Happy Friday, friends and welcome to HFMF. I can’t tell you how much I admire today’s guest. She’s not only brilliant, she’s just good people. Further, I adore her books. She’s also had a journey that could take up several episodes on “Survivor.” I find her one of the most inspiring people I know and I asked her to share. Please welcome USA Today Bestseller Misty Evans. ~ Donnell
About Writing, Life, and Yoga: Do Your Practice
By: Misty Evans
Author Misty Evans
Two weeks before my first fiction novel was published in 2008, I suffered a back injury that disabled me for several years. It was not at all the way I had “scripted” my dream of becoming an author.
My twin sons were in middle school, I had finally sold a manuscript (two in fact), and I had big goals for the future. Those goals had to be put on the backburner, since my days revolved around lying flat in bed, going to endless doctor appointments, taking pain medications that left me foggy, and receiving physical therapy.
I escaped into fiction. Writing saved my mental health, but it was still a struggle not to fall into a depressed and anxious mindset. Not to mention the bills from all the appointments, tests, and medications. My husband found a contraption to hold my laptop so I could lie in bed and type. My editor extended deadlines. Friends supported me by buying my books and frequent calls and cheerleading sessions..
Two years in, a surgeon told me it was all in my head. Nothing had helped up to that point and I was still miserable—and desperate. He accused me of “making it all up.”
Yes, I’m a fiction writer. Creating imaginary stories is what I do for a living. My chronic back pain was not one of them.
When he also decreed I would “just have to live with it,” I took matters into my own hands. Up to that point, I’d felt I had no control over my life due to my disability. That I was at the mercy of my injury. When I heard his dire prediction, something in me broke—I hit bottom.
And then, like one of the determined heroines in my stories, I clawed my way up from that bleak future.
I quit all the pain meds cold turkey (I don’t recommend this, but it was something I had to do.) I cancelled all the follow-up appointments and tests, outside of agreeing to physical therapy once a week. I researched what others had done to recover from a soft-tissue tear like mine, and I read books on back care, exercise, handling depression and anxiety, and in the process, I discovered yoga.
Rediscovered might be a more accurate term. I’d tried it right after my twins were born, but at that time, I had taken classes at the YWCA led by a retired school teacher who walked us through the same routine twice a week for six weeks. I liked the practice but was bored silly.
This time, I started with my boys’ Wii game console and did five minutes of yoga a day. I incorporated core exercises, since I’d lost all stability, and soon I was strong enough to do more. Within a few months, I graduated to thirty minute yoga videos, playing Wii tennis, and within a year, I could walk our dog around the block.
I found a yoga studio and a teacher who changed my life. She worked with me, taught me how to modify poses, and led interesting and varied classes. She understood what it meant to come back from an injury, and never made me feel inadequate when I couldn’t do a pose perfectly. In fact, she encouraged her students to do the asanas correctly, but stressed that ‘correct’ for one person may not be for someone else.
By the time my sons were seniors in high school, I had totally taken back my life. While I still had times when my back would act up, I knew how to handle it. I learned when to slow down and rest. My mind became clearer and my writing more prolific. I wanted to show others the benefits yoga could bring to their lives, and I especially wanted to connect with folks like me who’d suffered an injury. I wanted to give them hope. When my teacher offered her first 200-hour training program, I was the first to sign up.
Since becoming a Registered Yoga Teacher, I’ve learned even more about my body and its abilities, but I’ve also had to look deep within. There are eight limbs of yoga that cover principles such as truthfulness and inclusion. Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self. Such a journey has improved my mind and spirit, as well as strengthening my body. It’s certainly made me a better mother, friend, and writer.
Yoga involves more than asanas. When you’re in pain, yoga is
lying on your mat and breathing for five minutes. Some days, it’s crying out emotions hip openers bring up that have been bottled inside you. It’s pausing when your pet or child sits on your chest during bridge pose because they want your attention.
Yoga is at times leaving your mat folded up and walking outside with a cup of coffee to connect with nature.
Reaching your toes or holding a balance posture, like Tree, offers a way to reflect, to wobble and fall, to learn ways to recalibrate. To meet yourself in a process of setting goals. It’s about who you are on the mat, and if you can be loving, compassionate, and nurturing to yourself. It’s about being present in an ungrounded world, whether you can fold yourself into a pretzel or not.
We create a boundary on our mat so we can hold boundaries when we step off it. We use breathwork on the mat so we can learn to breathe when we’re out in the world. We reach and stretch in a pose because it opens up the energy centers inside of us, and we learn how to balance our emotions and our thoughts as we move through our daily lives.
About the Author: USA TODAY Bestselling Author Misty Evans has published over seventy-five novels and writes romantic suspense and urban fantasy. Under her pen name, Nyx Halliwell, she also writes paranormal cozy mysteries.
A registered yoga teacher, she has certifications in restorative yoga, Ayurveda, and the chakra system, but still hasn’t managed to levitate. She loves music, movies, and hanging out with her husband, twin sons, and three spoiled dogs.
Visit www.mistyevansbooks.com to find out more about Misty’s books!
Book:
Grim & Bare It, The Accidental Reaper Series, Book 1
When college student Chloe Frost accidentally kills a grim reaper, she must step into his robes, take up his scythe, and harvest souls, all while juggling two jobs, handling a moody vampire assigned to be her partner, and attempting to resuscitate her dead love life.
★★★★★ “Absolutely fantastic. What an awesome start to a series and I am so looking forward to more. A MUST READ!” ~ Bitch Can Write A Book
The robes chose me….
My plan for a quiet night at home is dashed when a serial killer — nicknamed the Grim Reaper by the media — decides I’m his next victim.
It’s a fight to the death, and despite being a gold-medal klutz, I manage to turn the tables on him and end his life instead. Imagine my shock when I discover he actually was a grim.
His robes have now chosen me to take his place, and I’m contractually obligated to the Soul Management Group for a full year. Yep, three hundred and sixty-five days until I’m free from these disgusting robes and a death blade with a mind of its own — it wants to kill everyone.
Worse, my new boss, Death, has paired me with the local master vampire to investigate a rogue reaper. Our assignment will take us into the underbelly of the supernatural world, and neither of us may make it out alive.
What’s a girl to do? Guess I’ll have to grim and bare it…
★ Misty’s Direct Buy Store: https://mistyevansbooks.com/product/grimandbareit
★ Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09YG4545S?ref_=pe_3052080_276849420
★ Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/grim-bare-it-the-accidental-reaper-paranormal-urban/id1620245613
★ Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Misty_Evans_Grim_Bare_It_The
Mornin’ Misty! This post says so much — not only about practice but about discipline. I was one of those people who spoke to you on the phone, and I worried. Relieved and so proud of you! Congratulations on 70 books. I’m in awe.
Donnell, you were a lifeline for me during that time. Thank you for being there as a sounding board for my life and my writing!
Thanks for this incredibly inspirational story! Misty, huge kudos for taking back your life and finding your way to wellness. Oh, and writing 70 books!! I’m inspired.
Hi Barbara! Thank you for stopping by and I’m happy I’ve inspired you. I wholeheartedly believe in the power we have to find what works for us, and rely on our inner guidance. Have a nice weekend!
Misty,
I’m glad that you discovered Yoga and it helped you to heal and go on to lead a wonderful and full life. Once again yoga practice is part of my life. I’d stopped because I was remaining in asanas too long and that had a bad effect on my arthritic body. Now I love my yoga teacher’s classes, and I’m more realistic about what I can and cannot do.
Huge kudos to you, Marilyn! Yoga can be so empowering when we find what works for us (and realize what doesn’t.) It’s all about listening to our bodies and modifying poses so they support us. Keep at it!
Hey Misty and Donnell, Your story is very inspirational, Misty, though I’m sorry you’ve had a painful journey. But there’s something about pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps, putting one foot in front of the other that empowers us. We realize that even when it seemed we couldn’t change anything, we truly could. I’m also a yoga instructor of sorts. I taught at the Y for a bit, but the weight of having no subs in the area and always showing up to teach wore on my soul. I walked away and then my niece asked me to do a class for her after work one day. One thing led to another and my sisters began coming too. All of us have autoimmune issues, and four of us had the same exact thing. Anyway, that worked for awhile, then it lapsed for various reason. At some point my former yoga students at the Y reached out to me. Would I run a class for them again? I ended up doing that, really and truly surprised that they wanted my version of yoga. I modify a lot of poses for myself, but I also teach the correct poses. This has been going on for a number of years and now my weekly classes are composed of men and women in their 60-80s. It has been such a blessing to me to keep going with this, and it is holistic. Our time in each pose is modest, though we do reps of three for most everything with some minor adjustments to keep it fun and interesting. For us, though, there’s a core of always stuff in a class and a rotation of other poses, and then of course, recliner yoga… Nuff said. Nice to meet you at Donnell’s place! I’ll check out your books as I’m both a paranormal reader and writer.
Maggie, Barbara, and Marilyn. One of my greatest pleasures or running Help From My Friends Friday is the networking and camaraderie involved. Thank you for sharing your stories with me and my readers.
xoxo
Donnell
Yay! I love your story. I always find it fascinating how yoga pulls us back in and gives us a community of like-minded individuals to practice with. As Ram Dass said, “we’re all just walking each other home.” Good for you for empowering others and finding your niche again. I wish you and your family healthy times ahead.
Such an inspiring article! I absolutely adore the following line: “We create a boundary on our mat so we can hold boundaries when we step off it.” You rock, Misty!!
Misty has a way with words, doesn’t she, Marie 😉