Common wisdom says, “Mind over matter.”

Now exactly what is that supposed mean when we are talking about artful living, the goal of the next step of the Twelve Step Plan for Restless Creatives?

How do you live artfully?  If your brain is artful, does that make your body artful too?  What does that look like?

So glad you are asking such fei cheong (Cantonese for extremely) fabelhaft (German for fabulous) questions.  There is absolutely an art to living well and the key to that is creating a healthy lifestyle mindset.  Without the right attitude and behavior, diet and exercise are a dreary duo to live with.  If you feel like you’re running on empty energywise and inspirationwise, here are some simple ways to follow:

8 Live artfully

- the next step in the plan.

Drink water in style

Toast your day with a glass of water in the morning.  Continue throughout the day to prevent dehydration which causes fatigue.  I like to drink water in a fancy glass with ice and a slice of lemon.  It creates the illusion that I am having a cocktail and it fools my system into thinking it is full.

Imbibe an infusion

Fancy schmancy way to say “drink tea”.  However, it is a well known fact that chamomile will soothe you, jasmine increases beta waves, which make you more awake and alert and peppermint will aid in digestion.  There are many herbal teas with a multitude of benefits.    Enjoy a cup after a meal and before going to sleep.

Embrace exercise

Burn calories!  Daily exercise, whether you are running 5 miles a day like yours truly,  taking the stairs whenever you can or walking, increases your muscle tone, diminishes your appetite and brings a tremendous sense of accomplishment.  You try getting out of bed at some unGodly hour to be out running by 5:00 am and see if you don’t feel like you’ve done something.  Trust me, your body will love you for it.

Listen to your food

Stick to foods that are good for you, eat reasonable portions, finish eating dinner early.  Balance your food intake so that your body does not have to work so hard to break it down especially later in the day.  If you feel your creative energy ebbing away, especially between three and five when most people feel a need for a doughnut and coffee, go for popcorn or a piece of fruit.  Remember what they say about databases is true for diets;  garbage in, garbage out.

OK, all of you Restless Creatives who are jumping on board, here are the steps you missed:

1 Get over yourself

2 Get off the grid

3 Get local

4 Bring on color

5 Avoid vampires

6 Read like a writer

7 Stop the frenzy

And for the rest of you, just remember, today is the first day of the rest of your body.

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Style Notes from me, your artspy

Hoong Yee

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Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.

Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?

– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day

– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested

– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)

– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update

Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.

Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?