7 Unexpected Ways Meditation Helps My Writing
Meditation, like self-care, is a hot topic right now. Or maybe it’s always been a hot topic and I just never noticed until I started doing it.
I didn’t believe it would work, at least not at first. I took a yoga class in college (because my college required a physical education class...gross), and I loved the yoga part.
We would also do meditations at the end of class each day, which was super uncomfortable the first few weeks. I mean, who really wants to lay on a yoga mat in an exercise studio with a bunch of people they don’t know and try to get zen?
It also freaked me out to seemingly give up control of my body for a little bit and actually relax. At the time, I hadn’t yet taken any steps to control my anxiety, so you can probably imagine how tense it was.
Just as I started to get used to it, though (and actually enjoy it), the class ended. Of course.
I didn’t pick it back up until early 2020 when the proverbial shit hit the fan and I HAD to figure out how to deal with my anxiety. There was so much going on, and although napping does help me (I’m super open about it - such a creative boost!), it was getting into the nap that was the problem.
Relaxing enough to shut my mind down even for 15 minutes was a huge problem, so I wracked my poor stressed out brain to figure out what to do. I was willing to try pretty much anything.
Enter: meditation.
What Do I Mean by Meditation?
Real quick, before we get to how meditation is pretty much a life (and business) saver for me, I wanted to touch on what I mean because there are different kinds of meditation. When I first learned about it, I kind of thought that only monks meditated - and maybe those who were hardcore yoga practitioners who were in it for the spiritual aspects. It was a super stereotypical assumption, and I’m happy to report that I was wrong!
Spiritual meditation is a popular practice, and there are a ton of great resources about it. That’s not the kind of meditation I do, though. I use guided imagery meditation. I also don’t meditate at 5 am before anyone is awake - I do it in the afternoon, typically after lunch or mid-afternoon when I look up from whatever project I’m working on and realize that my brain needs a break or a reset.
I have a couple of apps that I love, and there are lots of free audios to choose from. My favorite is Insight Timer, and I use it both for afternoon meditation and sleep stories at night before I go to bed. I don’t have the premium membership ($59.99/year), but that’s probably something I will purchase next year because I use and enjoy it so much.
Why I Meditate 3-4 Afternoons a Week
So here’s the fun part: all the reasons I meditate on the regular. My goal for August is actually to meditate 4 times a week, which is lofty. As you probably know, being busy makes your schedule a little unpredictable!
But this particular part of my day is SO worth it.
Part of my meditation practice is selfish...it helps puppy Maxwell take a nap in the afternoon. I don’t know if you have furry friends at home with you, but with 2 fur babies and myself at home almost all the time (because I work remotely), we NEED naptime in my house. By the afternoon, he’s ready, but fighting it because he has serious FOMO (which I’ve come to realize most little creatures do, human or animal) and he thinks that even though I’ve been massively boring to him and Charlie all day so far, I’m going to jump up and party without him or something. I’m not, but he doesn’t realize that. So when I get ready to meditate, I put him in his sleeping area and I lay in bed for about 15 minutes and get up while he’s still snoozing.
Amidst the quiet house, because Charlie is always willing to take a snooze no matter what time of day, I get up feeling refreshed and ready to create. The meditations that I do often involve an element of intentional breathing and mindfulness, so any kind of worry or anxiety that has crept into my subconscious is cleared out.
Sometimes this is a bigger deal than others, especially if I’ve been working on a tight deadline or stressful project. Meditation essentially offers me a reset button for my mind. When you weigh 15 minutes of refresh vs. 15 minutes of barely pushing yourself to write another paragraph, the refresh is obviously the better (and more logical choice).
When I’ve reset my mind and cleared out any worries, I’m always amazed at how clearly I can figure out what I need to do next. Also, it makes me hella creative because I don’t have to create past all that other crap - it’s almost like starting a brand new day halfway through the current day.
It’s a nice way to break things up, and I’m almost always excited to dive back into projects. The times I’m not, I can at least handle it maturely instead of sitting down to binge-watch nature documentaries on Disney+ for the rest of the day.
One of the best things about meditation is that it makes me excited about my own writing. If you follow me on social media, you’ll know that there have been a couple of rough patches with my personal writing in the last year (if you don’t, let’s connect!). As it turns out, when you write so much for other people, it can leave you drained of creative energy for your own projects no matter how much you love them. That’s also not great when you’re supposed to be helping other people write creatively.
“When I amped up my meditation practice this spring, I was surprised at how much of a boost it gave me. And how much clarity for what parts of my creativity I can lean into right now.”
So when I amped up my meditation practice this spring, I was surprised at how much of a boost it gave me. And how much clarity for what parts of my creativity I can lean into right now. I’m pleased to say that I actually have multiple creative projects going on right now, and I have a standing writing date with myself on Friday afternoons. That would be decidedly impossible without meditation and clearing my mind so much throughout the week.
I feel like I could talk about meditation all day long - I DO talk about it a lot! It’s made such a big impact on my life and creativity, and I think it could help you, too. You may not “get it” the first time or two. I definitely didn’t! But if you stick with it for a little while, I’m willing to bet you’ll start seeing some of these benefits, too.
My challenge to you is to try meditation - more than once because it’s a habit - and see how it could help you.
Do you meditate? What do you use for your meditations? How has meditation helped you? I’d love to hear about your experiences and recommendations! Find me on social media or drop a comment below.
Let’s chat because you, my friend, are on your way to great writing.