I started doing yoga in late January, and I love it. It’s had a big impact on my flexibility and mental health, and I haven’t had much trouble with my sciatica in the time I’ve been practicing.
What I didn’t expect was that it would impact how I wrote Shroudling.
Yoga and mindfulness
I chose yoga for a lot of reasons. One is that I hadn’t been moving my body intentionally for a long time. I’d been going to work, which involved sitting at a computer most of the day, and coming home to write or play video games, which…also involves sitting at a computer for hours. I enjoy hiking, but I also hate being cold, so hiking doesn’t happen much during winter months.
I needed physical movement I could do indoors.
I’m not coordinated enough for treadmills, and even though I have access to a great weight room through work, I don’t really enjoy working out in a room full of college guys. Fortunately I found an intimate, welcoming yoga studio downtown, just a few blocks from where I work.
Another reason I chose yoga was an excellent book about the Enneagram—The Conscious Enneagram by Abi Robins. Robins is also an Enneagram Eight as well as an enthusiastic yogi, and they wrote about what a good practice it can be for Eights. For one thing, Eights are good at powering through and ignoring all the tension we’re carrying in our bodies. For another, Eights tend to use excessive force any time we do anything. For instance, I’ve caught myself clenching my teeth while concentrating on things (or even washing dishes) and I usually grip doorknobs way harder than I need to.
Another reason yoga ended up being good for me was keeping me in the moment. I struggle much less to maintain sobriety when I’m regularly doing things that keep me in the moment. Cooking and baking are good for that, but yoga’s much more enjoyable, in my opinion.
Yoga and…magic?
One of the things I really like about yoga is how pretty a room full of yogis can be. Everyone moving in unison (or close) is lovely. The warrior poses are some of my favorites (though I’m still terrible at Warrior Three).
I’ve also done a little bit of tai chi, which is also movement-based and flowy like yoga. Between yoga and tai chi, I started thinking how cool it would be to have a type of magic that is generated by particular movements and poses. So when I needed to describe how the Magic of the Deep works, I used language that described movements similar to those done in yoga and tai chi.
I also liked bringing the mindfulness and intentionality of yoga to a magic system. It only makes sense that magic-users should have to have special command of their minds, and I liked forging that mind-body connection with the magic.
Neurodiverse Characters
Something else that found its way into Shroudling was neurodivergence.
I’m not sure what exact flavor of neurospicy I am, but I can tell you my mother was convinced my whole childhood that I had ADD, and though I never demonstrated the hyperactivity in my youth, it has certainly shown itself over the years. I also have a LOT of traits that my autistic friends have lovingly informed me place me somewhere on that spectrum, too.
All that to say, it’s important to me to write neurodiverse characters. And yoga has made a difference in how my neurodiverse brain works. Or at least it’s helped me notice how my brain works, and learned how to be more mindful about all aspects of my life.
Zolin, one of the main characters, copes with ADHD, and I enjoyed writing his coping methods into the story. I also enjoyed showing his relationship with mindfulness and intentionality develop over the course of the book.
To sum up, yoga has made a profound difference in my life on so many levels. I’ve really enjoyed the practice, even in the moments when I have sweat dripping into my eyes and I think I’m going to die if I have to hold my pose one second longer. I enjoyed bringing it into my writing. I hope you enjoy it, too!
