Want to find your best material to start your college essay?

x

Enter your email address, and the guide is yours, free!

  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Essay Intensive

  • About EI
  • Services
    • Admissions Essay Support
    • Tutoring & Coaching Plus
    • Applying to High School in NYC and Admissions Writing Help for your Middle School Student
  • Featured Essay
  • What They’re Saying!
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Login

stagnation

Tips for Exercise While Sitting

January 11, 2016 by Sara Nolan

Let's get the facts about exercise: Americans spend more time sitting, and sitting with poor posture, staring into our devices, than most descendants of apes do. We're famous for this statistic. But that doesn't mean we can't find sneaky, critical ways to do better and fit in stress-alleviating exercise-- even while we're shackled to our computers, our desks, our homework and, in this case, our college applications (if you still haven't finished yours.  In which case, o baby, you better get a move on!). Can you really exercise while sitting? This excellent article by fierce yoga teacher Ana Forrest (read: hardest ab work I've ever done in my life, and a great physical antidote to fear and stagnation) details great ways to keep moving even when you're stuck sitting.  Try Ana's suggestions at your desk-- or, if you're a jet-setter, on the airplane (you know you want to be that person on the plane who everyone stares at, don't you?). Generally, long stretches spent sitting should be punctuated by breaks so you can increase blood flow and give your brain a boost.  Also, you'll feel less busted and more bionic. Exercise stirs up your circulation, your joie d'vivre and your efficiency. It makes you feel better, period, during and after.  So why not optimize how you feel while you're doing what you gotta do? If you missed that first link because you were distracted by your numb butt and throbbing neck, read how here. How Exercise Helped Me When I was in grad school getting my MFA in writing, I spent long hours staring at my computer, writing or, um, pretending to write.  Once per hour, I would jump up and get my freak on by faux jump-roping (I had a basement office), wall-push-ups, and low back stretches (many taught to me by NYC master yoga teacher, Alison West).  I made sure to inflate my lungs all the way, and breathe out as deeply as I could, shake out my hands and roll out my neck (poor, poor neck!). And, BAM! The muse (or call her the  Continue Reading …

Filed Under: Exercise, Practice, State of Mind, Wisdom Tagged With: Alison West, Ana Forrest, benefits of exercise, circulation, college essay crunch, exercise, Huffington Post, inspiration, mood, movement, sitting, stagnation, tips, US News, writing aids, yoga

Primary Sidebar

About Our Conversations

At Essay Intensive, we are listening for the Big Challenging Questions to arise–physically, mentally and emotionally. We jump, word-ninja style, at the chance to be stimulated and engage in a true conversation.

Our bodies are holistic, courageous homes with a singular mission (in a multi-faceted world): live! It’s up to us to realize and share the rich outcomes of that drive. “A conversation” is a place for members of our community to do just that.

Think, feel and write deeply. Question. Sweat. Speak.

Find a topic

Tags

admissions officers advice anecdote anxiety authenticity brainstorming Brown University college acceptance college admissions essay college admissions essays college application college essay college essay tips college essay writing College essay writing process Creativity Essay Writing exercise feedback Free-writing freewriting ideas inspiration Letter from Birmingham Jail love Martin Luther King Jr. meditation parents personal essay perspective poetry prompts self-awareness stress stress reduction student stories supplemental essays topics voice writer's block Writing writing advice writing process writing prompts writing tips

Recent Posts

  • You don’t have nothing to write about in your college essay
  • Common App Essay Prompts 2025-2026 Are Live! How to start writing
  • College Essay Topics to Avoid or Rethink
  • Anatomy of a college essay (a primer)
  • College Essay Writing Process (A Primer)

Subscribe below to receive new posts in your email

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn