Easy Meditation Technique: Watch Your Thoughts By Writing Them Down
Practicing mindfulness meditation through journal writing can be a very effective technique for going within. As you write, thoughts will come bubbling up and since you have to slow your thoughts down in order to write them down, it’s easier to observe them.
An easy way to do this is something known as free writing. In free writing, you sit down with paper and pen and write quietly for a time. (I find the quality of writing with paper and pen is different from sitting at a keyboard and I suggest it for this experience. Of course, your mileage may vary.)
There are many beautiful journals to choose from, but some journal writers I know feel inhibited from writing in them by the belief that something so beautiful should be saved for a special occasion. If that’s the case with you, just round up some scrap paper, a yellow legal pad, a looseleaf notebook made from recycled paper, or even an old paper bag, along with your favorite writing implement. Use whatever helps you feel free to write.
Then find a quiet place where you can write undisturbed for a bit.
The idea of free writing is to be free of concerns about spelling or punctuation or capitalization or proper grammar or even your subject matter.
It’s perfectly all right to write “I don’t know what to write.” for as long as that feels like what you want to write.
Eventually, other thoughts will come along and you can start writing them down.
The only real rule is to keep writing. Write continuously without pause whatever thoughts come into your head.
Sometimes the thoughts you put down will surprise and delight you; sometimes you’ll just be clearing out worries, fears, irritations, or what may seem like nonsense.
No matter.
Writing will help you pay attention for a while.
Some writers set a timer and write continuously for their chosen amount of time. I suggest that you just write continuously until you feel done, but allow yourself at least 15 minutes to do this, so that you have a chance to get the flow started.
To enhance this process even more, you can combine a brief relaxation with your period of free writing.
Start by taking three, slow deep breaths and with each out breath, let go of any tensions in mind or body, as you say to yourself “Relax.”
Repeat that slow deep breath in, and again on the out breath, say “Relax.”
And once more, breathe in, and on the out breath, say “Relax.”
Now close your eyes and let yourself relax even more.
Count down from 5 to 1 as you take 5 more slow, deep breaths, counting to yourself as you inhale, and letting yourself relax even more as you exhale.
Count 5 as you inhale and relax as you exhale … Count 4 as you inhale and relax as you exhale … Count 3 as you inhale and then relax as you exhale … Count 2 as you inhale and relax as you exhale … Count 1 as you inhale and relax even more deeply as you exhale….
Just let yourself feel relaxed, and whenever you’re ready, still very relaxed, open your eyes and begin to write.
Write continuously in stream-of-consciousness until you have a page or two or three and then stop when you feel done.
When you’ve finished writing, count back up from 1 to 5, bringing your peaceful feelings back with you.
Whatever you have written is for you alone. What you do with it is up to you. This exercise is more about the experience of focusing your attention for a time. Any insights you may have gained are a bonus.
You may want to save what you have written in a private place if it contains some thoughts you want to remember but don’t want to share with anyone else.
But it’s also OK to shred it or even burn it ceremoniously, if it was all about getting your flow started or about letting go of something in your life.
Give yourself the moment to complete this experience in whatever way you choose and then come back to your day, ready for whatever is next.
I wish you a satisfying writing experience.
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If you’d like to feel inspired to write in a similar way every day, check out Julia Cameron’s guidelines for writing Morning Pages in her book The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity
Another wonderful book on writing, full of ideas for using writing as a meditation, is Natalie Goldberg’s classic, Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within