Writing for the soul

Writing is a great way to express yourself, de-stress and learn about the inner workings of your mind, body and spirit. It is a very practical, personal and cost-effective way of bringing to light the feelings and thoughts hiding behind day-to-day existence. This subtle disciplinary action can provide insights into your true self and your relationships with others. It’s also a lesson in brutal honesty and the Beauty of truth. By allowing us to confront hard truths about ourselves and our loved ones, writing can also help expel negative emotions and improve the quality of our relationships and our lives in general.

Everyone can benefit from writing, regardless of skill, age or talent. All you need to begin is a humble pen and a sheet of paper. Not only is writing a cathartic exercise for emotional, mental and physical healing and growth, it’s also a wonderful way to get in touch with your intimate wants, needs and desires. It provides clarity through expression and works as a valuable and productive way to escape the daily grind and have some all-important soul time.

The science of writing and the creative state

The act of writing often gives the writer a sense of control or clarity. It is also widely regarded as helpful for myriad medical conditions and emotional disorders. The concept of writing as a form of holistic therapy was first developed and scientifically researched in the mid-1970s by James W. Pennebaker PhD at the Southern Methodist University and the University of Texas in Austin. Dr Pennebaker, through testing thousands of individuals, explored the nature of self-disclosure, confession, inhibition, trauma and other disease-related conditions.

In his book, Opening Up, The Healing Power of Expressing Emotions, Pennebaker writes: “Writing or talking about your experiences may improve both your physical and mental health. I am not selling a miracle cure. Rather, recent studies from around the world are uncovering some exciting findings that may help you in your coping.”

Closing your eyes, breathing deeply and relaxing induces brainwaves to slow down to the alpha state, otherwise known as the “creative” state. Many creative people have maintained that inspiration tends to strike when they first wake up in the morning and so keep a pen and paper beside their beds. This is because slower brainwaves encourage creativity and improve the ability to learn. When we are overly stressed and thoughts are racing around in our heads, it’s why it’s difficult to relax or to concentrate on the task at hand. It’s the slowest brainwaves, delta, that make way for a healing and intuitive state of mind and being.

When the brain is producing delta waves, a sense of intuition and heightened consciousness comes into play, which as you can imagine is brilliant for focusing on the self and creating. Our minds are allowed to wander and explore in a way we are unable to do while preoccupied and stressed about other things. This state perhaps also allows the writer to rise above a negative or self critical state of mind, even if for only a short amount of time.

“People talk about listening to music, looking at pictures and so on (in order to reach a meditative creative state). I think this is true, but I think we need to practise going into this state as it’s been so condemned by our culture, our education and all the voices in our head that condemn creative thinking. All those chinks in the day when we don’t have to be rational, we can go into that state and normalise it for ourselves. It helps us to be not only more creative, but happier.”

Award-winning Australian author Sue Woolfe has conducted extensive research into creativity and neuroscience. She believes it is both possible and necessary to think in an uncensored way in regards to this. “In my book The Mystery of the Cleaning Lady: A Writer looks at Creativity and Neuroscience, I wrote in detail about ways to escape, temporarily, from our normal judgemental, logical, rational way of thinking and to go into a freer, more imaginative state, but to always know that when we come out of that, we’ll feel self-critical. It’s as if we cannot escape these judgements, but knowing that is to arm ourselves against them.”

Writing as therapy

The act of writing has long been used a successful form of therapy, whether under the guidance of a licensed professional or as a self-exploratory creative outlet. After much research over the past few decades, writing has been proven to have a positive effect on the body in terms of heart rate, immune system functioning, blood pressure, stress relief, infection and disease in addition to working as a form of therapy in myriad emotional and mental disorders.

Writing allows us to witness ourselves from a unique and personal perspective as well as to hear our sometimes barely audible internal voices in an entirely different way. “Writing taps into the material of the unconscious mind — the dreams, fantasy and imagination and translates it into the conscious mind where we can put it into reality,” says Victoria Kasunic, clinical psychologist. “It allows you to tap into what your deep desires and drives are, which can at times seem intangible, and then translate it into a concrete form.”

“It certainly creates a feeling of wellbeing for the writers I know, and that’s not just because it means they’re getting on with their books,” says Sue. “They have the rare delight — rare among humans — of letting their work take them into a state of bliss.”

Journalling

Journalling is a fantastic way to get to know the most important person in your life: you. Have you ever felt like you have so much going on inside that you could burst? Are you feeling emotions you cannot explain? Do you want to talk about your problems but are afraid to? Then keeping a journal or a diary may be a useful source of relief.

Keeping a journal is an extremely personal form of release and self-expression. It allows us to exercise all those words and thoughts inside and bring them to the forefront and onto the page. You don’t to need to be a wordsmith or an amazingly creative person to start a journal. One of the best things about it is the only person who will see your work is you. The fact that you do not need to censor your thoughts, ideas and feelings is what makes journalling such an effective therapy.

“I think journalling can be an important component or adjunct to psychological therapy because it increases self awareness and insight,” says Victoria. “It allows you to develop an intimate relationship with yourself, which is essential in having intimate and loving relationships with others. By recording your internal process — your thoughts, feelings and reactions — you will start to see patterns of behaviour and gain insight into what is making you happy as well as what is draining your energy.”

It’s entirely natural to edit yourself for the people around you; this is a natural part of being sensitive to others and your surroundings. However, sometimes we can censor ourselves too much because of fear, judgement or criticism, which can lead to repression of emotions, which in turn can suffocate and stifle the soul. Dare to write down for yourself what you cannot say out loud and feel the freeing effect of not having to alter your words for anyone else’s benefit.

A journal is something for you and you alone. It also gives you the opportunity to work through things that may be bothering you and to learn why. Reading over old journal entries can provide an illuminating insight into your life and how far you have come or have yet to go.

“Journalling is a process of recording and listening to the voice of soul and taking notes can lead you to take action accordingly,” says Victoria. “At a soul level we are all complete and whole, so writing is a great vehicle to reconnect to that and express all of our qualities in a safe way with harm to none.”

Creative writing

The purpose of creative writing is to express thoughts, feelings and emotions rather than to simply document information and facts. Creative writing can take many shapes and forms, such as prose, poetry or script writing, yet the heart of creative writing is to simply create freely and from within. There are no limits and endless possibilities when it comes to creativity — and that’s what is so nourishing and enlightening about its practice.

Sue, who teaches writing to students at the University of Sydney, makes a point of teaching her students not just the bones and technicalities of writing, but also the vital elements of creativity and shedding its often negative companions: self-criticism and judgment.

“I teach students writerly skills, which are not just practising those old chestnuts such as character development, but also the basic skills of creativity, such as learning to trust and follow one’s own intuitions, learning to seek and tolerate ambiguity, learning to be provisional, playful and experimental and losing self-consciousness,” explains Sue.

It’s crucial not to inflict self-imposed limitations in expressing yourself freely and imaginatively. Not tearing yourself down, but rather building yourself up is a useful lesson to be learned in regards to writing, but also one to be practised in everyday life as well.

“For me, the joy of writing is often when I find a way to put words to something, some feeling, some awareness that I’ve known was there but never articulated before. Doing that seems to actualise it, bring it into being, although of course it already existed, but in an inchoate form — and that seems to make me more able to deal with memories, particularly painful ones, and, I also hope, with living,” says Sue.

“Writing also allows you to release your feelings, which can be cathartic in itself,” adds Victoria. “Much like it feels good to have a cry, writing out how angry or frustrated you feel helps to get it out of your system. It means you are less likely to spend time ruminating over a situation.”

Get into the habit

Writing every day can be a great way to wind down, escape, unleash or clarify. It’s important to remember that writing should be a pleasure, not a punishment. You don’t need to chain yourself to your desktop or take a pen to paper for hours on end. Just start to write for 20 minutes a day — on a bus, in your lunch break, at the park or whenever the urge comes. A mere 20 minutes daily can have an amazingly positive effect on your being and outlook on life.

’s important to avoid procrastination, as it never really makes anyone feel terribly good about themselves. Try to be proactive and commit to writing every day, even if it’s for only a short period of time. The time of day or night is not important; the only significant thing is that you devote some of your time to doing something positive for yourself — spending time by yourself, for yourself. This soul time is vital for a balanced and enriched sense of wellbeing.

Some tips on how to get started

1. Start by treating yourself to a beautiful blank notebook and a good-quality pen. Having lovely implements at your disposal can help entice you to write.
2. If you are starting a journal, commence by talking about your day, what happened and how it made you feel – you may be surprised where you end up.
3. Keep a notebook beside your bed. Often inspiration strikes late at night or early in the morning, so make sure you write those thoughts or ideas down right away in case you won’t be able to recall them later.
4. Always have a small notebook and pen handy wherever you go. Keep it in your purse or briefcase as you never know when divine inspiration will strike!
5. If you are interested in creative writing but are not sure where to start, begin by simply describing the things around you. You can start with a lipstick, a vase or a tree.
6. Experiment with different voices. Sometimes telling a story witnessed through someone else’s eyes can be a freeing experience.
7. Surround yourself with things that inspire you — music, paintings, people, books — and try to pick a time to write when you won’t be interrupted by outside influences.
8. Try to relax and centre yourself before you write, particularly if you have had a busy day or are feeling stressed. Shut your eyes and concentrate on breathing in and out slowly, filtering out everything else other than the sound of your breathing. When you feel calm and relaxed, pick up the pen.
9. Let your inhibitions go and consciously try to release all those self doubts, judgements and criticisms. Try to concentrate on creating and invoking inspiration rather than striving for perfection, which we all know doesn’t exist, anyway. Try not to read what you have written straight after it’s committed to the page. Just enjoy the release and then do away with the editing.
10. Enjoy. This is your time and the blank page in front of you is for your eyes only. Let go of all those negative thoughts that block you and just enjoy the act of writing for what it is, not what you think it should be.