Writing Therapy for Healing: Activities
Writing therapy for healing and wellness can reap many benefits and is a great tool to implement in your daily routine and recreation. The following are some great activity suggestions to try for self-discovery personal development, and enjoyment.
Write Your Bio
Try writing the autobiography of your life or try writing your biography as if you were someone else looking into your life, minus the judgments or biases. This activity can be a great way to take a retrospective view on your life leading into the present and future. It can ground our perspective and help us to rediscover an appreciation for our own personal life journey. To take it a step further, investigate a bit of family history and you may be surprised how it reconnects you with your own life today. Also try writing your biography as you would like to see it in the future.
Questions, Desires, Ideas, Appreciation, Affirmations & Goals Lists
Keep a record log or list of your desires, goals, questions about life, what you are thankful for, ideas and affirmations. See what answers come about during your day to day activities. Reflect on the written desires, goals and ideas in order to gain a fresh perspective for achieving or creating it. By consciously writing these things out and reflecting on them daily, you can naturally begin to live it, therefore attracting the answers, opportunities and solutions that you seek. List all of the things that you are thankful for. When we appreciate every moment of the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual state of our lives, we are able to really realize the many blessings, to achieve more. Affirmations are especially good by stating what you want, what you will have, or already have in the present positive. For example, "Everyday I am gaining more peace of mind as I achieve my desired goals."
Record Dreams
After awakening from a dream, immediately write down every detail that you can remember. This exercise can help you to better recall your dreams. Later you can use them to interpret what your subconscious self is trying to tell you about your inner-self and your waking life. Eventually you will discover that your dreams have their own language with reoccurring symbols and messages tailored specifically to you and for your own interpretation. Start by writing the list of symbols and later turn them into stories. In doing this, ask yourself questions before going to sleep and awake later to record what was received for later interpretation. Dream journaling can is a creative form of self-discovery and a natural guide for life.
Imagine & Write Your Desired Life
Another creative writing exercise which fuses real life with fantasy is to imagine, create and write your life as you would love it to be. You may be surprised at what things can actually start to become reality in very creative ways. This serves to enhance creative problem solving skills, general creativity and is very freeing while giving us an outlet for control over our lives in a way that in real life, may be unimaginable. There are no consequences. Just pure creative writing. You write your own story. T=You write your own world. You write your own rules (or lack thereof). You write your outcomes.
Write to Music
Listen to music for inspiration while writing. The sounds serve as a meditation for creative ideas and is a wonderful source for grounding our mood for the expression. Some people find that music can help to free them to write with the inspiration from lyrics or just the tune.
Write a Poem
Put your emotions for healing into rhytmic words by writing poetry. This is particularly fun while writing to music and is a great way to flex your creative skills. Paint a picture through the language and express your inner most thoughts, feeling and inspirations through any poet's style. This is a great way for expressing yourself without the use of too many words, and allows you to pick precisely the right words that really encompasses what needs to be healed or resolved for the better.
Write a Letter to Yourself or Someone Else
Do you have something that you would like to tell someone but do not have the courage to say it, or would rather have the time to choose your words carefully. Try writing a letter for better communication or for closure. Whether you decide to send it or not, does not matter, as long as you give yourself the opportunity to express yourself with the intention of gaining clarity or release from the emotions.
Free Write
Free writing is a great way to write about whatever moves you. There are no rules or guidelines, just you and whatever your mind, emotions or spirit gives you. Free writing is not necessarily about thinking, its just about writing from the heart and from the subconscious. This is usually the very first things that comes to mind. DO not worry about correct grammar or whether it will be published. Just write and feel the therapeutic benefits.
Journal Events, Emotions & Observations
Journaling is a great activity for personal clarity, concerns and general inspiration during the day. You may record events, emotions and other observations and reap the same benefits of confiding in someone else without actually disclosing personal information to another. This is another way of giving passing thoughts and emotions a channel to release itself through. You may also find that journaling can be a wonderful record of events for future reflection and deeper personal understanding.
You may also choose to integrate other creative arts outlets with writing.
My Source:
I am a Creative Wellness Consultant specializing in Holistic Healing, Stress Management, Creative Arts & Writing, and Personal Development.
© 2011 Latasha Woods
