Day 14 - Practice Free Writing for 10 Minutes - 30 Days Mindfulness Challenge

Did you ever go to bed at night and soon discovered that your mind is racing and you just can't fall asleep?

I did this, many times.

In this cases, the best thing for me is to turn the light back on, grab a pen and paper and start writing whatever goes on in my mind.

My experience with journaling

When I start writing literally whatever goes on in my mind, after a few minutes or even an hour if need be, I calm down.

There is something close to magical in the act of writing what troubles me.

I've been using this method as a tool to clear my head, gain clarity or vent some strong emotions for years and years.

I know from experience that it's a great way to help clear my head when I'm too agitated to meditate and there are too many ideas that need to be expressed.

Successful entrepreneurs - like Tim Ferris - use and recommend free writing every morning as a way to clear the junk that might linger in their mind. This way they can have a clear head to start the day.

I've mainly used it at night, to unload all the extra thoughts gathered over the day. But you can do this whenever you feel like.

Day 14 - Practice Free Writing for 10 Minutes

• Make sure you are in a calm space and that no one will disturb you in the next 10-20 minutes.
• Put your phone on "do not disturb" and set a timer for 10 minutes.
• Grab a pen and a piece of paper or your usual notebook and start writing whatever goes on in your mind at that moment.

If you'd rather type, that's OK too. I recommend pen and paper because your subconscious mind is more involved then when typing on a computer.

But feel free to try whatever you feel like. Just make sure to turn off the notifications and focus on your document only.

What to do if you feel stuck?

If this happens just start writing about the fact that you feel stuck.
Something like: "I have no idea what to write about...This is stupid, why should I write if I don't have anything to write about...Hmmm...my back is itching and I feel a bit hungry...I should go get something to eat, maybe then I'll have more inspiration. No, the exercise said to keep writing for 10 minutes..."

You got the idea.

Rambling in writing on a specific topic that you need clarity on is beneficial because it clears away the first layers of junk thoughts. And it allows you to discover the gold nuggets that are hidden there.

Anyhow, if when your alarm rings you realize you've just gotten in the flow, don't stop. Allow the stream of thoughts to pour out of your mind until you feel you finished.

And after that, you can try a few deep conscious breaths, a short mindful meditation counting each exhalation up to 10.

Try it out and see how you feel afterwards.

We're halfway through this 30 days challenge.

Thanks for sticking to it!

A note on The 30 Days Mindfulness Challenge. I initially published this challenge 2 years ago on my blog Being Raluca and I'm using those articles as a base for this one. I sometimes rewrite 80% of the article, other times I keep more of the original version and rewrite and add less new content.

I'm a psychologist, intuitive coach, blogger and vlogger. You can find me mainly on my blog at Being Raluca where I write about communication, relationships, listening and sexuality. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me @raluca.