Adventures in Summer Work

The unofficial theme of this summer is resistance.

My little family--dog, husband, and myself--is on the road this summer, visiting family around the United States. This means lots of time driving, staying in motels, and generally living out of the trunk of a car. Not conditions super-conducive to writing and yoga, also not conditions super-conducive to overcoming the summer I don't wannas.

In addition to feeling that summer is time for the break that's been denied all academic year, because I (like many) live far from family most of the year, summer seems like the opportunity to catch up with family not seen for over 10 months.

All this is to say that it's not so easy to do a daily practice when on the road. Luckily, I have a few very simple strategies that I am hoping to deploy:

1. enlisting my husband's help as a nag.
2. using a grid for ticking off my daily practices--more on this later
3. making my daily work a tool for adventure

About this last point: Yoga and writing are both pretty portable, as it turns out. Their portability means that they can become tools into different local cultures when on the road.
For example, the daily writing practice becomes an opportunity to make a grand tour of a city's libraries an coffee shops. The daily yoga practice becomes the opportunity to try new studios and yoga styles.

For example, through pursuing a daily practice, I was lucky enough to find Better Bodies Yoga in Memphis yesterday, where a Vinyasa class with Janet ( http://www.betterbodiesyoga.com/web/Instructors/tabid/57/Default.aspx# ) offered the opportunity to hear new cues for postures and to get new teaching ideas.

So, in addition to being a way to explore new cities, the execution of daily practice on the road can be a way of freshening things up: What happens when you work at a cafe without internet? Without plugs for your laptop? What happens when you do yoga outside in Memphis? Hot yoga!

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