Category Archives: Health

My health and how it affects me

Goals For 2012 – #1 Get Healthy (and Happy)

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Now with the haze that is the Xmas and New Year’s festivities out of the way, the realisation has hit me that 2012 is finally here. I’m now back in the land of the living which means it’s time to get back to work.

I do feel refreshed after my little break however, I also feel a lot heavier and a lot more sluggish from all of the excesses and over-indulgences of the past 12 days since my last blog post just before Xmas day.

I must do something about that.

The first (and most important) goal that I want to set myself for 2012 is to “Get Healthy.”

But what does that really mean?

Getting my health back to an optimum level is my number one priority for this year as I’ve come to the conclusion (through having a shocking 2011 health-wise) that none of my other goals will become fully realised if my health is not taken care of first and foremost.

I know that “Get Healthy” is a bit of a nebulous statement and nebulous goals of this nature are really easy to break so I want to take this time to define what getting healthy really means to me.

It means…

1. Going Back To The Gym
A couple of months ago I joined the EFM Fitness Centres network and started going to their gym in Brompton two to three times a week.

Things were going well until I started experiencing the side effects of expelling a lot of toxins from my body resulting in some nasty infections which required a severe course of antibiotics which prevented me from going to the gym.

Then came Xmas and New Year…

Even though getting the routine back is going to be difficult I’m more determined to go back to the gym because when I was there I really enjoyed it.

I might even consider getting some personal training once I reclaim some level of fitness.

2. Finding More Ways To Be Active
I have noticed that I spend most of my time sitting down and this needs to change.

While I might not be able to change the sitting down component of my work I can find more reasons to get up from the chair and do something else for a while like go for a walk, use the treadmill, get out in the garden or play some tennis/squash.

The list of things to do is as endless as my imagination.

Experts say that being active for 30 minutes to an hour every day is essential. I’m sure I can find some time to become a more active person in-between gym sessions.

3. Giving Myself Some ‘Me’ Time
Meditation, contemplation, naval gazing, whatever I want to call it I need to give myself the permission to experience it every day.

It seems that my brain runs at a million miles an hour all the time and this year I want to be able to find a way to slow it down so it wont chatter so much. Maybe then I can get some more sleep and perhaps be a better person to be around without being so preoccupied with what’s going on in my own head.

Taking some time out to ‘just be’ is something that frightens me. Even thinking about brings up feelings of guilt because I should be using that time to ‘do something’ hence why I have never read a book cover to cover for pleasure.

Now there’s a great way to start things off…

4. Paying Attention To My Diet
I love my junk food way too much, especially pizza and ice cream… Now there’s my downfall.

I’m addicted to dairy products and I’ve got to do something to control these junk food cravings. I’ve been able to give up smoking so surely I can do something about my diet.

I’m certain that preparing and cooking more food at home plus being more mindful of my food portions will be a really good start.

5. Maintaining A Positive/Optimistic Attitude To Life
It would be impossible to eliminate stress from my life however, changing the way I work with and react to stress is something that I can do something about.

One of the ways I can work with and react to the everyday stresses of life a whole lot better is by maintaining a positive and optimistic attitude towards it.

Thankfully, I’ve always considered myself a “glass-is-half-full” kind of person so I think that maintaining this kind of attitude won’t be too hard but when things get a little too intense I can slip into negative territory pretty quickly.

It’s all about being mindful of my thoughts and my actions and whether they are congruent with my overall attitude.

All in all I’m really excited about what opportunities 2012 can bring to my life, my music and to the hopes and dreams of my friends and loved ones. I know that together we can make this year work for all of us.

May you have a happy and safe 2012.

Peace,

Corey :)

What Have I Been Doing Lately?

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“Hey Corey, what have  you been doing lately?”

Now I like being busy but I’ve noticed that over the past three months I’ve been getting busier and busier and looking at my diary for the next three months it’s even busier again.

My normal response to being asked that question is “what haven’t I been doing lately” however, since my last full post “Absence Makes The (Blogging) Heart Grow Fonder” on July 29th, it’s safe to say that I’ve been doing a lot of activity.

Activities such as:

  • Working on my CD Project
  • Learning news songs for FIGJAM and my solo shows
  • Writing more songs with Adrian Miller and Jeff Smith
  • Starting up the Open Mic @ The Brunswick Hotel
  • Completing my 2010/2011 APRA Live Performance Return
  • Completing my 2010/2011 Tax paperwork
  • Competing in FOOM 2011
  • Entering in the UK Songwriting Competition (with Adrian Miller)
  • Playing Bass with Joe Man Murphy at the Semaphore Music Festival
  • Auditioning for Australia’s Got Talent

Of course, in between all of this I have been playing loads of gigs (as you can tell with my CS Gigs updates) at night and working through the day at Pro Advanced Media.

“When do you sleep?” I hear you ask… Hmmm, no wonder my blogging has been few and far between of late.

I had a profound realisation recently. I rediscovered the fact that our lives are essentially the sum total of all of the choices that we’ve made and will continue to make until we die.

With that in mind, this would mean that right now, I am the way I am because I’ve made it that way, not through some external influence.

My hectic life is my choice and therefore I can also choose a less hectic life. How I achieve this is another story however, I’m in love with the idea of a more balanced life.

I’ll see what I can do to make it happen.

Peace,

Corey :)

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Absence Makes The (Blogging) Heart Grow Fonder

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Hi everybody,

I’ve been away from you for a little while and guess what, I’ve missed you.

Life has been very busy for me of late and I’ve been taking the time off from blogging to reassess a big part of my life as well as take up a wonderful opportunity.

First of all the reassessment…

You might have seen me post from time to time about how I’ve been unwell of late. Well, over the last four weeks I had again succumbed to a nasty flu which had knocked me about but the scary thing about it this time around was how it affected me both personally and professionally.

Personally because I started getting migraine headaches for the first time in many years (the pain being so intense I was wanting to throw up) and professionally because it’s been really affecting my ability to play gigs, especially with my singing voice plus, the way I go about my business.

There was only one thing I needed to do… Reassess the state of my health. The latest flu attack was the straw that broke the camels back and something had to be done.

RIGHT NOW!

I realised that my health was non-existent. I had let myself go to such an extent that I was the unhealthiest and heaviest I’ve ever been and this was affecting everything else in my life.

I couldn’t go on doing this to myself any longer.

As of three weeks ago I started making some changes in my life. Drinking more water, cutting out breads, pastas, take aways and cutting down on coffee.

I’ve also been making time to exercise regularly, cooking at home every night and joining up with the Kate Morgan weight loss program for some extra help and accountability and I’ve already lost 5 kilos and I feel much better physically and mentally.

I’m not going to be one of those people who go on and on about it but it’s amazing what happens when you start to notice the positive changes.

Anyway, now for the opportunity…

A couple of weeks ago I started moving my home office out and relocating to some office space at Pro Advanced Media located at 88 Gibson Street in Bowden. The reason for this is that now that I’ve tried working at home and away from home I now know which I prefer.

I’ve known Alec who runs Pro Advanced Media for a fair while now and we’ve discussed from time to time the possibility of doing some work together and a couple of months ago the time was right to get more serious with the discussions.

I wanted to move into an office space and Alec had some office space spare so as of Monday July 22nd I now run my affairs from a new location.

The space at home has now been converted into a dedicated home recording studio which I finished tidying up and reorganising a couple of days ago.

Now that I’m feeling much better and much more organised, I’m ready to blog again.

The only thing left to say now is… Hello world I’m back, did you miss me? I certainly missed you.

Peace,

Corey :)

CD Project Update #14 – False Alarm

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Head and Neck Overview (from http://training.s...
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Last weeks studio session was a complete disaster because I was fighting yet another head cold and my voice wasn’t up to the challenge of singing the rest of the songs.

We did try one song but I sounded like I was singing while holding my nostrils together and let me tell you, it wasn’t a good start to the day.

This recent experience has really taught me a lesson about how important it is as a performing musician to maintain a healthy mind and body.

It seems really obvious but it is amazing how easily a live performance (or a studio session) can be affected with even the slightest amount of sickness going through the body or negativity going through the mind.

I’ve rescheduled the session for either next Tuesday or Wednesday (22nd or 23rd of December) and I hope that all of the vocals will be done by then which will then free up my time to concentrate on getting guitars, keys and maybe some backing vocals completed in January 2011.

Peace,

Corey :)

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CD Project Update #12 – Vocals

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Despite me writing in my last CD project update that I was feeling very nervous about going back into the studio after such a long break, I had a great time in the studio today.

As Darren was busy this week I decided that I’d start putting down vocal tracks and by the end of todays session I had 7 songs completed.

  • Girl Like You
  • Back Of My Mind
  • Half Hearted Man
  • Shadows
  • Leave It All Behind
  • Missing You Already
  • Mountain Top

Todays session was the my first one post illness, and the main thing I’ve noticed is that my singing voice is much more reliable. Since I finished my course of antibiotics I’ve been feeling much clearer in my sinuses which has allowed me to become more confident in my singing.

I’m finding that lower and higher ranges are easy to get to and my overall pitching and ability to hold a note has improved dramatically. I had a feeling that was the case in my live shows but this was the first time I have heard this new and improved voice recorded and played back to me

I’m liking that a lot…

Next week Darren and I go back into the studio for some more guitar overdubs. Bring it on!

Peace,

Corey :)

Today I Reaffirm My Musical Goals

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Now that I’m fully back in the land of the living and feeling much better than I have in a long time, I thought that today would be a good day to reaffirm my musical goals.

And it’s this…

“To sustain a career as a full time songwriter/musician/blogger using the internet as my primary tool of promotion, networking and marketing.”

This doesn’t mean that the more traditional face to face stuff does not get neglected by the way. I actually love the cut and thrust of getting out there and networking, securing my own gigs and using the power of word of mouth advertising to create a community around me, my music and other projects that I’m involved in (such as the Open Mic Network).

Now, how am I going to achieve this? Well, I’ll do it by:

Simplifying my life I know I’ve written about this before on my blog but I do have the tendency to over-complicate and over-think aspects of my life and work which paralyses me through having too much choice.

I’ve started on the road to simplicity by finally deciding that this site is the main focus for all of my musical endeavours. In light of this I’ve just recently deleted my Orangutang Music website and redirected the URL to this site. My other blogs Songwriting Zen and Corey Stewart Songwriting Tips will follow the same fate once I export all of the valuable content elsewhere.

I will be having a closer look at ways in which I can streamline my online presence in the near future and it’s my intention to blog about it.

Focusing on my activity As well as over-complicating and over-thinking aspects of my life I also fall into the habit of doing far too many things at once under the guise of needing to “diversify my income.” The old jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none thing gets really boring after a while when you realise that you don’t get anything achieved by adopting this business model.

I know I can do a lot of things but I need to be mindful of what I’m really doing every time I decide to take on another job here, another role there.

Which leads on nicely to the last point…

Internalising my efforts I admit it, I’m a people pleaser. In the past I’ve done anything for anyone because I wanted to be seen as the “nice guy” in any situation and would do whatever I could to protect that stance, even at the cost to myself.

Well, there will be no more of that. Helping others is fine as long as it doesn’t get in the way of my own stuff.

I mean for starters I am my own web development, online marketing and music business consulting client and will work with myself as such. I’ll take on my own advice and will walk the walk that results from talking the talk (and some of you out there know how much I love to talk about the music business).

If I have time spare to work with anyone else in the same capacity I’ll do so and I’m always open to those opportunities but, at the same time, if I don’t, I won’t, simple as that.

I hope you’ll understand that if you’re the one doing the asking.

My live shows (mainly my covers gigs) and the Open Mic Network sustain me financially and give me the freedom to work on my other stuff during the day and that includes working on my health as well.

It’s my hope that I can achieve some sort of balance in my life so I can be the best person I can be for myself and for everyone else around me.

I’ve had my break and now it’s time for me to get back into it but this time I’ll be working smarter, not necessarily harder.

Peace,

Corey :)

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I’m Feeling Better… Finally!

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Well, I haven’t posted anything since October 19th and in that time I’ve spent most of my time seeing doctors, taking antibiotics and sleeping. I haven’t been this sick in a very long time.

Over the last 2 weeks that I’ve been out of action I’ve attempted to rejoin the land of the living a couple of times but my illness soon put me back in my place but today is the first day that I feel like some sort of human being.

I can certainly relate to the fact that you really do appreciate what you have when it’s been taken away from you, albeit temporarily. My health has certainly been the main thing in my life that I’ve taken for granted way too much.

I once read somewhere that most of us in western society treat our health in the same way as we do with our cars. We run them into the ground thinking that someone else will be able to fix it.

Cars, maybe but my health, no way.

What this recent illness had taught me is that I am ultimately responsible for my health and wellbeing. I can’t just do what I want with it and expect to be saved at the eleventh hour by some health professional.

Anyway, this post is not an exercise in beating myself up with a big stick, it’s merely an attempt to share with you all the lessons that I’ve learnt and to let everybody know that I’m okay and to also thank everyone again for their emails and messages of support.

I am really lucky to have friends such as yourselves who are willing to put up with me and my (generally) musical rantings. It never ceases to amaze me how the power of love, friendship, community and music has got me through the last couple of weeks.

So, as of today I’m taking the tentative steps necessary to return to the land of the living a little wiser and hopefully a little healthier.

I’ll be taking major steps in getting my health back to where I want it to be and I’ll be using my personal blog to keep track of that and to be held accountable to my goals.

It’s great to feel like a human being again. Now, where is that guitar… I want to play it!

Peace,

Corey :)

I’m Taking The Week Off

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Today has been the first time I’ve been able to get out of bed since the Wheatsheaf Hotel Gig last Friday night.

I thought I was getting better but this chest infection and hacking cough that had plagued me the week leading up to the Wheatsheaf gig hit me for a six the very next day and because of that, I had to cancel my FIGJAM shows at the Third Cork on the Saturday night and the Morphett Vale Function Centre on the Sunday afternoon.

I hate cancelling gigs however, I must thank Catherine from the Third Cork and Cliff from the Morphett Vale Function Centre for their patience, understanding and for making the situation easier to endure. All gigs went ahead with replacements and no one (to my knowledge) was inconvenienced in any way.

Thank goodness for that.

As I have no gigs this coming weekend I’ve decided to take the week from doing anything and just concentrate on getting well and taking the necessary steps to get my health back on track. I’ve cancelled all of my plans and I’m just going to relax and just do the things that I want to do.

This time my health comes first.

For me, I’m treating this recent bout of illness and my recovery as a huge wake up call. It’s time for me to take my life back and gain some sense of control over it.

One of the ways that I’ll be doing this is by starting a personal blog utilising an old wordpress.com account that I’ve had for a while. I’ll be using this blog as a means to track my health, keep a journal and share interesting ideas and information that doesn’t necessarily fit with what Corey Stewart Online talks about.

You can find it at coreystewart.wordpress.com

One upside to what has happened to me over the past couple of weeks, I’ll at least have some great songwriting material waiting to come out. I’m looking forward to that.

Peace,

Corey :)

What I’ve Learnt From Being Sick

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I’ve been keeping a low profile since last Sunday because I’ve been cooped up in bed getting over a nasty chest infection which has really knocked me about.

Again! I’m feeling like getting sick is becoming a regular event in my life

Normally, when something like this happens I feel guilty about not being able to do anything and from there start beating up on myself about how lazy I am but this time was different.

I gave myself the time to heal and I was surprised that the more I recovered, the more I liked being in a position of not having to do anything.

And you know what?

My world didn’t fall apart…

I’d forgotten how good it felt to just stop and reflect on, rather than react to, what life throws at me. This was a bit of a revelation, a wake up call, a real “aha” moment.

Being in bed since Sunday has given me a lot of time to think about stuff, and I’ve come up with four things to work on.

1. Take Better Care Of Myself
I have been sick more in the last 12-18 months than I have in a long time and this is really worrying me. I’ve started seeing a GP regularly again recently and that’s a start but I know that is not enough, there’s a lot of work I have to do as well.

2. Stop Worrying About Money
It’s really easy to hop onto the money chasing merry-go-round but it’s really hard to get off it. Although finding work that pays the bills is important when you’re self employed, obsessing over it to the point of not functioning is not the way to go about it.

3. Stop Trying To Constantly Please Others
“You can’t be all things to all people” and “What others say about you is none of your business” are two quotes that sum up my core motivators for doing anything at the moment. I’ve got to learn that no matter what I do there’s going to be someone who doesn’t like it and that by being “the nice guy” at the cost of my own self is the wrong path to take.

4. Immerse Myself In Music Again
I certainly don’t write enough music, play enough music, record enough music and listen to enough music for my liking and this has got to change. I have been far too busy neglecting myself by chasing my own tail trying to make a buck while at the same time trying to please everybody by being the nice guy who does everything for others but nothing for himself.

I see a pattern forming here…

At the moment, I don’t have any answers but I do have a clearer path to take and I choose to walk that path today and use this blog as a means to track my progress from time to time. I am noticing though that as I’m writing this the little voice inside my head is screaming at me:

“What does this post have to do with your music business?”

Well, if I find ways to address these four things and hold myself accountable through this blog then my music business will thrive, I’ll feel better about myself, I’ll get more things done, I’ll get more sleep and generally, I’ll become a better artist, songwriter, musician and human being.

After all, isn’t that what life is all about?

Peace,

Corey :)