10/28/2019 0 Comments How to Make Space in Your Head for Great Ideas Now An Excerpt from The Writer’s AHA! – Discover the Book You Were Meant to Write!There is the quick way and the not-so-quick way to go about creating space in your life and head. The not-so-quick way may not give you immediate results but will help you create a life where space is the norm. I highly recommend it.
If you want answers now and don’t feel it’s possible to implement the slowing and simplifying techniques into your life at the moment, there is another way. How to Get Your Ideas Now There are three things you can do right now to create space in your life and head: meditate; remove or cut back on one activity; and do your menial tasks in a non-thinking manner. Meditation is a part of the not-so-quick way. Doing it long term is essential to creating mental space that is available all day long, but you can benefit on your first try. Ideas will often show up as soon as you get quiet. No matter how busy you are, you can find 10 or even 5 minutes a day to meditate. Here’s a video of the technique I use. It’s called Shamatha and it works. Often people think meditation is about emptying your mind. That’s just not possible. Your mind is made to think so you’re not going to stop it, but you can learn how to focus it and to refocus it when you get caught up in your thoughts. Eventually your thoughts will just be background noise and you will be in touch with that part of yourself that notices. When you begin to identify with that part of you that notices, the witness, you will have created space within. This means you’ll become less and less likely to get caught up in drama and be able to look at life objectively. Don’t confuse this with being unfeeling. If anything, you’ll feel more emotion, which is good for a writer. Another quick way to discover your ideas is to cut back on an activity or cut out one thing all together. You do this so you can find at least 15 minutes a day for your mind to wander. Letting your mind wander is not the same as vegging out in front of the TV. The idea is to use this time to just sit and stare out a window, go sit in a park or even relax in a coffee shop. Unwind your mind. Let it wander. Your mind is not wandering if you’re thinking about the next task or ruminating over a mistake you made. Bring your focus back to the present and begin again. This is where your meditation practice will help. If you find your mind keeps worrying about getting back to work, find a time after work or extend the time so you feel more spacious. The third quick way is to do a boring task. This needs to be a task you don’t have to think about like doing the dishes or taking a shower. Traditionally Buddhist masters asked their students to chop wood and carry water. Driving can work, too, but be careful. Don’t fill you mind with how much you hate the chore or obsess on the future. Be present, be calm and your ideas will surface. Relaxation is essential for the ideas to rise from the subconscious to your conscious mind. Basically your mind is in a mode similar to when you’re staring out a window, but this way you can check an item off your to-do list. You can get The Writer’s AHA! – Discover the Book You Were Meant to Write! on Amazon. If you’d like more helpful content like this, sign up for the Pro Writer Newsletter and get the blog as well as other free resources to help you get the writing done.
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