Self-Care for Writers – Quieting the Mind

Peaceful Mind

Peaceful Mind

For us writers, the mind is the most important tool. It is where our stories are born. It’s where they grow into full tales that make it to the keyboard, paper or file. It’s more important than the computer and all the other tools we use to get our stories out into the world, because they wouldn’t exist without the mind.

And so we need to take care of the mind as well as the body.

And that’s especially true if we work a day job, have a family and write. It’s not always easy to let go of those parts of our lives and dive into our stories.

I’ll write about transition rituals next week, because I want to do some groundwork today.

If you’re even a bit like me, your mind is full of thoughts every moment in your life. You’re thinking about books and stories, about people you meet, you might even have conversations with them in your mind, and even when you go to bed, it’s hard to stop that run-away train of thoughts.

I think it’s part of being a creative person – we’re just so active in our mind.

And it’s certainly a good thing to have a flexible, inventive, active mind – until it gets too much.

When you reach the point where it would be nice to stop that constant stream of thoughts, and just want some peace and quiet in your mind, I can help you.

The goal is to be able to think nothing for a certain period of time (measured in minutes, no worry), and to make that a conscious choice. This is extremely helpful for falling asleep, for example, but also for simply resting your mind before tackling the next task.

1. Step One

Listen to some instrumental music and let that fill your mind. Let go of all thoughts, let them simply pass and go, without interest. They are just thoughts.

2. Step Two

Be aware of your breathing. Every movement that goes into a breath, the rise and fall of your chest, the flow of air. Focus on that.

3. Step Three

Get into a regular mediation habit.

This will help you focus your thoughts when you want to, but it’ll also teach you to let go when your thoughts turn into worrying or useless circles.

Our mind is our most important tool. Let’s take good are of it.

Here’s some tapping to help you with that:

Even though I can’t stop my thoughts, they just run around my head all the time, I’m totally okay the way I am, and I now choose to know that I can practice taking control.

Even though my mind is constantly “on”, like a non-stop radio, and it’s sometimes hard to focus on what I really want to think about, I’m still totally okay the way I am, and I now choose to practice and achieve focus and control.

Even though I always believed that constant thought is the mark of a smart person, I’m totally okay the way I am, and I now choose to know that it’s even smarter to be able to control my thoughts.

Your Turn:
How aware are you of your thoughts?
Are you often losing yourself to thoughts, especially negative ones?
What happened while you were tapping?
And finally – what are you creating right now?
Please share in a comment.

Image Source: F. Moebius

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About fmoebius

I'm a writer and coach. I love helping writers be more creative, more productive and more profitable. With EFT, life gets easier. Blocks can fall away. Limiting beliefs just shift. You can build your dream life. Let me help you do this.
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