Great writing, like great music or art, is highly physical. Well, at least for me it is. I know I’ve written well when I feel utterly physically exhausted at the end of it. Sometimes it’s the kind of exhaustion I feel after one of my best ski runs or after dancing for hours at a time. At others, especially when it comes to darker scenes, it’s more like the heaviness of loss or despair. At first this created a real problem for me. Whilst I could easily recharge my batterie

My balance is much better when I don’t over-think it. I incorporate yoga into my daily life in lots of different ways, one of which is standing in tree pose whilst brushing my teeth. This started as a way of relieving the boredom when brushing my teeth. I thought it might be more interesting if I did it while holding the tree pose. My only worry was that this pose would be too difficult to hold for long enough to brush properly. When I do tree pose in class, I often lose b

I used to hate my feet and tended to keep them hidden away. Until just over a year ago, when I took up yoga, I was able to avoid looking at my feet most of the time. You see, my feet are very wide and, until recently, I thought they were ugly. How I wished they could be more graceful and elegant. I’d hide them away in socks and tights, shoes that made them look narrower, high heels which made my ankles and calves look slimmer. Boots were my favourite in winter for obviou

I woke up to a winter wonderland this morning and almost ran to the park. I couldn’t wait to get there. I know it sounds a bit weird, but I can’t help thinking Mont Joly has rewarded me for writing about her yesterday. It’s like she’s decided to visit me here in London, sprinkling her frosted magic over roads, houses, trees and all of us. The early morning park was almost empty when I got there. I loved having it to myself for a while and breathed in its winter beauty. B

Finding my voice has been perhaps the most difficult struggle of the last year (writing how others think I’m supposed to write, constantly battling with how I want to write). My biggest challenge has been to accurately convey on the page what is in my head. In my head it is so clear, I actually see the pictures, follow the action and hear the words. As I’m watching/listening I know with absolute certainty that this will be ‘the’ scene of the film. I get so excited I can’t wai