What is mindful writing?
Mindful writing, which is basically a healing aspect, is a way of putting our thoughts and feelings on paper, unfiltered and as they are. The most important point in mindful writing is to express our writing style, thoughts, and feelings without criticism and judgment. While writing mindfully, you write without paying attention to the editorial side of what you write because the important thing in mindful writing is to write for the flow and the moment.
According to Professor of Psychology James W. Pennebaker, mindful writing and non-judgmental writing can also positively develop and improve our perception of ourselves. According to Pennebaker, we can more easily understand and accept our negative experiences through mindful writing, so that we can more easily get rid of the burdens brought by negative emotions. In addition, because of Pennebaker’s research, since mindful writing is a kind of expressing feelings and thoughts, people experience a feeling of relaxation after a writing activity.
Benefits of mindful writing
– Allows us to identify our obstacles in daily life
– Allows us to better understand our feelings and thoughts
– It teaches us to accept ourselves without judgment
– It helps us to overcome difficult feelings more easily.
– Helps to cope with grief, pain, and melancholy more easily
– Makes it easier to cope with stress
– It improves our ways of expressing ourselves.
Mindful writing exercises
If you want to write mindfully but don’t know where to start, we’ve compiled a few ideas for you.
1- Remember the Mindful Writing Guidelines!
Before you start writing, clear your mind of all judgment. Prepare yourself to write down what’s on your mind by focusing on the moment.
2- First, start writing about what thoughts your mind is full of!
My mind is full of these thoughts:…….
3- Write about what kind of day you want to spend the rest of the day!
The goal here is not just to talk about plans, but to aim to decide how you want to feel for the rest of the day.
My plan for the rest of the day:……
4- Talk about what you are grateful for!
Being grateful will make us appreciate what we have better, and in the medium term, we will feel better and decide more easily what we want.
I am grateful because:…….
5- Write about how your body feels!
Focusing on your body, understanding how your body parts feel, and writing them down will help us return to ourselves and make us more aware mentally and physically.
My body feels like this:……
You can download Innerjoy from Google Play or Apple Store for mindful writing and many other mindfulness practices!
