For someone who extolls the virtues of meditation every chance I get, it’s interesting how much of a struggle it is for me to make it a daily practice. I’m not proud of it, but it’s true. I only ever seem to be able to stick with it for a few weeks or months at a time. It’s incredibly frustrating.
Lately, I’ve been wondering if this struggle runs parallel to my tendency to fall into writer’s block. I often believe that I don’t get writer’s block because I don’t sit at my laptop agonizing over every word, writing and rewriting ad nauseam. I do, however, go for days—sometimes even weeks—at a time, not writing at all. I’m pretty sure that counts as writer’s block, too.
As daunting as it seems, I know that I need to find a way to make writing and meditating daily practices again. My heart is full of things that I need to express, and my soul needs the guidance of my Higher Self. So, what do I do when my heart and soul remain stubbornly closed?
I have a new strategy for getting myself back on track creatively and spiritually, and there are three main components of it: I need to start small, give myself options and show myself more love and compassion.
Starting small
Sometimes you have to dismantle a wall one brick at a time. Meditating for two minutes is much easier than meditating for 20 minutes. Writing for two minutes is much easier than finishing an entire blog post.
Of course, the more time spent meditating and writing, the better. It’s important to remember, though, that two minutes of meditation is better than nothing, and working on a blog post without finishing it is better than never starting one.
I’ve noticed that even when I meditate for just a couple of minutes, I feel less blocked: mentally, emotionally, energetically and creatively. The reverse also seems to be true: If I can manage to get some writing done, the creative release clears some of the clutter from my mind, and that newly created space makes it easier to sit in silence with my eyes closed.
Twenty minutes of meditation is incredibly powerful, but two minutes is enough. It’s enough to begin finding my way back into the creative and spiritual flow.
Giving myself options
As I get older, I’m learning that I struggle with schedules and routines in general. I think this is why I’ve been doomed to fail when I’ve told myself that I have to meditate for 20 minutes every morning and I have to have written for a few hours by the time I go to bed at night.
Hopefully, someday I will be able to meditate for 20 minutes a day—ideally, twice a day—and spend most of the day writing. I’m not there yet, though, so the kindest thing I can do for myself is to recognize and accept that.
I’m trying to be more flexible with myself. It’s nice to have a schedule, but the reality is, I don’t need to write or meditate at the same time every day. I also don’t need to do it for the same amount of time, which is good because my energy varies a lot from one day to the next.
Instead of a daily schedule, I’ve decided to give myself options—which one I pick depends on how I’m feeling. Holding myself to the same standard, regardless of the state I’m in, is never going to work. I need to start where I am and work with what I’ve got.
For meditation, the two options I’m giving myself are two minutes or 20 minutes. I’m no longer beating myself up if I can’t do the latter on any given day. When and where I meditate is up to me. I’ve noticed that meditating for two minutes as soon as I get home or right before a meal seems to work well for me. It never fails to amaze me: the difference that pausing for two minutes can make after rushing home or between making food and eating it.
For writing, I’m giving myself four options: writing in my journal; working on a blog post; writing notes before, during or after meditation; or some combination of the three. The daily minimum I’ve set for myself is just to open a Word document or my journal and write something. I’ll consider that alone a success.
Regardless of how much I write or how long I meditate, doing a little bit each day seems to be the most effective strategy to avoid getting blocked. After all, it’s much easier to stay in the flow than it is to fall out of it and try to get back in.
Showing myself more love and compassion
Beating myself up for not doing enough doesn’t help me get back into the flow. It does the opposite. With love and compassion, I need to gently push myself to write and meditate a little bit each day, even for a few minutes and even when I don’t feel like doing it—especially when I don’t feel like doing it. The trick seems to be finding a balance between being flexible and practicing self-discipline. Easier said than done. If it were easy, I wouldn’t be writing this blog post.
It is an uphill battle, but it’s a battle worth fighting. Ultimately, as a witchy woman and writer, my primary goal in life is to stay in the flow as much as possible. Developing love and compassion for myself will help me bypass the things that obstruct flow by giving me permission to make my expectations of myself small enough to give me a fighting chance of actually achieving them.
I believe that if I start with a few minutes at a time and let go of the guilt trips I give myself for the days I’m not able to do more, I’ll find myself in the flow of creativity and spiritual connection much more often. The goal before me is simply to enter a state of flow every day, with as much love and compassion as I can offer myself, one minute and one word at a time.
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image 1 henning from Pixabay 2 image by pasja1000 from Pixabay 3 image by analogicus from Pixabay
