The holidays often come with a long to-do list and unrealistic expectations. Attempts to recreate the holiday bliss depicted on television and maybe even in your stories may leave you feeling mentally depleted. And sometimes, one casualty of the holiday chaos is the mental space typically reserved for creativity.
Deep-cleaning your house may be necessary this time of year because of holiday visitors, but deep-cleaning your mind at the same time can make sure you can dive back into writing when you can snag a moment between festivities. Practicing mindfulness can help you take a break from holiday stress and clear your mind, enhancing your creativity.
Give Yourself a Present by Being in the Present
Mindfulness is a simple form of meditation that nurtures an awareness of your five senses and helps you engage with the world around you. Various therapeutic interventions use this form of meditation since it has helped some achieve greater mental peace, decrease chronic pain or anxiety, and improve cognitive ability.
You can practice mindfulness as much or as little as you’d like. Include it in your daily routine, whether walking, wrapping gifts, or cleaning. You can even begin with just one minute of deep breathing a day to see benefits, according to the Cleveland Clinic—no yoga mat required.
Mind Your Mindfulness
Authors are used to sitting with their thoughts but not necessarily in a way that declutters their brains. Here are a few tips for how to begin practicing mindfulness if you’re interested in adding it to your author toolbox:
- Take deep breaths.
- Focus on each breath and the sounds and scents surrounding you.
- Shift your attention to your thoughts and emotions. If your mind wanders or you get distracted, bring your attention back to the moment.
- Don’t judge your emotions or unpleasant thoughts. Sit with them and avoid pushing them away—doing so might have them popping back up like that secondary character trying to take over your story.
- Avoid self-criticism, and acknowledge and accept what you’re feeling right now. Treat yourself like a good friend or your favorite character.
- Relax into each breath. Don’t dwell on the past or worry about the future. Focus on this moment.
- Continue for one minute, or build up your practice to last as long as you’d like.
Besides helping to decrease stress, mindfulness may enhance your writing. It may help you create more vivid descriptive scenes, enrich your dialogue, or give your characters the space they need to come alive in your mind.
After you’ve mastered mindfulness for yourself, try the following mindfulness tips to fuel your writing sessions.
- Practice mindfully eating by enjoying the smell and taste of your food. Consider how you would describe this meal in a story.
- As you walk, take in the environment and incorporate the sounds, scents, and colors in your story settings.
- Instead of getting frustrated at long lines, implement mindfulness techniques for a few minutes. If you write humor, consider how you’d pen a humorous twist on your current situation.
- Observe the body language of others as they speak to reduce your dialogue tags. Active listening works best when you minimize distractions.
- Practice mindful breathing while observing others at holiday gatherings. You could collect character traits—but change the names in your story, or you might be dodging some emotional minefields at the next holiday gathering!
Stop multitasking and instead focus on the moment-to-moment awareness of your everyday activities. It may help you enjoy your holiday with less stress and allow your creativity to flourish.
Maureen Bonatch