Tag Archives: Meditation Mindfulness Spirituality

Articles on meditation, mindfulness, spirituality and contemplation

3 Writing Exercises: Processing the Pandemic

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Try these 3 writing and creativity exercises to help you move through the process of exploring, expressing, and integrating your pandemic experience.

Processing and Transforming our pandemic experience through writing

We’ve all experienced more than a year of this devastating COVID 19 pandemic. We don’t know what the future holds with COVID but it seems that things are moving at last in a new direction. Whatever happens, it feels like a good time to digest and reflect upon our experience during the Covid 19 pandemic.

Of course, I turn first to writing as a way to explore my experiences, but if you are a visual artist or a dancer or a musician or songwriter or sculptor or any kind of creative person, you can probably turn these three exercises below to your own craft form.

The main thing is to express and transform. We all know how sad songs and certain music helps us express our emotion in a way that feels transformative and meaningful. Similarly, through our writing or other creative expression we can transform our sorrow and pain into meaning, connecting with the beauty of humanity.

I suggest that you use the writing practice or freewriting approach to all three of these exercises. Set a timer for 10 or 15 or 20 minutes and until the timer buzzes just keep writing continuously without pausing to read, edit or correct what you’ve written. Just let your words spill out. In the words of my friend Natalie Goldberg, who wrote about writing practice in her best-selling book Writing Down the Bones, “Keep your hand moving… go for the jugular.”

1) What did I lose?

It is traditional for communities that have suffered to lament. People grieve what is lost.

So for this first exercise take the writing prompt: The Thing That I Lost, or the Thing That I Missed.

Does an image arise for you? Try to pick one thing to focus on in your writing. I’m sure there are many things that you lost or missed, but the more broad and general you go, the more dilute and generic things can become. So see if you can focus on one specific thing. It might not be a big grandiose thing, it might be something that might seem very small to someone else. So what is specifically YOURS? Take this prompt and tell us about The Thing That I Lost, or the Thing That I Missed.

Before moving on to the next exercise, pause for a moment, feel your feet on the ground and take some breaths. Feel your breath slowly filling you up, slowly releasing.

2) What Sustained me?

Find an object in your home or outside in your garden or on your daily walk that symbolizes the strength or sustenance that supported you through the pandemic. It might be a photo of a family member, symbolizing the love you felt from distant relations that kept you sane. It might be a rock, symbolizing your strength, or a fern, symbolizing the beauty of the world that fed your soul during the pandemic and kept you going.

Something sustained you through the challenges of the last year, so find an object that symbolizes that thing or that relationship. Then sit with the object for a few minutes and breathe it in. Start by writing about the object, describe it using all the senses that you can – how does it look, does it have a sound, does it have a fragrance, how does it feel to the touch? Capture the sensory details, then expand out into how it represents the thing that sustained you. Artists, you might draw the object. Dancers, dance it, use your imagination to connect to that object.

Before moving on to the next exercise, pause for a moment, feel your feet on the ground and take some breaths. Feel your breath slowly filling you up, slowly releasing.

3) What Did I Bring With Me?

Processing and Transforming our pandemic experience through writingNow think of one thing you discovered of value during the pandemic. Tell us about it in writing, tell us how you discovered it was of value. Tell us what you are bringing with you out of the pandemic into your life as we go forward.

Notice the emotions evoked in you through these three writings. When you’ve completed them,  you might want to read over your writings, perhaps read them out loud — to yourself, to the trees, to your dog, to a trusted friend.

I’d love to know how these exercises work out for you! Please leave a comment or connect with me on Facebook. 

If you are a meditator, consider joining our Sage Institute Meditation Leader Training certification program, led by my husband Sean Tetsudo Murphy Sensei and I’m on faculty too. Our 2021 cohort for the 9-month 200-hour certification program starts August 23.

Tania Casselle is a writer for magazines, book publishers, and online media. She also coaches writers and leads online writing seminars  including the successful Write to the Finish online course by phone and email for writers working on a book. She leads in-person writing workshops and retreats in beautiful places, usually teaching with her husband, the Hemingway award-winning author and Zen teacher Sean Murphy.
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Find Yourself: Meditating on the Taos Rio Grande Gorge

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A pause to meditate brings peace and a deep encounter with nature on the rim of the Rio Grande Gorge.

“I PARK IN THE REST AREA by the Río Grande Gorge Bridge and stride along the West Rim Trail through sagebrush fragrant with morning dew. If ever there were an invitation to go west and find whatever we deeply seek in our hearts, that impossibly long view across the mesa is it.”   Read the article for New Mexico Magazine, June 2020

Photo of Rio Grande Gorge from NM magazine

 

Feed Your Soul with a Writing Retreat

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As a writer and writing coach, I have always been a big fan of writing retreats. We all need retreat time to turn within, connect to the muse, recharge our batteries and take our creative work or journaling deeper.

How to take a writing retreat

 

It’s great if you can go away to a formal writing retreat where everything is organized for you and you have a writing teacher leading you. I teach retreats like those, usually in places of great natural beauty, and it’s a joy to see how participants can truly let go and relax into their writing when they are away from the duties and demands of home.

But sometimes it’s just not practical to go away. As a working writer, I’ve found ways to create mini home retreats so I don’t have to take a big trip away. Home retreats are easy to slip in to a weekend or other short period of time so you have access to this wonderful creative nourishment anytime!

Here’s how to set up a writing retreat for yourself. A day is a good way to start if you haven’t done one before.

CREATE THE SPACE

First, we need to set a boundary around our retreat time. Whether it’s a day, a weekend, or longer, the whole point is to retreat. That means stepping back from our interactions with the world and our availability to others. Tell friends that you won’t be socializing or answering phone messages and texts. If you are a parent, ask your partner or family to take the kids away for the day. They can have their own fun trip or sleepover while you are holing up at home –  that way it’s a treat for everyone.

PREPARE FOR YOUR RETREAT   

Obviously you will buy any writing supplies in advance, but also think about what else will support you. Would you like some incense to create a retreat atmosphere? A beautiful bouquet of flowers in your writing area? Perhaps you’ll splurge on some fancy ice cream or special chocolate.

Definitely shop for food in advance. I always think it’s important to have food that is delicious and nutritious and something I enjoy, so my retreat becomes self-nurturing on many levels. Plan what you are going to eat but keep it simple so you don’t spend all day cooking and cleaning up. Maybe you’ll make a pot of soup in advance or have the slow cooker filled with ingredients and ready to rock on the day of your retreat. Either way, enjoy feeding yourself with healthy food and also make sure there are a few treats thrown in!

THINK ABOUT YOUR SCHEDULE

It’s unrealistic to think that if you are going to do a writing retreat, that you will actually write all day and do nothing else but write all day. It’s too much. Of course, there are those rare occasions when the creative impulse is so strong that actually you might find yourself writing for a straight 9 hours, looking up at the end with a dazed expression and realizing that you just skipped several of your superbly planned meals! But most often we need to spend chunks of time doing different things around the writing.

It’s nice to have a balance. Maybe get up, write for an hour in the morning when you are still in that glorious space between dream time and the so-called real world. Then eat, write, schedule time for a walk, watch the birds, take the dog out or do your yoga, your exercise, your meditation, or play some loud music and dance, then another writing session, and so on. So often, creativity strikes when we are doing something other than writing, some activity where we connect with nature or move our bodies, and it’s great to mix it up. But make sure these activities are quiet and contemplative activities, or exercise and movement. Don’t fall prey to the lure of technology, which leads me to my next point…

UNPLUG FROM THE WORLD

Seriously, turn off the phone, unplug the internet, unplug everything. You can’t retreat if you are tweeting, texting, talking or playing video games. These do not replenish us nor allow us to fall into the sweet spaciousness that a retreat provides.

As a writing coach, I’ve seen in the last few years how much harder it is for writers to turn off their technology and communications and settle into their creative exploration.  This is one of the reasons that writers need retreats now more than ever. The 24/7 communications lead to distraction and a pressure to keep multitasking. Studies have shown that multitasking decreases attention span, empathy and emotional IQ…. all things we need to be a creative person.

So for your one day or one weekend or however long you plan your writing retreat, allow yourself to unplug, turn away from the demand to be doing five things at once, and just allow yourself to be you, now, in this present moment, writing your heart on the page.

It might feel strange at times if you are used to a full-speed-ahead life. But the stranger it feels, the better you are doing in creating this sacred space for yourself!

CREATE A RITUAL

When we go away to a retreat, the event automatically feels special because we are in different surroundings, we are being catered for, we are being led, everything is different to the way it is at home.

When we take a home retreat, it helps to have some rituals that also create an atmosphere to lift us out of our ordinary life. This can be as simple as lighting a scented candle or a type of incense that we only light when while on a writing retreat. The aroma creates a sacred space and reminds us… oh, now I’m doing this, not my regular life. Or play a piece of music to signal the start of your retreat, or sip a special delicious tea or take a bath with essential oils… any sensory experience that marks a boundary as you exit the everyday world and enter your inner creative time.

You can also take a walk around the block at the beginning of the retreat and then as you re-enter the house and close the front door behind you, you say out loud, “Now I’m on retreat!” Or as you walk into the writing area you are using for your retreat, deliberately choose to leave behind your ordinary world and responsibilities (they will still be there later!) and again state: “This is my writing retreat.”

SHARE A RETREAT WITH FRIENDS

It’s also lovely to create a writing retreat with a partner or friends and I often do this. Everything is the same as a solo retreat, but we all agree to keep silence during the day and do our own thing, perhaps with a shared meditation or yoga session or a group silent walk if that feels right. Then in the evening we meet up over dinner and share our writing, share our process and how the day has gone for us. This is a really sweet way of doing a retreat with the support of a group.

You might be surprised at how just a day or weekend of writing retreat can refill the well of your creativity and also replenish you on a personal level. So if you are at all tempted to take a writing retreat, I encourage you to do so.  Start with just one day… and enjoy!

Tania Casselle is a writer for magazines, book publishers, and online media. She also coaches writers and leadsonline writing seminars  including the successful Write to the Finish online course by phone and email for writers working on a book. She leads in-person writing workshops and retreats in beautiful places, usually teaching with her husband, the Hemingway award-winning author Sean Murphy. See more WriterMuscle posts or sign up to receive future Writer Muscle updates – down-to-earth advice from a seasoned writer.

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At the End of the Rainbow: The Dwan Light Sanctuary

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Every Shade of Peace for Santa Fe New Mexican publication
Meditation at Dwan Light Sanctuary

When you enter the Dwan Light Sanctuary, it’s instinctive to fall silent, just as in any sacred space. There is a sense of hush, a sense of stepping out of the busy everyday material world and into a realm of peace and inner space that is so much more expansive than the physical walls that enclose us.
JUMP TO THE FULL ARTICLE HERE 

The sensation is similar to entering a church, a cathedral, a temple, a mosque or a kiva, but the Sanctuary is none of these. Or, if you wish it to be, it could be all of these.

It was designed as a quiet space for reflection for people of all faiths, and when it opened in 1996 the blessings and ceremonies included the abbot from Christ in the Desert Monastery, a Tibetan monk, representatives from Judaism and Hinduism and a Muslim artist. A Navajo medicine man made cornmeal offerings, petals were strewn, and Judy Collins sang. Then they all went away, leaving their echoes behind in this large white space filled literally with rainbows.

Dwan Light Edge of Heaven By Catherine Carter Media

The Dwan Light Sanctuary rests on the edge of the Pecos Wilderness on the 200-acre United World College USA campus in Montezuma, NM. This little spot of heaven was the vision of Virginia Dwan, an art gallery owner, patron of the arts and philanthropist, who offered both the concept and the funds to build it. Solar spectrum artist Charles Ross and architect Laban Wingert brought her vision to reality, crafting a space that is flooded with light rays filtered through 24 large prisms in the apse windows and the roof to create bands of color. The building is aligned to the sun, moon, and stars, so it captures New Mexico’s brilliant sunlight throughout the day, creating rainbows of color that dance slowly across the floor and walls as our planet turns from sunrise to sunset.

On full moon nights, the lunar light through the prisms also creates a soft spectrum of color. One of the apse windows is aligned to frame the North Star at night.

The circular building is 36 feet in diameter, towering an airy 23 feet in height, and the floor is divided into twelve segments radiating from a central axis. The geometry and proportions have many layers of symbolic meaning. Virginia Dwan wanted to emphasize the “spiritual and temporal universality” of the number 12; for example, the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 stars in the Virgin’s halo or crown.

But visitors seeking peace and respite from the world don’t need to understand the significance behind every detail to appreciate the space. Whether you go to pray, to meditate, or just to sit and reflect far away from the constant triggers of social media, texts and emails, the Sanctuary feels like exactly that, a sanctuary from the barrage of information, the visual and auditory noise of the modern world. Surrounded by trees and stroked by the sun, the visitor finds a serene harbor amidst the storm. Watching the swathes of colored light glide slowly across the round walls and floor as time ticks by is a pure and simple reminder of our connection to nature, our place upon this spinning planet, the magnificence of our universe.  There is nothing else to do but to slow down, breathe in, breathe out and be.

The play of light in itself inspires an uplifting sense of light-heartedness. Linda Seebantz, United World College USA director of marketing and communications, describes the typical responses she’s seen to the sanctuary as, “A lot of wows, a lot of chasing rainbows, a lot of playing beneath the rainbow, having the rainbow shine on your head while you are in meditation. It’s so subtle the effect that it has… It’s a heart space.”

United World College USA is a fitting home for the Sanctuary, with its progressive mission including an emphasis on sustainability and diversity. The current student population, aged 16-19, represents 94 different countries. More than 80 percent of the students attend on scholarship, allowing the college to select applicants based on merit and promise rather than financial means. Students and staff turn to the sanctuary during times of trouble, and it’s easy to imagine how a young person would find comfort in the universal appeal of the Sanctuary, no matter their cultural and religious background. The space also hosts music and dance concerts, meditation and yoga classes, and public weddings and funerals.

The Montezuma Hot Springs on the campus property offers the opportunity for a soak before or after a visit to the Dwan Light Sanctuary. The springs lie along the river, and in keeping with the ethos of simplicity and appreciation of nature, the pools are not landscaped, but kept in a natural state and surrounded by long grass. Think of it as a ceremonial baptism, or just a few moments of relaxation and communion with water, earth and sky.

BOX: If You Go

The Dwan Light Sanctuary is located on the grounds of UWC-USA in Montezuma, N.M., six miles from Las Vegas, N.M. The Sanctuary is open to the public from 6 am to 8 pm on weekdays, and 6 am to 5:30 pm on weekends. Visitors should stop at the welcome center as they arrive, and they will be given directions. Reach the Montezuma Hot Springs via State Road 65 where you will see the pull offs for parking. Hot spring hours are 6 am till 10 pm. Alcohol and nude soaking are not permitted – take a swimsuit! www.uwc-usa.org

Article for Santa Fe New Mexican publication Feliz Navidad.

The Times are Urgent. Let Us Slow Down and Write

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Slowing down as a writer“The Times are Urgent. Let Us Slow Down.”

This is a quote from Bayo Akomolafe, and it speaks perfectly to my heart. The message might sound counterintuitive, but for a writer — or any kind of creative or contemplative soul — this is exactly the heart of things.

I had a chance to meet Bayo at the Spiritual Directors International 2019 conference, where we both presented. He is a poet, philosopher, and the Executive Director of The Emergence Network.

I have often heard Buddhist teachers say something along the same lines when referring to meditation. The schtik goes something like:

QUESTION: “What do I do when my life is so crazy with so many crises to juggle that I can’t even find 30 minutes a day to meditate?”

ANSWER: “Meditate for 60 minutes a day.”

I’ve heard that Mother Teresa said similar things. She was apparently once challenged about the fact that she and her sisters took an hour a day to stop work and pray, in the midst of caring for the many suffering souls they tended to.

The challenger objected: “More people than ever need your help… the lines are long and the halls are full of people seeking aid. Surely Mother Teresa you should adjust your schedule instead of withdrawing to pray for an hour?”

“Yes, you are right,” Mother Teresa replied. “There are more people to care for than ever. We really need to pray for two hours.”

So what does this have to do with writing? I would say that the busier your life is, the more important it is to slow down to attend to your soul work… your creative work.

We cannot keep putting energy out – taking care of the logistics and business of life, supporting our friends, our family – without pausing to refill the well inside us.

When we slow down to write, we are essentially slowing down to listen. We listen to the inner voice that whispers truth to us. If you are spiritually inclined, you might interpret this as hearing the soft breath of God, or the pulsing heartbeat of the universe. We can step out of the bustle and into the flow, the Tao, being present in the moment.

So, I can hear you saying:  “That sounds fabulous Tania, but what does that actually mean? What do I do? I have a busy life, bills to pay, everyone needs me, I don’t have time to write!”

I would suggest that if you are THIS bogged down, then you do not have time NOT to write.

This is all assuming that writing is your creative call. If photography is your call, or painting, or knitting, or playing the flute….. well, you get the picture.

How to slow down? Start simply. Slowing down is not meant to be a burden, but a gentle relief.

1) Make an Intention to Slow Down
Decide that you are worth the time, the step back, the pause. Realize that actually if you don’t get the time, the step back, the pause, you will soon be so burned out that you won’t be any use to anyone.

Sometimes this requires some internal discussion and discernment – usually we are our own worst enemies when it comes to our sense of duty. ESPECIALLY women! You women know what I mean. We think the whole world turns according to how much energy we put into keeping the globe spinning. We have to sacrifice ourselves! But this is such faulty thinking and not in the best interests of the people we love and who love us. We are better spouses, parents, and friends when we are rich and refreshed with our own soulful connection to our writing.

2) Make a Commitment: Retreat into your creative work for a few minutes a day.
Block out 15 minutes a day to start with. Perhaps just 4 or 5 days a week. And use that time to write. Sit down and let yourself relax into a freewrite or stream of consciousness write on this prompt:
* “Everything I really want to say.”
The next day do a freewrite on * “Everything I don’t want to say.”

Or pick a prompt from a book like Wild Mind by Natalie Goldberg, or choose a line from a favorite poem, or just start writing and let whatever is waiting inside you pour out.

Be patient and loving with yourself. You don’t have to achieve anything. You don’t have to perform. You only have to slow down for a few brief minutes a day and listen to yourself, hearing what your heart has to say.

Our families won’t notice the 15 minutes a day that you are writing. But I promise you: You will.

Tania Casselle is a writer for magazines, book publishers, and online media and also a developmental editor for publishers and individual authors. She also coaches writers and leads online writing seminars  including the successful Write to the Finish online course by Zoom and an online learning platform for writers working on a book. She leads in-person writing workshops and retreats in beautiful places, usually teaching with her husband, the Hemingway award-winning author Sean Murphy. See more WriterMuscle posts or sign up to receive future Writer Muscle updates – down-to-earth advice from a seasoned writer.

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The Art of Doing Nothing (for Bally Total Fitness)

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The Art of Doing Nothing by Tania Casselle for Bally Total Fitness magazine.

One day of solo retreat can recharge the batteries, nourish your soul and send you back into the world with a fresh perspective.

“We all need to step outside the frame and look at the big picture periodically,” says Tim O’Brien, director for the Institute for Stress Management. “Taking a personal retreat gives you a way to look at where you’re headed. Do you like the direction of your life? If not, what changes should you make? It’s difficult to make good decisions if you don’t remove yourself from the normal routine.”

If you think you’re too busy to carve a whole day out of your schedule, think again.

Read the full story on The Art of Doing Nothing in PDF.