Write Yourself to Health: 3 Practices for Wellbeing

Writing, especially during difficult times, can help us heal.  Suppressing emotions can cause harm to the body, says Brenda Stockdale, author of You Can Beat the Odds, and a presenter at the Wellness and Writing Connections Conference in.  By embracing the full range of emotions and finding balance in writing about them, we move towards a healthy equilibrium between the body, mind and spirit. “Labeling emotions helps the physiology relax,” Stockdale says.  “You don’t need to fix it.  Just acknowledge it.  Link feelings to events,” she advises.  “But be warned about only writing about all happy or all terrible stuff.”  She suggests we keep a balance and follow Anne Sexton’s advice and, “Put your ear close to your soul and listen hard.”  Stockdale, who works as Director of Mind-Body Medicine for the  says. “Two specific traits, purpose and fascination, cause the white blood cells, the backbone of your immune system, to quicken and strike out against invaders.”  Her work gives scientific evidence of what many already know intuitively – writing contributes to a sound mind, body and spirit.

Here are a few of the tips garnered from experts at the recent Wellness and Writing Connections Conference in Atlanta on ways to use writing for wellbeing. 

1.  If you suffer from an illness or simply want to learn more about what’s going on at a physical level, have a dialogue with your body.  Ask it questions and let it answer.  It may be helpful to use the non-dominant hand (left if you’re right handed or vice versa) for the body’s responses.

2.  Use third person narrative form instead of first person.  Instead of “I felt…” try, “Debra felt…”

3.  Write a letter to someone you’re angry with and tell them off, advises Julie Davey who works with cancer patients using guided writing prompts.  Don’t send the letter, but use it to let off steam in a healthy way.  Telling someone off, even if you don’t send it, will help you to understand and set boundaries.

4. Write a thank you letter to someone you appreciate. Often we don’t take time to thank the people who are there when we need them. Send this letter if you feel inspired to, or better yet, read it out loud to the receiver.

5. Use metaphor to understand. Make a list of physical symptoms--not a diagnosis--but the physical experience of the problem. After making the list ask yourself, “What in my life is giving me a... Fill in the blank. “What is giving me a headache?” “What is giving me a pain in the neck?” Sometimes a metaphorical “pain in the neck” can point to how one reacts to a situation or people.

6. When you’re in a bad place mentally and emotionally, make efforts to move into a better one through writing. Sometimes repeating a simple word like “love” or “thank you” over and over in your journal can produce profound effects.

See the original article from Debra Moffitt-Leslie on Intent.com here 

About the Author Debra Tracey-Moffitt touches people with her simple, direct language and makes complex spiritual practices clear and accessible. In her forthcoming book, "108 Spiritual Practices for Challenging Times" she describes walking labyrinths, creating sacred space, meditation and dream work with humor and lightness. Drawn from ancient spiritual traditions she makes the tools accessible to everyone from Buddhists to Baptists and beyond. Her essays, articles and fiction appear in publications around the world and focus on drawing attention to the spiritual in a mostly material-minded world. Read more at www.debramoffitt.com.