How writing to heal is an alternative and meditative healing practice
I am going to let you in on a secret.
There are other forms of meditation that people may not even realise they are already doing.
For so long in the spiritual world we were taught that traditional Meditation was the only way to bring "inner peace" and ultimately quieten the mind.
I take a grounded approach to spirituality, so if I told you there are good reasons why writing to heal is beneficial for our well-being, wouldn't we be doing more of it?
In my experience after years of meditating, I couldn't always sit down and chant "OM" until I was calm.
As a creative person, I soon realised that my current creative expression of writing blogs helped me bring me back into myself. I was more grounded because I was enjoying what I was doing which relieved the stress and soothed my busy mind.
Why I Love Writing
Before we go into that list, I want to share why writing has become one of my favourite meditation practices.
I focused a lot more of my energy on writing these past months. It has saved me from odd panic and anxiety attacks I can sometimes have.
Writing helps me when I am feeling overwhelmed or when I am In a fight, flight or freeze state and highly emotional.
I love to write. It is an open channel. A healthy way I reduce stress and depression.
When I write, my thoughts have somewhere to go. My words are poured out, and I create a story for someone else to read.
Using writing as a form of meditation helps me to:
Feel better.
When life starts to feel claustrophobic.
To be of service.
To show others they can heal from their trauma.
To heal from my trauma.
To educate people about Spirituality and other random topics I want to share.
To get a message, a story, or an idea out to the collective that I hope will benefit others.
To give my extrovert side a brief moment to shine as my introverted side takes a step back behind the screen.
Meditation is an inner vibration of feelings, thoughts, and emotions. All mixed in together. Before I write, the energy in my body feels like a pot of water on a stove, on high heat. As I write, that sizzle turns into a gentle simmer.
Mediation in its Simplest Form
Wiki explains it as:
“Meditation is a practice where an individual uses a technique — such as mindfulness or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity — to train attention and awareness and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state”
It makes me a little sad that we have misconstrued what meditation is.
Rather than what it can be with no limits or labels. No societal expectations of what it should be.
Meditation is not just about chanting the word OM. We forget our daily activities are meditations too.
It can be much more. It should excite us. The last thing we want is for it to be boring. It is a practice you want to do. And enjoy doing it.
Meditation is available to us because it is good for us.
Activities which are meditation, add your own to the list.
Gardening
Working on a hobby
Drawing/painting /sculpting
Going for a drive
Going for a hike
Sitting at the beach watching the waves crash in
Float tanks / Saunas / Infrared/ salt rooms/ massage
Going to the gym/ going for a run
Yoga
Cooking/baking
Reading - (my personal favourite)
Dancing
Listening to music
Taking a hot bath
Swimming/water activities
Creating Mood Boards
Often, you hear people say I zoned out. I got lost in what I was doing. I must have drifted off or my mind was in another world. Time felt as if it stood still. I was in another dimension time or place.
Exactly! What feels good to you is your meditation.
The Science Behind Meditation
When you meditate, you enter a set of brainwaves depending on the mental state you would like to be in for that time. The brain will move into a unique frequency while in mediation.
There are 5 frequencies.
Alpha / Beta / Theta / Gamma / Delta
When we enter the meditative state, we sit in the alpha waves. Subject to which kind of meditation you are in will determine the wave in which it will stay.
You can move into different waves during meditation. The deeper the meditative will result in the change of frequency. Similar to a shift of gears.
Besides the technical and scientific explanation, we can lose sight of how it makes us feel. Notice how you feel before mediation and how you feel after mediation.
There is a noticeable difference in your energy.
Do we feel great when we been for a swim? Or feel great after that hike? We have to give ourselves a healthy escape. Not escapism. A time out from our lives.
Can you Write Your Way to Calm?
A creative expression that brings us inner calm is a perfect answer to our problem. We do not have to worry about trying to quiet our minds. Our minds are therefore focused on our creative endeavors.
Our minds are already happy. They are off doing a task or an activity that we enjoy. When it is all over and done with, we are back in to a calm state of mind.
If I have spent all day working on my drafts, by the end of the day I may feel a bit tired mentally. But then, there is a relaxed state I get after I finish those blogs.
A weight is lifted, and pressure is released.
The foggy mental feeling disappears an improvement of clarity to even help resolve problems you may have had no answers to before.
It is mood-altering for the better.
Final Thoughts
All ways to meditate are a gift to self, in any way that works for us.
Meditation helps us be mindful of our emotional state. It is a way to help us be more balanced. Especially beneficial before we explode or fly off the handle or even before we shut down or escape to bad habits and distractions. Even addictions that are not good for us.
Next time you are feeling overwhelmed, can you offer yourself 5 minutes or even half an hour doing something that you really enjoy? And see how it feels after. The more you bring this into your daily routine, the less likely for situations to get out of control.
To write your way to calm or using a creative outlet as I mentioned earlier, is a solution to an emotional problem that many of us deal with day to day. We just don`t always recognise the signs the mind or body is giving us until we are burnt out.
It is a state of calmness that reduces stress, anxiety, and pain. We create healthier lifestyles and small but significant doses of well-being for the mind-body and soul.
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