I had a healing moment so big recently that even I, the queen of writing to heal, was surprised. Writing to heal is real. You can Google “narrative therapy” and look up all the psychological reasons and proof, but why not trust me and grab your journal?
Go ahead, try it now. Set a timer for five minutes and write as fast as you can without censoring yourself. Fill in the blank: I feel _____.
That writing prompt is my favorite for days I’m down, don’t know what to write, or just need to step up my awareness. Writing helps me in so many ways. It’s an awareness and healing tool that creates a witness for my thoughts, good, bad, or ugly. It’s a way to recognize what’s important to me. It’s a way to get clarity, answers, and divine guidance from the universe. It’s also, of course, an excellent way to communicate with your ideal clients and build your business.
The healing power of writing
Writing to heal became the very foundation for my business and company, Brave Healer Productions. I like to talk about “Brave Story Medicine” because every time you’re brave enough to share your words, whether it’s in your journal or out loud and published in a book, you shift energy and change the world.
Writing to heal started when I signed up for my first NaNoWriMo event back in 2015. At the end of the 30 days of that November, I had 65,000 words written, detailing every wound of my childhood. I wrote to Feng Shui my soul, and still do. Not every word of that “book” was published. Much of it was the healing I needed to do first. I started connecting writing and health because I could feel the weight lifting off of me with every sentence.
Writing to heal became the bedrock upon which I built my business message: We’re waking the world up to what’s possible for healing, one brave word at a time. It was the process I watched each of our authors take as they agreed to be out loud with their messages. I started getting notes and messages from our authors that sounded like, “I had no idea this would be so healing for me!”
“Yesss!” I whispered, reading these notes. Yes, this is what we’re here for! This is our legacy! This is big-potatoes stuff!
As World Health Day (April 7) approaches, I think about how we could build this message and let people in on the powerful process of writing to heal. I wanted to share a very simple guide to get you started. Everyone can write words (or speak them into a recording device) and begin the process of healing. Writing is a powerful awareness process. It’s a way to feel. And feeling is healing.
In our Brave Healer Writer’s Circle, we devote time to exploring writing as a healing tool. Business owners who have played with us will agree, when you get personal in your writing it becomes a magnet for your ideal clients because it gives them permission to feel and heal, too. We’re changing the world with these tools, both for general healing, and in our businesses. When we show up as our authentic, full-on selves, we give a gift. That gift is primarily one we give ourselves because it equates to freedom that is palpable to our soul. We also give a gift to everyone who reads, as their thoughts, energy, and actions become more aligned with their soul-essence.
Enjoy this simple 3-step guide to writing to heal;
- Create a Sacred Writing Space: Choose a nourishing place to set the stage for your writing. Create a sacred space to write where you feel amazing. Think seating, colors, temperature, nature connection, crystals, candle, favorite writing tools or notebook—anything that helps you sit and write.
- Detach from any outcome of this session. This process is for you and you alone. If you’re worried about what others may read in your private journal, then you can burn the pages later. This is more about the importance of the process itself, not what you actually write.
- Write! Set a timer for five minutes. Breathe and connect to your body and the moment. Write as fast as you can without censoring yourself. Move the thoughts from your mind to the paper, and don’t get in the way of what is there or what wants to be expressed. If you get stuck, you’re probably thinking too much. Take a deep breath, connect back into your body, and keep writing. You can use the prompt: I feel _____. Or you can try using the prompt: What matters to me right now is _____.
Once upon a time, one of my business coaches said, “I want you to write a page and a half every day, no matter if you have anything to write about or not.” I loved that homework. It was the beginning of writing to Feng Shui my soul. It gave me permission to write just for the heck of it, for the adventure of it. And what flowed from that practice became an entire writing and healing empire.
