Mindfulness Meditation for Writers — Easy Focus and Relaxation Exercises
This year, I developed a ritual. I started each workday with a five-minute meditation session. I can’t say that it’s made me a better writer. It has definitely made me better at producing work with consistency and confidence. It only takes five minutes and is worth the time to learn.
If you are a writer and struggling with anxiety, you can learn how to meditate to get your creativity flowing again. In this quick read, you’ll learn what the goal of meditation is, how to practice it, and how to relax while writing. There are three main types of meditation: static, progressive, and guided.
Writing with Anxiety Really Sucks
Try meditation if you’re suffering from writer’s anxiety. You’ll feel relaxed and your attention span will improve. Meditation often requires you to focus on an image or activity, such as deep breathing. When you meditate, you train your brain to focus.
Each cerebral hemisphere of your brain has an almond-shaped mass of gray matter called the amygdala, which is involved with emotional experience. Practicing meditation daily may affect the amygdala in the brain, allowing higher functions to take center stage.
Meditation is a great way to relax and reduce your stress level. It’s also good for performers and business leaders. It helps you control impulses, which is important in a creative profession.
The practice also helps you be more compassionate. Practitioners report feeling more balanced emotionally. Whether you’re struggling to write a book or attempting to make your blog deadlines, meditation will help equalize your perceptions.
The Art of Writing Meditation
A writing meditation is a focused writing session of 5 to 20 minutes that fosters creativity through mindful, diligent concentration. By reflecting on important tasks or decisions, you develop an insight into things from a different perspective.
Writing meditation can help to focus attention, calm the body, and cultivate a steady mind. Meditation can also help writers overcome common stressors, such as writers’ block and racing mind.
Meditation enhances your brain’s ability to be in a flow state, which is a state of mental activity that can spark ideas and help you achieve breakthroughs. The experience of being in this state is difficult to simulate, and those who experience it are not aware they are doing so.
Meditating can enhance your ability to enter the flow state, which can lead to inspiration and creativity. You can also write more spontaneously when you have access to your whole mind.
Focus and Relaxation Exercises
Sit down in a comfortable chair at your desk. Make sure you have plain white paper and a writing implement ready before you begin. Place your feet on the floor. Start with several deep breaths.
You can close your eyes to this section. Focus on the breathing. Feel your lungs fill to your belly. Explore the breath as it enters your nostrils and fill you up.
Pause for two beats. Release the air through your lips. Repeat. You can count to five as you breathe in and hold for two, then count to five as you release the air.
Do this slowly.
You can do this section five to ten times, then open your eyes. Be sure to have your paper and pen or pencil in front of you.
Now, write something on the paper. It doesn’t matter what comes to mind. Just write. Keep your breathing even and slow.
You can set a timer for five minutes and breathe slowly through your nose as you write. Once the time is up, give thanks for the creative moment and that’s it.
Meditation is an excellent way to get into the zone. It only requires a quiet place to sit. You can even do it in your living room.
Afterwards, sit quietly, focus on your breathing and your writing will flow. It’s a powerful exercise for writers and can help break writers’ block. It’s a great way to get your creative juices flowing.
Try it for a few days and let me know in the comments if you’ve benefitted from the practice.
