Writing can be a therapeutic and creative activity, but it's not always easy to put our thoughts and emotions into words. This is where mindful writing can help. Mindful writing is a practice that combines the principles of mindfulness meditation with the act of writing. It helps us focus our attention, cultivate awareness, and unleash our creativity. In this article, we'll explore the benefits of mindful writing and provide tips and techniques for incorporating this practice into your daily routine.
What is Mindful Writing?
Mindful writing can help us to discover our deepest thoughts and feelings, guiding us on the path towards discovering who we truly are. It's an opportunity for self-exploration that allows your true inner voice to shine through! It involves paying close attention to your thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations as you write. The goal is to be fully present and engaged in the writing process, without judgment or distraction. You can practice mindful writing in many forms, such as journaling, creative writing, or even professional writing tasks.
Meet Molly
Molly had a lot on her plate at work and felt overwhelmed. She knew that mindfulness has helped her in the past with being present in the moment. So, she would try focus on her breathing while working to help her stay calm, centered and focused.
By the end of her day, she still found herself overwhelmed so she would go for an evening jog. Still feeling like more needed to be released, she went to read poetry. While reading other peoples poems she was inspired how people could use their words and be expressive.
She reflected on that for a few moments realizing that she does not have an outlet to express herself. So, she found an old notebook and began to mindful write.
Benefits of Mindful Writing
- Reduces Stress and Anxiety: Mindful writing can help you reduce stress and anxiety by bringing your attention to the present moment, allowing you to let go of worries and distractions. By focusing on your writing and your breath, you can create a sense of calm and relaxation.
- Boosts Creativity: By cultivating a focused and clear mind, mindful writing can help you tap into your creativity and generate new ideas. When you are fully present and engaged in the writing process, you can access your authentic voice and unique perspective.
- Improves Emotional Regulation: Mindful writing can help you become more aware of your emotions and regulate them more effectively, reducing the impact of negative emotions. By observing and accepting your thoughts and feelings, you can create space for self-compassion and emotional healing.
- Enhances Self-Awareness & Self Acceptance: By paying attention to your thoughts and emotions, mindful writing can help you gain a deeper understanding of yourself and your experiences. It can help you identify patterns and themes in your writing that reflect your values, goals, and desires.
- Help Understand Reality: Accepting your experiences as they come enables us uncover the motivations behind them; allowing you to explore what drives you in life and take conscious steps towards being satisfied. For example, recognizing when someone's disapproval leaves you feeling anxious can help bring into light just how much that person means to you. By acknowledging these emotions you are more likely feel less overwhelmed rather than burying your anxieties under layers of misunderstandings.
Find the Right Path
Everyone is unique and no two lives are the same. Why not use this complexity to your advantage? Embrace every part of being human: all its highs, lows, in-betweens - by taking one of these four paths you can take for mindful writing. You can choose which path you wish to take or practice, or which one resonates the most for you to begin your mindful writing journey.
- Practice Self-Awareness: Make a conscious effort to return home to who you are, and what you are feeling through the house of yourself. Doing so can help you reconnect with our true essence and prevent unnecessary suffering from occurring in the future. It may even bring more joy and fulfillment into your life.
- Cultivate and preserve kindness to yourself: It can be so easy to get lost in depression and abandon yourself because you feel disconnected to what is most important which leads to unnecessary suffering.
- Use discernment to understand your story: Your life is made up of moments, stories and experiences that shape you into the person you have become. But sometimes it's not enough to live out these tales passively because creative thinking requires a willingness to venture outside our comfort zone in order to find new solutions. That leap into uncharted territory is where true creativity lies: when faced with an obstacle or feeling lost, be brave and craft your own way forward.
- Willingness to change: Writing can be a transformative journey of reinventing and recreating yourself. Through the power of neuroplasticity, you have an incredible capacity for growth and evolution that provides you with personal freedoms to explore multiple perspectives as part of our adventure. This path allows you to reinvent yourself to recreate who you are right now and having the willingness to change.
How to Practice Mindful Writing
- Look at Your Calendar: You know your schedule best, so take a look at when you can fit in time for mindful writing within your routine.
- Block out time: Once you determined when you can see mindful writing fitting into your routine, block out that time on your calendar or set reminders in your favorite app.
- Have accountability: Part of success is feeling like you are not doing it alone. Whether this means joining an online mindfulness group, telling a loved one, or some one you trust, about your new habit. This allows you to to have accountability, and make the new habit more real and concrete.
- Start small: With the time you blocked from your schedule, start with a few minutes per day and gradually increase the duration of your practice. If you have extra time within your blocked time, use it to your advantage by breathing deeply and becoming aware of your body.
- Be flexible: It can be helpful to practice at the same time each day, such as in the morning or before bed, but plan ahead for when life shows up and gets busy. Be flexible with your routine, and not so ridged. This is a habit that can change your life if you allow it to a tool that can be played with.
- Find the right journal: Having the write notebook to write in is a game changer. Do you like spirals, no spirals, lined or blank paper? How about the size. Take a trip to your local store and head to their school section and discover the world of notebooks and journal to discover what is best for you.
- Set up your space: Choose a quiet and comfortable place where you won't be disturbed. Create a writing space that feels inspiring and supportive, such as a cozy corner or a nature setting. If you are indoors set an aroma diffuser, light a candle, play soft music, dim the lights, have fluffy pillows near by. The goal is to have a space you feel excited about going to the next time you mindful journal.
- Set your timer: Turn off all distractions and set your timer for desired length of time.
- Focus on Your Breath: Before you even start writing, begin by taking a few deep breaths to center yourself. Focus on the sensation of the breath moving in and out of your body. Allow your breath to anchor your attention and create a sense of calm and relaxation.
- Start Writing: Begin writing without any particular goal, purpose, about your day, thoughts, feelings, etc. Let your thoughts and words flow without judgment or editing. Write freely and openly, without worrying about grammar or spelling errors. Allow your authentic voice to emerge and guide your writing.
- Stay Focused: If your mind starts to wander, gently bring it back to the present moment and your writing. Use your breath as an anchor and guide for your attention. Avoid getting caught up in self-criticism or self-doubt, and simply observe your thoughts and emotions with compassion.
- Go back to your path: After you write, discover which path you wish to take after you write during your reflection. This can be either be from practicing self awareness, preserving kindness, using discernment, or having a willingness to change.
- If you have extra time: If you find yourself having extra time, take a few extra moments to focus on your breath, stay centered, and just feel proud of yourself for taking that 1% to help heal your mind and body with mindfulness. Celebrate each victory along the way, big or small.
Tips for Cultivating Mindful Writing
- Use Prompts: To get started with mindful writing, you can use prompts or writing exercises that guide your attention and creativity. For example, you can write about a meaningful experience you recently had, or a really bad day that just happened to release your emotions.
- Embrace the imperfections of your writing and let go of the need to produce a flawless piece of work: This can be especially important for those who are perfectionists or who are struggling to get their writing done. Mindful writing can help you to stay focused, reduce stress, and enhance your overall writing experience. Work on not judging yourself and letting go of that ego.
- Practice Gratitude: Incorporating gratitude into your mindful writing practice can be a powerful way to boost your well-being.
- If you find self-criticism: Change your writing pattern from free form and begin to change your self criticism thoughts to "I am" statements and write that down worth an entire page. For example, if you are thinking about how "stupid" you were to not see the signs of a toxic relationship, and cannot leave those thoughts and begin crying. This is part of the process of healing and all the beautiful benefits of mindful writing. Write your mindful words as big or small as you'd like and stay mindful on an affirmation affirming to yourself that you are not stupid, and you are not dumb, or any other feeling you are experience like, "I am growing" or "I value myself and each opportunity as a lesson".
- Reflect: Reflecting on the things that you are thankful for in your life can help you to cultivate a positive outlook and reduce stress.
- Start Easy: You might try starting your mindful writing practice with a few minutes of gratitude journaling or by reflecting on something positive that has happened to you recently.
Release the Ego While Mindful Writing
Or maybe you have experienced the thought of writing something down to release was silly, or you rejected a piece of yourself and are afraid of change.
This can be that pesky ego getting in the way for it's crave and and fuel of entanglement and drama. Release that and take a few minutes to practice Kundalini Yoga's Ego Eradicator to change your your frequency and jump start your mindfulness practice.Step-By-Step How To:
- Sit with your legs crossed in easy pose (cross legged) or rock pose (kneeling on the mat while sitting on the heels), or perform while standing.
- Lengthen your spine while take a few deep breaths to settle into your seat. Relax your shoulders away from the ears.
- Close your eyes and shift your gaze by rolling your eyes up and in focused at the center of your forehead, your third eye.
- Raise both arms overhead to form a sixty degree angle. Keep the elbows completely straight.
- Perform yogic thumbs, curling your fingers while thumbs are completely extended and point towards the sky.
- Apply a chin lock to help lengthen your spine.
- Begin your breath of fire and sustain for 1-5 minutes.
- Return your breath to normal. To seal the practice, inhale deeply and connect the tips of your thumbs together above the head with your fingers out wide. Squeeze and hold; exhale, keeping your arms up.
- Keep your thumb tips touching and fingers lengthen out wide, inhaling deep, focused at your third eye, chin lock, and squeezing your sex organs; hold for as long as you can. Exhale. Keep your arms up
- Repeat step 9 (totaling 3 times)
- On your last exhale, spread the fingers wide and sweep slowly down your aura changing and feeling the new frequency plugging your fingers into the ground
- Relax and meditation on the third eye space with your spine straight for as long as you wish
- Enjoy the new energy and journal about your experience.
Please note, if you are female and on your first, second or third day cycle, do not perform breath of fire; instead, do long deep breathing.
A Path To Empowerment
After Molly began to write, she discovered that even though she was being mindful through out her day, by focusing on her breathing and using her senses, there was something more she needed as an outlet to release what she was feeling.
Molly discovered not only was she feeling overwhelm, but she was feeling overworked, used and manipulated from her co-workers.
She didn't want to believe it, so to get out of her head, she used Kundalini Yoga Ego Eradicator. After performing the technique, she felt stronger than ever knowing her truth and finding her own identity through her words she wrote down while mindful writing.
The next day, Molly stayed present in the moment and was more aware of what was happening around her within the office space. The next week, she was able to fully express herself to her boss and how she has been feeling. With mindful writing, Molly was able to practice the 4 paths of self awareness, cultivating kindness, having discernment and taking action by organizing her thoughts down to paper to make a positive change in her life.
FAQs
Is mindful writing only for professional writers?
No, mindful writing is not just for professional writers. Anyone can practice mindful writing, regardless of their writing experience. In fact, mindful writing can be especially helpful for those who struggle with writing or find it difficult to express themselves.
How often should I practice mindful writing?
You can practice mindful writing as often as you like, but it's recommended to practice it on a regular basis to experience the full benefits. Even a few minutes a day can make a difference.
Do I need any special tools or equipment to practice mindful writing?
No, you don't need any special tools or equipment to practice mindful writing. All you need is a pen and paper, or a device to type on, and a quiet place to write.
Can mindful writing be used for specific writing tasks, like academic or professional writing?
Yes, mindful writing can be applied to any writing task. By practicing mindfulness, you can increase your focus and concentration, which can help you write more effectively and efficiently.
Do I need to do Ego Eradicator before mindful journaling?
No. This is a simple mindful meditation that can help jumpstart your journey or help you when you feel stuck.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Mindful writing is a powerful practice that can help you cultivate clarity, creativity, and well-being. By bringing your attention to the present moment, you can tap into your authentic voice and unlock your creative potential. Whether you're journaling, writing poetry, or crafting professional documents, mindful writing can help you stay focused, reduce stress, and enhance your overall writing experience. So next time you sit down to write, try incorporating some mindful writing practices and see what benefits you experience.