Flow writing is my secret therapist.
This is something I've used for so many years.
I have been flow writing for,
Again,
12 years or more.
And flow writing is the only way that I have come to actually know who is inside me living,
Operating.
It has been my one major tool in self-intimacy and listening.
It's really deep.
Listening.
It's acceptance.
It's loving.
It's tending to.
I think wholeness comes from neglecting nothing.
From our human experience.
And I think because one of the saddest things I felt growing up.
Was that there's this entire world inside of us going on.
In our thoughts,
In the voices in our head,
In the distress around our heart,
In these major emotions.
That have little or no awareness.
Pointed towards so it's as if half of our being is neglected and given no language or nurturing.
So I've had to learn as I've grown up to really,
You know,
Fumble in the dark.
In finding what brings me into awareness and relationship with this whole being,
Right?
We're so geared externally to gain success,
Worth,
Relationships,
Love.
And there's this entire wing of our being that just gets left to wither.
And now we're seeing a.
.
.
This kind of beautiful self-care movement that says,
Hey.
There's another life here that needs care.
And often,
Once we begin caring for this inner life,
Our cup fills.
In our own self.
We fill our own cup with our own attention and love and so then are able to give.
With less stress,
Less restriction on our being.
And.
.
.
It's just another reason why it's so important.
One thing I want to say is Just buy not.
Very important or beautiful notebooks because you just want to be able to rip through these things.
And not be overly precious.
So flow writing is.
.
.
I learned it by my writing teacher called,
And her name is Natalie Goldberg.
And flow writing means you write without stopping.
So I usually do about three pages or more,
Three to four pages back to back.
It amounts to about 10 minutes,
But you can choose to write for as long or as little as you want.
But usually 10 minutes is the sweet spot where you actually start to hear yourself a little more clearly.
But you're never stopping the pen.
You're never stopping it.
So even if you have to write blah,
Blah,
Blah,
I have no idea what to say.
Blah,
Blah,
Blah,
Blah.
Just make sure you're never stopping the pen.
And the reason for that is we're trying to get to the uncensored mind.
We're trying to get the perfectionist out of the way.
We're trying to get the overly precious part of us that,
You know,
Is very.
.
.
Methodical we're trying to get to the part where we're just acknowledging what lives in us and that's often not always that comfortable but always always liberating So I begin often with a prompt.
So I'll give myself some sort of direction.
Or other times I just write what is.
Um.
So let's just do it together for a little bit.
Keep in mind,
You do not have to write anything good,
Wonderful,
Or perfect.
This is just for you to come to know you.
This is for no one else other than you.
So you have complete permission.
To write.
Nothing good So let's today do a prompt just so we can get our juices flowing a little easier.
And I have several prompts that I love.
And today I think we'll do.
.
.
I'm not thinking about.
So you say,
I'm not thinking about,
And then you just flow for 10 minutes or three pages.
I'm going to do three pages.
So I'm not thinking about,
And often the beautiful thing about writing what I'm not thinking about actually points me in the direction of what I am thinking about.
Let's see if you can enjoy this with me.
So let's begin.
I am not thinking about.
Never lift your pen.
Never stop your pen.
Okay,
I'm just gonna call time now.
How was that?
Did you find it was clunky or fluid?
Were you surprised by anything that came up?
I'm not thinking about.
If you want to try the opposite to that prompt on your own time,
I am thinking about it's really interesting to play with the two different perspectives.
Again,
Flow writing.
Has been my main line to greater awareness.
And acceptance and love for who I am.
And often there's a purging that takes place,
Or I use it to purge.
The inner turmoils of my life.
I let it all come out onto the page.
And the gift of that is that once things are seen and laid flat in front of us,
They're no longer where.
They're no longer inside of us causing a bunch of ruckus.
Most often,
What we need is to hear ourselves and to listen to ourselves and to have a way to express.
The the sometimes overwhelming mostly overwhelming inner dialogues.
And,
You know,
We've always thought that we needed,
And we do need other people,
Don't get me wrong,
But we often put too much emphasis on needing other people when really.
.
.
I think the secret is we need to hear ourselves calling out to ourselves.
And there's this natural healing that takes place once we hear.
What is real and what is true for us in the moment.
And that creates a spaciousness,
Right?
There's a gap between our mental neuroses now and the page.
There's space.
And in that space,
We find ourselves being able to breathe more.
Voices are only repetitive most often because they're trying to get through to us in some way.
And it doesn't have to be this radical,
Transformative.
Exchange.
It just has to be an honest looking and expressing what is.
From this moment and this moment and this moment.
And often that space is all we need to continue to move forward with less stress in our bodies and our minds and our beings.
So that's a great tool for you to try and strengthen.
If you would like,
If it felt comfortable to you.
And if it felt clunky and slow and hard,
That's okay too.
That's how beginnings always look like.
You know,
If I asked you to learn to play Mozart.
You wouldn't press one key and say,
I give up.
You would learn.
Hone.
And make that music slowly but surely.
That's exactly what my writing practice has been like for me.
Now I just get to the gold and my heart opens.
And it's really,
Really invaluable.
