Writing is a powerful tool to connect with your emotions and your inner truth.
I write to get to know myself. Writing is a way for me to tap into unacknowledged feelings, memories, and insights that I might normally overlook or ignore. It’s as if there are many treasures hidden just below the surface of my mind, and writing is the tool I use to uncover them.
Don’t worry, you do not have to “be a writer” in order to write. In fact, striving to be a writer is actually a hinderance to getting to the core of your feelings and your truth.
All you need to do is put pen to paper and let your thoughts and feelings flow.
I always love using writing prompts, especially if I want to focus on something specific. Here are some prompts intended to guide writing that will help you explore and connect with your emotions.
Sitting with your emotions.
Take a moment to sit in silence. What are you feeling in your body? Describe the sensations and feelings without justifying or explaining them.
What is your biggest fear?
What is your biggest fear? Write this fear down on a piece of paper, then close your eyes and attempt to locate the fear in your body.
If you don’t feel anything, that’s fine. Just continue to pay attention to your body.
If you feel a physical sensation in your body, focus on the sensation and invite it to stay. I often say out loud “I see you” or “I feel you” to acknowledge the emotion. Once you feel this process feels complete, write down the answers to these questions:
Where in your body is the physical sensation located? (Your chest, your belly, your throat, etc.)
What is the sensation you feel in your body? (Could be a tightness, tingling, pressure, etc.)
When you acknowledged and invited the sensation to stay, what happened?
Visit this again in a day or two, then again in a week. Have your feelings changed or evolved?
Think about a recent experience when you were judgmental or critical of yourself.
What sparked the judgment or criticism? What words did you use when speaking to yourself? What feelings did you generate from this judgment and criticism?
Now, reframe this experience as though you are talking to a young child. How would your feelings about the situation change? How would your words change? What feelings would you hope to elicit?
Next time a strong emotion comes up, I invite you to sit with the feeling and write down the answers to these questions:
Where in my body is this feeling?
What shape is this feeling? How big or small is it? How heavy or light is it?
What does this feeling want me to know? What is it asking of me?
How can I best serve this feeling?
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