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What if you were so plugged into an unlimited source of creativity you never used the words “writer’s block” again? That’s what happened to me and I’m going to tell you how to get there.
I sat on a plane on my way to Sedona, Arizona in February of 2014, getting ready to attend a continuing education course. As happens with these courses, the energy had been building for weeks and I could feel it. Healing was about to happen. Little did I know just how much.
When I pulled the journal out of my small purse on the plane, the writing felt channeled. I’d never used that word to describe my writing before. Some energy that was bigger than me reached for the pen and wrote. When it was through, I shoved the journal back in my purse and enjoyed the rest of the flight.
It was the next day I realized there was something different about this journaling. It was accompanied by a voice that kept repeating, this isn’t just for you, you need to read this out loud!
I’m used to voices in my head, but not any like this. Usually I battle messages telling me why I’m not good enough, how I’ll screw up, or warning me of looking or sounding stupid. This voice was more powerful, positive and annoyingly persistent in a way similar to someone telling you how you should jump off that cliff cuz you really will grow your wings on the way down. “Just do it,” they nudge. Meanwhile you’re standing frozen on the edge.
I decided to jump this time instead of being paralyzed by fear.
On the first day of class, sitting in the middle of the ballroom of over 200 people, the voice persisted. This isn’t just for you, it kept telling me. I asked the instructor for permission to read my piece to the class and at our next break, he returned to the stage and said, “Someone had something they wanted to share?”
Shaking furiously, heart about to throw itself up out of my mouth, I read the journaling piece I wrote on the plane, with a voice that did not feel like my own. Without missing a word. Loud enough for everyone to hear. I finished and sat down very quickly as the room erupted in applause.
And that wasn’t the best part.
At our next break a woman came up to me before I could escape to the bathroom. Still flushed and adrenalined-out, I looked up at her and heard, “Thank you so much for sharing your poem with us!”
Poem? I thought.
After that week, and a crap-ton of marvelous healing exercises with my colleagues, hundreds of poems would move through me, enough to fill four books. I felt connected to some kind of crazy flow. An energy that whenever I wanted to, I could allow to move through me. All I had to do was drop into my body, take a few breaths and write.
That might sound too easy. But what if this could be that easy?
I began doing an experiment and developed exercises that combined the body awareness tools I’d been learning in my healing career with a therapeutic writing process I’d been practicing. The result felt magical.
I’m now the author of six books, hundreds of blogs, and have mastered writing copy for my website and social media because I’m able to connect to that source.
Let’s get to the simple secrets of this. Grab your notebook, pen and a timer and try this process of intuitive writing that will obliterate your writer’s block for good and connect you to that place where your words will feel channeled.
1. Everything begins with a breath.
The practice of body awareness is the foundation for all healing and connection to your creative, unlimited source. You gotta get good at feeling. You must start to slow down and be still. So practice right now. Quiet everything down, take some breaths and stop thinking so much.
2. Mind your thoughts.
The practice of awareness includes recognizing and shifting old, habitual thoughts you learned to live your life by. It’s time to question those. But you have to recognize them first. So you’ll need to get good at observing your thinking and knowing when a thought does not serve your desires, goals and dreams anymore.
3. Write from your soul.
From this connected, embodied and clear, mindful space, you’ll write without censoring yourself. The trick here is to time yourself at first, write as fast as you can, and not get in the way of your writing by thinking the words. The words are in there and you’re going to do them the honor of releasing them onto the page, whatever they happen to be, by feeling them.
Here’s a prompt to try: Set your timer for five minutes. Take several slow, deep breaths, dropping down into your body and clearing your mind. When you’re ready, pick up your pen, start the timer and fill in the blank: I feel_____. Write as fast as you can without stopping, until the timer goes off. Don’t worry about punctuation, spelling, grammar or even finishing sentences.
No rules, just write.
Remember this’s a practice. I’ve been journaling since I was fifteen. I’ve been healing (intentionally) since starting physical therapy school in 1986. I wrote throughout my life, Feng Shuing my soul with every word I scribbled or typed.
If the process feels difficult at first it’s okay. Feeling your way through is part of the journey. Use the awareness you already practice and go deeper. With every layer you peel there will be a new, fresh way to think, believe and act. With every word you write you’ll be unblocking the layers of dirt that suffocate your soul.
Everyone can connect to an unlimited and powerful creative force inside them. Everyone is made of that essence. If you were born you have the ability to connect like this and to channel your words from that space.
When your writing is channeled you begin to realize just how powerful you are. When your writing is channeled you stop using excuses and get to your desires, dreams, goals, mission and calling. When your writing is channeled little stands in the way of you writing, speaking and sharing words that heal the world.
Laura Di Franco, MPT is the owner of Brave Healer Productions and a powerhouse who writes to Feng Shui her soul. She’s the author of Brave Healing, a Guide for Your Journey, her sixth book to help inspire your fiercely alive whole self. Join her online writing club, The Write Habit, and write words that build your business and heal the world. Find more at www.BraveHealer.com
