Writing With Kindness

This 10-minute meditation invites you to approach your writing with compassion, both for yourself and the work you create. By fostering a sense of kindness toward your inner critic, you'll open space for creativity to flourish without judgment. Embrace the power of gentleness as you let go of harsh expectations and allow your words to flow freely and authentically.

Transcript

Welcome mindful writers. Today, I'd like to take just a moment to talk about kindness in our meditation practice and how important it is. And this is not just some woo woo thing that someone invented that we should all be nice to ourselves. There's a fair amount of research that shows one of the few ways that people can go wrong with meditation is that they berate themselves. So you're sitting and your mind wanders, And you engage in a narrative along the lines of I'm so stupid, Why can't I focus on anything. And as you know, We get better at the things that we practice. And so if you practice berating yourself, It's actually not good for you long term. It's also just not much fun. So today, I'd like to encourage you when you notice that your mind wanders to be kind to yourself. Minds wander, It's what they do. The goal is to notice, Then just let that thought go and come back to the anchor. And if you do notice some negative self talk come up, It's just another thought, Let it go, Come back to the anchor. And of course, If you have any questions on this, Feel free to put them in the comments or email me. I'm always happy to discuss more. But for now, Let's go ahead and come into a seated position where we can be upright and alert but still relaxed. Closing your eyes if it's comfortable for you. If not, Just casting the gaze downward to minimize distraction. Taking a moment to come into the body. Noticing yourself in this space. Feet on the floor, Bottom on the cushion. Notice where your hands have landed. Take a moment to adjust your posture if you need to. Balancing the head on top of the spine. Relaxing the belly. And then starting with a nice deep inhale. We'll take a few intentionally deeper breaths on your own pace. Letting the exaggerated sensations bring our attention more deeply inward. As we start to let go of our thoughts about the future, Worries about the past. Noticing the sensations of this present moment. And then once you've taken those few deeper breaths, Letting go of any control around the breathing. Letting it find its natural rhythm. Seeing if you can maintain the awareness that you cultivated with the deeper breaths as the breath becomes more subtle. And then using that heightened awareness as a gateway into the rest of the body. Checking in with the body. How are you today and how do you know? Without any judgment, No attempts to correct or fix anything. We just become observers of what's happening in our bodies. And then having checked in with the body, We'll take a moment for gratitude. Just sending some thanks inward for all the things that are good enough today. For us to be here, For us to sit and take a few deep breaths. And noticing if gratitude shifts our experience of the present moment at all. Do you feel differently after bringing in some gratitude? You may not, That's fine too. And then we'll let go of the gratitude practice as well. And shift our attention to an anchor. You can focus on the breath, If that's comfortable for you. Or focus on a different physical sensation in the body. Or turn your attention completely outside the body to the sounds in the room. Whatever feels most comfortable to you today. But keeping in mind this idea of kindness. We're going to set our intention to stay with that anchor as best we can. Knowing that sooner or later, We will get caught up in a thought without even realizing it. And when you do realize it, That's your moment of mindfulness. And that's where it's important to bring in the kindness and say, Okay, My mind wandered. Come back to the anchor, Begin again. Or if you do notice a pattern or tendency to be hard on yourself, Notice that and then see if you can let go of that and deeply feel the fact that you're doing something that's good for you when you sit and meditate. And even the Dalai Lama calls it practice. Your mind will wander. Just let that thought go, Come back to the anchor, Begin again. Check in with your mind. Just notice if it's wandering. Come back to the anchor if you need to. And again, Check in with your mind. Being kind with yourself if it is wandering. Just letting go of that thought coming back. And as we near the end of our meditation today, Just invite you to remember kindness. Remember it in your meditation. Remember it in your writing. Remember it in your life. Maybe set an intention to notice if you're hard on yourself when you don't need to be or it's not helpful. Happy writing, My friends.