch" posture until you awake with renewed energy with which to tackle your seemingly hopeless task. Go to your computer. Turn it on. Place your hands on the keyboard, and begin.