Mindfulness for Writers: Simple Mindfulness Meditation

This is a 20-minute guided meditation session in the mindfulness tradition, where we use the breath as our object of meditation. A great intro to new meditators with a nice balance of guiding and silence so that you can build your own practice.

Skip to the 1:45 mark to begin the session with guided posture instructions or skip to 2:50 to dive right into the 20-minute meditation. There are a few minutes of talking after the session, as well.

Transcript

Welcome to mindfulness for writers.

My name is Heather Demetrius and I'm going to be leading you in a 20-minute mindfulness meditation today.

My hope is that this will help lay a foundation for your own daily practice and that it will support you in your work as a writer,

Whether that be helping to get rid of creative blocks,

To increase flow,

To banish your inner critic,

And to just go deeper into the work.

I have found this to be a completely life-changing practice and I am standing by if you need any support as you go through this process.

I'll talk a little bit more at the end but I know many of you will be using this recording on a daily basis to build your practice on your own so we're going to just get right into it now.

So for this meditation I am going to be leaving a lot of,

We'll call it white space,

Where you are going to be on your own breathing,

Coming back to the breath when you get distracted,

Building that skill so that you can have your own practice.

So I will be jumping in throughout the 20 minutes with little reminders but for the most part I'm just here holding space for you as you do the work on your cushion.

Speaking of cushions,

You do not need to be on a meditation cushion.

I recommend that people begin on a chair.

So if you have a cushion that's great but sitting in a chair is fine,

Just make sure it's a chair that doesn't cause your body to sink into it.

So you want to be upright but not uptight,

A nice dignified regal posture with your feet flat on the ground and your knees at a 90 degree angle.

You want your spine to be nice and straight.

You might want to imagine that somebody has a string attached to the top of your head and they're gently tugging it upward and then you want to have your chin gently tucked in,

Shoulders back and imagine that somebody is pulling very slightly on the back of your elbows.

Moving your elbows back a tad will help reduce any pain between the shoulder blades.

As far as your mouth goes,

You want to have the tip of your tongue resting gently on the back of your teeth,

Your mouth slightly open and for breathing,

You're going to be breathing in and out through your nose only except for the first couple of breaths that we take as cleansing breaths.

Okay so get comfy.

We're gonna settle in here for 20 minutes.

So let's start with three nice deep breaths and if you want on the exhale,

Have that go out through your mouth and you can make a sound,

A sigh,

Just get any stress you have out of you.

So let's take one nice deep breath in and out and again in and out and last one really fill up your belly here in and out.

All right so we're gonna begin with drawing our attention to our breath again only through your nostrils and as you're breathing,

Try to see where your breath lands and that place is gonna be sort of your your home base for the rest of the meditation.

So some people notice their breath the most when they're breathing in so in their nostrils.

A lot of people find that in their chest,

Their heart center,

That's where their breath seems to land the most and other people find it to be their belly.

So take a couple of breaths and wherever that place is for you,

Just sort of mark it.

That's gonna be the place that you come back to again and again throughout the meditation.

So begin by just focusing on your breath,

Noticing it coming into your body and again you're not breathing heavily or deeply,

Just normal natural breath.

The whole point of meditation is to be completely in the present moment.

So seeing where the breath lands again,

Nostrils,

Chest,

Belly,

Marking that as your home base.

The goal of meditation is not to be good at meditating,

It's not to clear your mind,

It's to know your mind and how it works and to be in the present moment.

So your mind is probably racing right now.

A million thoughts,

That's totally normal.

The mind thinks,

That's what it does,

That's its job.

When you notice yourself being distracted by noise or thoughts,

Just gently bring yourself back to the breath.

No perfectionism here,

No pressure,

Just note it,

Maybe using the word thinking as a label or sound or idea for your writing in your head and then come back to the breath.

And if you find yourself distracted by thoughts,

Totally okay.

The sweet spot of meditation is that moment when you realize you're off the breath and you go back to the breath.

That's all meditation is,

That moment of mindfulness,

Oh I'm not on the breath and go back to it.

Don't beat yourself up,

Don't worry,

It's all good,

Everything is welcome here.

Again you can note it with a label like thinking and just go back to the breath.

So kickstart and then walk to your breath.

If there are any sounds that are distracting to you,

Welcome them.

They're just part of the meditation.

They're part of what's happening in this present moment.

So just note them down.

Go back to the breath.

You might be feeling a little bored.

Might be feeling like it's hard to work with the mind this way.

It's just a practice.

Just 20 minutes.

So really let yourself sink in.

Settle in.

If there's any tension in your body right now,

Just let it go out.

Go back to the breath.

Some people find it helpful to count breaths.

Your mind is really wily today.

That might be a good idea.

So breathing in,

Breathing out,

That's one.

Breathing in,

Breathing out,

That's two.

Go up to 10 and then go back to one.

And then go find the second one.

If you find that you are lost in your to-do list or any other kind of thought,

Totally normal,

Totally fine,

You are not doing it wrong,

You are not here to wipe your mind clean,

That's not what this is.

So this is that moment of mindfulness when you realize that you're off your breath,

Just go back to it.

The Tibetan's have a term called sky mind and it's very useful as a visualization to imagine your mind as a blue sky undisturbed,

That's the natural condition of the mind before thought.

And then all thoughts are just weather,

There are clouds passing across the scope of your mind,

Could be lightning bolts,

Just weather.

Note it and let it pass,

Don't cling to any thoughts,

Don't use this as time to work out your plot,

Note it,

Let it pass,

Go back to the breath.

If you feel any discomfort,

Feel free to stretch it out,

To release the tension,

Sink into your seat more,

You don't have to be a hero,

Make sure you're comfortable.

Keep focusing on your breath and remember the anchor that you chose,

Whether it's your nostrils,

Your chest,

Your belly,

That's the place you'll just keep coming back to,

That's where the breath will land for you.

Just breathing and you're in this moment,

Completely present,

Everything is welcome.

And then all thoughts are just weather,

Don't cling to any thoughts,

Don't use this as time And again,

If your mind has wandered off,

Gently bring it back to the breath.

The key here is to be kind to yourself.

You're not doing it wrong.

If your mind is racing,

My mind races too.

Totally normal.

It's all about this moment when you realize you're off the breath and you bring it back.

That's all it is.

And in these last moments of our meditation,

You can let go of the breath as your focus and take a moment to think about what you want to bring to your writing today or this week.

Maybe you want to bring more gentleness to it,

To yourself.

Maybe you want to have more focus.

Perhaps you want to have more discipline,

Spending more time writing,

Less time on the internet.

Whatever it is,

Take a minute to think about what that intention might be and make sure that's really clear for you.

And we'll close out with a nice deep breath in,

Exhaling through the mouth.

So in and out.

All right,

Guys.

So that's the end of our meditation.

I'll just talk for another minute or two if you want to stick around.

So again,

If you have any questions about your practice or meditation in general or how it relates to writing,

You can reach out to me.

Go to mindfulnessforwriters.

Com and just click on the contact page.

There's a lot of blog posts there about how meditation can help you in a number of ways,

Not just with writing,

But with depression,

With energy,

With sleep,

All kinds of things.

That's a real gift that you give yourself.

When I first started meditating,

I was convinced I couldn't do it.

My mind was racing.

It still races,

By the way.

And I felt bored and the 20 minutes felt like it was never going to end.

And the thing to remember is,

Again,

What I kept saying during our session is that meditation is not about being this monk on a mountaintop with a perfectly clear mind while there are people in the world who are like that.

For us lay people,

It's just about being present for the 20 minutes.

Or however long that you're going to meditate.

The benefits of meditation in terms of how physically you can change your brain and increase happiness and all these things.

Usually neuroscientists have said between the 12 and 20 minute mark is when you start seeing those changes.

So if 20 minutes is too long to start with,

12 is great.

Five is great.

Start somewhere.

You can always build up.

So again,

The thing to remember is racing mind is fine,

Totally normal.

You might feel really relaxed afterwards.

You might not feel anything at all.

It's all welcome.

So just remember that it's all about that moment when you realize you're off the breath and you bring yourself back.

That is meditation.

That is mindfulness.

And that is the muscle that you're working.

And the dividends of meditation are more obviously seen off the cushion or the chair.

So it's not so much about magical things happening while you're sitting and meditating.

It's what you start to begin to see in your life.

You realize,

Oh,

I'm not as irritable as I normally am.

Or wow,

I would have reacted really angrily to that person,

But now I'm not so angry.

Oh,

I have more creative flow.

I'm less stressed out by the publishing industry,

Whatever it is.

You will see the benefits.

So my recommendation is to do this every day or at least five days a week to really start to see these benefits.

I would make a note of where you're at right now in different areas of your life,

Such as sleep,

Creative flow,

Energy,

Irritability,

Depression,

All of those things,

Anxiety.

And just casually notice over the course of the next few weeks how things are shifting for you in those areas so that you can really see if meditation works for you.

And as far as inducing more flow,

I have found that if I meditate right before I write,

I am way more focused during my writing session and usually able to access the flow state much more readily.

Again,

Everyone's different.

That might not be the case for you or it might not be the case right now,

But give it a shot.

At the very least,

Before you start to write,

Take five minutes,

Set a timer of five minutes,

Focus on your breath.

And then when the timer goes off,

Get to writing.

So thank you so much for spending this time with me,

For trusting me with your mind for a few minutes.

I hope that this practice is helpful to you.

I know that being an artist is so,

So hard.

It's also amazing,

But there are a lot of things that we have to deal with that other professions don't have to grapple with as much.

Lots of self-esteem issues,

Lots of uncertainty about the future in terms of finances and what ideas we're going to have next.

So just know that this is a practice that can really support you through your lifelong journey as a writer.

And I wish you a wonderful day and week and many,

Many words.

So again,

Thank you so much.

And please feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

All right.

Take care.

Reviews

A much needed opportunity to slow down and breathe

Thank you, for the meditation and the podcast! I was looking for the 7 day starter kit you mention in a comment, but couldn’t find it. I’d love to try it.
Again: thank you!

I don't know about writing but that was definitely soothing. :)

Maybe I’ll dedicate my next book to Heather?

Thank you, that hold me to the page

Thank you, Heather!

Extraordinary. I am a beginner. Thank you teacher. What you see in your life. I had many creative ideas during the meditation. It was very useful to label them ideas. I almost laughed out loud. I don't know why I'm so afraid to make a mistake. I am getting to know myself. I am getting to know my mind. Just never occurred to me. I thought I was emptying my mind for the authentic void experience :-). Thank you teacher.

Thanks for a useful meditation and reminders about mindfulness

I have been taking Heather’s Mindfullness for Writers month long course and it is transformative. I’m so glad she will be including her guided meditations here. Highly recommend the full program, it’s incredibly well thought out and perfectly paced.

Much appreciated, well done. Thanks for sharing your personal experiences as well.

Thank you, this is encouraging.

Love the point of view of working from a writer's perspective. Very helpful as in revision mode.

I’m not a writer but this meditation is such a great boost for even seasoned meditators when they find themselves feeling so busy in thought or unable to move forward because of so much attachment to thoughts. Thank you .

Really loved this meditation. Learned some new things and sky mind was a great visual. 🙏. I will continue with this.

Very refreshing to be reminded about how normal your crazy thoughts are during mediation! Loved this meditation.