As Fall winds down, the energy still feels intense. Holidays beckon us to heighten our energy, and nature’s rhythm’s instill a sense of urgency (which I call “Squirrel Mode”) to get prepared to make it through Winter.

Resist the urge to unconsciously go with the flow by taking a pause to tune into the wisdom of your soul. My favorite tool for this is Free Writing because it peels back layers beyond what the mind says is important. Deep desires rise to the top rather than a task list that keeps you spinning across the surface of life. All that in less than 15 minutes! With practice, this tool gets you to the good stuff quick.

Free Writing: A Super Quick Deep Dive

Free Writing is just that: a writing stint where the pen keeps moving. No stop and start. With practice it becomes more and more freeing. There are a few important points, which I cover more deeply in my Learn Free Writing video on YouTube:

Write by hand. Pen or pencil. Don’t worry about grammar, spelling or what makes sense.
Write as fast as possible. The point is to stay ahead of the internal judge and editor.
Keep writing no matter what. You want to write through the resistance. Know ahead of time what you will write if the pen slows down at all. A simple phrase like What’s next or rewriting the prompt over and over can fill any gaps.
Create a safe space by sending the internal judge and editor out for a stroll. This is good mindfulness practice.
Give yourself permission to write whatever comes. You don’t have to stay on topic. Let it be stream of consciousness. Write any thoughts and anything that doesn’t even feel like a thought.
Set a timer. Try 7–12 minutes. Setting a timer also creates a safe space and quiets the mind and editors by letting them know exactly how long this lasts. When the timer goes off, feel free to conclude any thoughts. If a really great flow is going, keep going if that feels comfortable for you.

A final recommended step: Read the writing out loud exactly as is (even if alone) while keeping the internal judge at bay. Read what is and feel that. If you are doing this with others, create a safe space by setting up guidelines to read with no commentary or questions. Practice witnessing and simply saying, “Thank you.”

Writing Prompt: What am I carrying forward and leaving behind?

Try free writing to this prompt. See what arises. This can be a potent area to explore at this time of year as we head towards Winter Solstice, the final eclipse of 2019 plus a new decade. It's a pretty loaded 3 weeks left to 2019.

Writing to a prompt like this helps you see what’s there inside you that you aren’t even aware of. Creating awareness allows you to then cultivate intention, but the first step is awareness. That’s where free writing and a juicy prompt can take you.

Let me know what comes up for you!