Mindful Writing: Overcoming Blocks ** Live Recorded **

Welcome to this event about mindful writing,

Overcoming blocks and excelling in academic work.

And my first tip when it comes to mindful writing is to set an intention.

According to Kang,

Smoshky,

Robbins in 2011,

They found that setting an intention makes it more likely that you will accomplish a task.

So by beginning to take a few deep breaths in,

Inhaling through the nose,

In and out,

We can become more relaxed.

And I invite you to breathe with me whilst you think of an intention.

And then you can state out loud or write it down what your intention is for today regarding academic writing.

This can be really specific about academic writing or something in your self-development journey.

But please join me by breathing in through the nose and out through the nose and set that intention.

And if you're feeling a little bit stuck getting started,

You might think of an intention for example like stating out loud or writing it down.

I am focusing on improving my motivation.

And then keep breathing in through the nose,

Out through the nose and set your intention for today.

So why does meditation help with academic writing?

More and more research is now focusing on mindfulness and how meditation can help be more productive,

Feel more motivated.

And when you look at research regarding body scans,

They found that a relaxation shift will help you to sink deeper into a state of calm and ease.

And by cultivating mindfulness it will help you to stay more focused and be more productive.

And what will then help with writing prompts is that if you feel stuck or you have for example a writer's block,

It can get you started.

So please reflect on the following statements I say.

You can either grab a pen and paper and write it down or you can mentally state it out loud in yourself.

So my first writing prompt is what are your academic goals and how can you work to achieving them?

So what are my goals and how can I work towards them?

What challenges do I face in my self-development journey or writing process and how can I overcome them with mindfulness?

How can I incorporate more of joy and fulfillment into my routine?

And then my next tip is gratitude.

Most of you who have listened to my meditations know that I implement gratitude every time.

Gratitude is something that can help you with procrastination and perfectionism.

And that is because positive psychology and gratitude helps people to feel more positive feelings,

Improve their health,

Deal with adversity and so much more.

That's what Shapiro and colleagues found in 2011.

Now if we move forward and we will incorporate the gratitude in the meditation,

I want to skip over to the next bit and that is emotional regulation.

My next tip is pay attention to your emotions because emotional regulation is a procrastination problem.

If you just read the article procrastination an emotional struggle by Phillips and McCrown in 2019,

You soon find out why.

You know they write about that we're all focusing on managing time but that's not the issue.

Often,

That's not always issue.

The issue is can we manage our emotions?

We do not have time to really do an emotional regulation check here,

So feel free to go to my other meditations where I do focus on emotional regulation,

But we will do a emotional check-in.

But my invitation to you after this event,

After this meditation,

Is that you pay attention to your emotions on a daily basis.

So when you procrastinate,

Is there a certain emotion which is always very high or very intense?

Is it the same emotion or does something else happen?

In my experience,

I know that I procrastinate when my anxiety is really high,

But I also tend to be more perfectionistic when I feel a bunch of emotions like anxiety and anger.

So please pay attention to your emotions.

I want to dive more into procrastination for a bit here.

What will help?

And I can see this also in coaching my clients,

Writing their dissertations and academic articles.

Maybe think for yourself if you can relate to this.

Perhaps you are procrastinating or you're having writer's block or you're struggling with perfectionism,

Because the task you need to do is very big.

It feels very big.

My tip is to always create smaller tasks,

Make it more achievable,

Easier said than done.

But if I come back to the example of my clients who want to graduate,

Write their dissertation,

My tip is,

You know,

Have one task where you find three articles.

The next task is write one paragraph,

So that it doesn't feel like you need to graduate in one day.

Is this something you can do?

The question of,

What's the next best thing you can do?

Doesn't necessarily have to focus on making the big task smaller task,

But is there one bit of it that you can do?

And that's a great way to get started.

And my other question to you right now is,

Do you give yourself small rewards after finishing a task?

Also research found that we procrastinate because we give the reward before we do the thing,

Right?

But can you give yourself a healthy reward when you do a small task?

And I don't mean to say okay you can have that chocolate pie every time you write one paragraph,

But do you celebrate your little achievements?

I know I still don't do that.

I need to practice my own words here.

But do you use small rewards?

Because it will definitely motivate you.

We were talking about procrastination,

Right?

And I'm also wondering,

Do you have an accountability buddy that might also help to have a real friend in this area?

And for the perfectionist,

You know,

Those who need to hand in perfect work.

I see this in my work every day,

Where my clients don't hand in their concept thesis or dissertation because they're afraid to receive my feedback,

Because they're afraid it isn't perfect enough.

I cannot help you if you don't send anything.

So can you trust someone else to ask for advice,

To ask for help?

Are you allowed to make mistakes?

And these were quite specific tips,

Questions,

But maybe it's good to think about it.

And I want to jump back to the mindfulness tips and the next one is breathing.

A breathing exercise that can help with procrastination is the 4-7-8 breathing technique and we will apply it in meditation later.

So this technique involves inhaling from 4 to the nose,

Holding the breath for 7 and slowly exhaling to the mouth for 8.

If you have a blocked nose or you don't feel comfortable,

Please don't do it.

But it is believed that this breathing exercise activates your relaxation response,

Calms the mind,

Reduces stress levels and then it can alleviate your procrastination tendencies.

So for example Zaidan,

Johnson,

Gordon and Goulkaskian,

I don't know if I pronounce the names right,

From 2010,

They found the effects of mindfulness meditation on mood and cardio.

Wonderful,

Right?

And the next tip regarding mindfulness for academic writing is that visualization exercises can help with procrastination,

Perfectionism and they call this the future self visualization.

And this is an exercise where you really imagine yourself in the future having successfully completed a task or project you're procrastinating on,

Right?

And this is helpful because they found that it helps the cognitive behavior.

So when you see it,

You believe it.

Many sources are now focusing on this,

For example McCartney in 2012.

Also cognitive behavioral therapy is more and more incorporating visualization techniques in their therapy.

And this is from Steele and Klinschik in 2016.

Are you ready to meditate?

To practice the tips we've just discussed,

Well most of the tips we've just discussed.

And I invite you to close your eyes and bring attention to your breath.

And feel the gentle rise and the fall of your chest with each inhalation and exhalation.

And as you continue to breathe gently,

Gradually shift your focus to different parts of your body.

We're going to start with the sensation of your forehead.

And now focus on your eyes,

Your cheeks and your jaw.

Try to release any tension you encounter by breathing in and out.

Now let's move more downwards to your neck.

Maybe there's some tension there and you want to move it.

And between those shoulders.

And if you feel anything you don't like,

Breathe through this.

You can focus on your arms,

On your hands if they feel cold or warm.

And try to soften and relax with each breath.

And we move to your chest.

Feeling the rise and fall of your chest again.

Down to your abdomen.

Sitting bones and hips.

Move to your legs.

Letting go of your tightness by breathing in and out.

And finally bring your awareness to your feet.

Grounding yourself in the present moment.

And I'm going to ask you to breathe in for four seconds,

Hold it for seven and breathe out for eight if you're comfortable.

So you can breathe in,

Pause and breathe out.

Breathe in for four.

Pause.

Out for eight.

In for four.

Pause for seven.

And out for eight.

And return to your natural breath.

Place your hands on your heart and state out loud your intention for today.

You can drop your hands.

Dive deeper into your body and ask yourself,

What emotions am I feeling?

We're not going into the why and how.

What emotions am I feeling?

And what might help is to stay out loud.

I feel fear and that's okay.

And we can accept the emotion by allowing it.

So you can trace where you feel the emotion in your body with your hands for example.

And say it again.

I feel fear and that's okay.

If you get distracted,

Just return to your breath.

Stay with the emotion.

We're not pushing away.

We're not running away.

We're asking ourselves,

How am I really feeling?

And perhaps give it a number on a scale from one to ten.

Like I feel anxiety and it's a six but that's okay.

And breathe in and let that go.

You can give yourself a hug.

I am very grateful for the 124 meditators here with you.

You are not alone.

What are you grateful for today?

Keep hugging yourself.

And we're moving on to the next phase,

Where I'm asking you to visualize yourself.

Just have a look at yourself and you are completing that task.

You are achieving your goals,

Whether they be academic,

Professional or personal.

You make that intention happen.

Now visualize the joy and the satisfaction you feel.

Or would you feel a relief?

And breathe that in.

Perhaps you're smiling.

Perhaps you are jumping with a lot of energy.

And know that you put in the work that led you closer to your intentions.

And imagine the impact this has on other people as well around you.

How would they feel?

Would they feel pride and joy and gratitude?

Would they be happy for you?

What's happening?

Know that you can make this a reality.

Take a deep breath in and release.

And I have two more questions.

How do you feel right now?

I have a quick check-in.

I feel grateful,

But that's okay.

And my final question is,

Can you ask yourself what's the next best thing you can do?

And you can open your eyes,

Take a deep breath and let it go.