Hello,
And welcome to day four of Insight Timer's Building Healthy Habits Challenge.
Let's take a moment to get settled.
Close your eyes.
Take a deep breath in and exhale out.
Let's dive into today's healthy habit.
Hi,
And welcome to the Building Healthy Habits Challenge here on Insight Timer.
During this challenge,
You are getting to know a wide range of different wellness techniques and self-care practices to help you craft a routine that works for you.
My name is Sarah Blondin,
And today I'm going to be introducing you to something that has been a part of my morning routine for over 12 years.
It's the practice of flow writing.
So just to give you a brief understanding of what flow writing is,
It's setting a timer for 10 or more minutes,
Getting a piece of paper,
A pen,
And letting yourself flow.
And by flow,
I mean you are not stopping your pen at any time during this exercise to think or edit or contemplate.
The whole aim of the practice is to get beyond the censored mind,
The critical mind,
The editor.
And once you get beyond the critical censored mind,
You find the truth.
You begin to touch on what's really going on for you in your life.
I had this wonderful teacher say to me that we are born with a whole language,
And we only know half of it.
So the one half that I think we know well is this external world.
We know how to react and engage with what we see and what comes into our experience.
But there's this other inner world,
This inner language that we don't really have words for.
And flow writing for me has been a way to develop that language.
It's given me a way to discern and express and communicate with the sometimes difficult and challenging things that I go through.
It's really a way of connecting with you,
With your heart.
So the real gift of flow writing is to let yourself express what is maybe shameful,
Painful,
Something you're embarrassed of.
It's really about letting go of these things that we're often not allowing ourselves to experience and giving it a place.
And once it has its place,
It has its expression.
It's allowed to be said,
Felt,
And seen.
There's a spaciousness that we then gain within ourselves.
And once we are spacious,
We are more kind,
We are more available,
We are more present,
And we are often more loving.
Our inner worlds need care and attention.
And flow writing for me has been the way that I give myself that care and attention.
And because of it,
I have found myself and I have found the wisdom of my heart.
So we're going to practice together now.
I don't want you to stop your pen at any point.
If you do get stuck and you feel like there's nothing coming,
You can write,
There's nothing coming.
I am stuck.
Just let the mind continue to flow.
I'm going to give you a prompt today.
And that prompt is,
I don't remember.
So write,
I don't remember at the top of your notebook.
And I will time us for 10 minutes.
Go.
We'll answer every question that you get.
You you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you So I'm gonna ask you to just close up on your last thought there.
Your last sentence.
Wind down now.
And now I want to just take a pause with you so maybe just close your eyes if you'd like and put your hands on your heart.
You have just endeavored to connect with a more honest,
Uncensored version of yourself.
So I want you just to take a moment to just reflect on how that feels.
Notice what you noticed.
Was it easy for you?
Or was it hard?
Did it feel thick and slow?
Was there a lot of resistance?
Or were you just excited at the chance and the opportunity to run so wild?
To run so free?
Also,
Did you learn anything about yourself?
Did you remember something?
Did you find anything?
When we make things conscious in this way,
We actually begin to develop that other language,
The other half of our language.
We engage with the mystery of ourselves.
And in so doing,
It gets a lot more safe to feel.
There's a beautiful quote that I love by Haruki Murakami,
And he says,
I can bear any pain as long as it has meaning.
Flow writing has been just that for me.
It has helped me bear my human experience and given it meaning,
Given it worth.
And so it has infused my life with more love.
I'd love for you to share in the comments how this experience was for you.
So thank you so much for taking the time to take a glimpse at flow writing.
I do hope you continue to practice and discover what lives inside of you.
It's really a wonderful journey,
So be well and enjoy the rest of the challenge.
