Writing is renowned for being a meditative practice. Whether you’re listening to music, sitting in silence or watching television while jotting down some notes, writing is considered a fantastic way to express yourself. Continuing with my series of articles on developing self-awareness through meditative practices, today I’m exploring the concept of writing.
There are many ways you can approach writing. You may not have written anything in a long time maybe not even since leaving school. Obviously, we write emails, checks and letters for work but when was the last time you wrote anything for your own self-benefit. There are multiple ways you can start writing for yourself. You could write notes on thoughts and feelings you have throughout the day in a notebook. You could start writing a diary or a journal. Maybe you could even start keeping a dream diary that you write in the morning after you wake up. Personally, I prefer blogging and writing articles.
The Benefits of Writing
So, why is writing so beneficial? Imagine you’re in discussion with someone. If you’re engaged in conversation, trying to prove your point and your side of the story, it can be difficult. Do you have all the facts and figures you needed to discuss your point of view accurately? Now consider you’re having that conversation in your head.
Whether you’re going through a break-up, a difficult time or even the best time of your life, thoughts are hard to process. If you’re trying to make a big decision, you may be weighing up all the pros and cons in your head trying to decide what to do next. Get these thoughts down on paper. This makes it so much easier to decipher what’s going on in your head, giving you enough thought power to make a rational decision.
Even if you’re not making a big decision, it’s easy for the mind to become overwhelmed with emotion. Some parts of the day, you may find your mind racing with a million thoughts a second for no reason. This makes it extremely difficult to concentrate on what you’re doing and even more complicated to process what your mind is telling you. By writing down your thoughts and feelings, you’re able to clear your mind, dumping down all the emotions you’re feeling in an easy and clear way.
As you can see, these benefits, regardless of your situation, are very similar to the positive benefits of yoga and meditating. Through writing, you can express yourself publicly, or in a way where no one else will see what you have written, it’s completely up to you and your personal preference.
Keeping a Daily Journal
One of the best ways to get into writing is by starting a daily journal. Get yourself a nice book that relates to you with lined or plain paper. Through this book, you can put down anything you want. You can try writing poetry, short stories, long stories, list or passages, like a diary entry. It’s whatever is best for you. Date your work or don’t date it. Whatever you feel comfortable with. There are only two things you’ll want to remember. Write what you want to write and do it daily.
By writing down your thoughts and feelings, you are actively clearing your mind. However, by writing them down, you have the ability to read back what you have written. For example, if you’re writing down how you feel and you notice that most of the words are negative, ask yourself questions. Why are you feeling negative? What has happened to make you feel like this? Maybe you’re anxious about something in the future? Maybe these are feelings you haven’t addressed until now. By writing them down, your thoughts become a reality, a reality that you can address.
The second part is to make a habit out of it. You don’t even have to spend that much time doing it. A couple of minutes a day is fine if that’s all you want to do. If you want to set aside an hour, for example, before bed, then do just that. By regularly writing down your thoughts and feelings, you will get better and better at expressing yourself. You’ll, therefore, see more and more benefits from the practice.
Conclusion
There are many things you can do to express yourself through writing. Do your research online to see what other forms of writing you can get involved in and what best suits your personality. With practice and time, you can learn to better yourself, and you’re almost guaranteed to fall in love with the practice. Do you have any thoughts and feelings on the process for self-awareness? Let us know in the comment section below!
