Jan Marquart's Blog - Posts Tagged "write-to-heal"
Write to Heal
Your body hurts. You take pills but the problem doesn't go away. You are distressed. Therapy doesn't help and the therapist doesn't understand. We have all been there at one time or other in our lives. What to do?
Here's a quote by Dr. James Pennebaker about my book Write to Heal.
Over the last 25 years, more than 200 studies have been conducted on the power of writing. The general conclusion is that writing about emotional upheavals can often improve people's mental and physical health. In Jan Marquart's book, Write to Heal, the reader gets a deeply personal sense of the power of writing. More importantly, the author lays out practical ways to deal with issues that bother you. This is a fine book by any account.
Okay, that being said, you write and you write and nothing releases inside you to start the healing process. What has gone wrong?
Writing to get well is a process of digging deep into our subconscious. Many writers who want to write to heal keep the writing superficial. Let me give you an example. When I was on my own with acute environmental sensitivites I focused on re-defining the condition with alternate words and phrases. After writing the the word 'toxic' on the list, something clicked inside and so I focused on that word. I made further lists of people and situations in my life that felt toxic. Then after each entry I wrote out fully the experience of it in my life until I could write no more. I wrote until I was spent on all impressions that came up with every item on the list. Then when I was finished with the process I wrote out an affirmation that combined all the written entries into one meaningful sentence and pasted it on my bathroom mirror to repeat over and over during the day. I stated the affirmation while sweeping my floor or driving down the road. Then I made sure to change everything toxic in my life to non-toxic. I wore organic, ate organic, bought everything organic. I kept writing about feelings and thoughts that popped up that were negative or that made me feel badly. It was a six year purge. Each day I went a little deeper and a little deeper. Illness is a condition embedded in everything about us: thoughts, behaviors, language, body expressions.
Slowly I began to heal. I had been so ill I couldn't get near scotch tape because I could smell the petrochemicals in it and if a TV had been on for 20 minutes I could smell the plastics and chemicals in that too. My life was a living hell.
I can say, without doubt, that writing was a huge part of saving my life. And it could be a huge part of saving yours too, because every physical illness is a full body experience.
Write to heal can be ordered on my site: www.JanMarquart.com for $8.99. My book The Mindful Writer, Still the Mind, Free the Pen has many healing prompts to write for healing as well. It is sold as an ebook on Amazon. The Mindful Writer can be bought in paperback form: www.createspace.com/3546101
I'd love to dialogue with you about the wellness of writing. It is my passion and I have had twenty years of watching it heal me in the mind/body/spirit trio.
Here's a quote by Dr. James Pennebaker about my book Write to Heal.
Over the last 25 years, more than 200 studies have been conducted on the power of writing. The general conclusion is that writing about emotional upheavals can often improve people's mental and physical health. In Jan Marquart's book, Write to Heal, the reader gets a deeply personal sense of the power of writing. More importantly, the author lays out practical ways to deal with issues that bother you. This is a fine book by any account.
Okay, that being said, you write and you write and nothing releases inside you to start the healing process. What has gone wrong?
Writing to get well is a process of digging deep into our subconscious. Many writers who want to write to heal keep the writing superficial. Let me give you an example. When I was on my own with acute environmental sensitivites I focused on re-defining the condition with alternate words and phrases. After writing the the word 'toxic' on the list, something clicked inside and so I focused on that word. I made further lists of people and situations in my life that felt toxic. Then after each entry I wrote out fully the experience of it in my life until I could write no more. I wrote until I was spent on all impressions that came up with every item on the list. Then when I was finished with the process I wrote out an affirmation that combined all the written entries into one meaningful sentence and pasted it on my bathroom mirror to repeat over and over during the day. I stated the affirmation while sweeping my floor or driving down the road. Then I made sure to change everything toxic in my life to non-toxic. I wore organic, ate organic, bought everything organic. I kept writing about feelings and thoughts that popped up that were negative or that made me feel badly. It was a six year purge. Each day I went a little deeper and a little deeper. Illness is a condition embedded in everything about us: thoughts, behaviors, language, body expressions.
Slowly I began to heal. I had been so ill I couldn't get near scotch tape because I could smell the petrochemicals in it and if a TV had been on for 20 minutes I could smell the plastics and chemicals in that too. My life was a living hell.
I can say, without doubt, that writing was a huge part of saving my life. And it could be a huge part of saving yours too, because every physical illness is a full body experience.
Write to heal can be ordered on my site: www.JanMarquart.com for $8.99. My book The Mindful Writer, Still the Mind, Free the Pen has many healing prompts to write for healing as well. It is sold as an ebook on Amazon. The Mindful Writer can be bought in paperback form: www.createspace.com/3546101
I'd love to dialogue with you about the wellness of writing. It is my passion and I have had twenty years of watching it heal me in the mind/body/spirit trio.
The Pen Can Be Mightier Than a Pill
Ever have trouble getting to sleep? Are you angry at someone who just won't confess to his/her part of a problem? Afraid of what you have to do to solve a problem at work?
Sometimes our lives are full of incidences that take over our minds. We find our days split between what we are doing and what we are feeling. When these two elements get too separate from each other we suffer.
Did you know that ninety percent of primary care physician office visits are due to stress related illnesses? Doesn't that just make you stunned?
When we get stressed emotional toxins take root in our bodies and that can mean all sorts of complications. So how do you fix that? Do you take a pill for the physical problem or begin to explore the underlying root cause? Well, here is my suggestion.
Write. Yes, the simple act of moving a pen or tapping your fingers like rain drops over computer keys can help you acknowledge, own, and resolve the stressful issues keeping you awake at night and preoccupying you during the day.
In my book Write to Heal, 78 pages, which can only be ordered on my site: www.JanMarquart.com for $8.99, I quote scientific studies, provide writing prompts, and offer guidance to express these underlying matters with writing techniques.
The written word is powerful. Given the fact that cliches derive from the truths of life the cliche: the pen is mightier than the sword holds a significant amount of weight.
My suggestion for this new year is to take up your pen and write out all those matters that are slowly eating you alive. I suggest the pen rather than the computer because it seems to have a much more intimate connection to the heart matters. I don't know why that is but you can try it out. Write something from the heart using a pen and then write it again on the computer. For me there is a distinct difference. But it might be different for you.
The point is to write. Write deeply.
Write until you can't write another word. Watch, listen, and let everything pent up inside find its way to the page.
Don't worry about someone finding it. Burn it, shred it, bury it. Just -- do it.
Here's to a clean start for the new year.
Until next time,
Jan
Sometimes our lives are full of incidences that take over our minds. We find our days split between what we are doing and what we are feeling. When these two elements get too separate from each other we suffer.
Did you know that ninety percent of primary care physician office visits are due to stress related illnesses? Doesn't that just make you stunned?
When we get stressed emotional toxins take root in our bodies and that can mean all sorts of complications. So how do you fix that? Do you take a pill for the physical problem or begin to explore the underlying root cause? Well, here is my suggestion.
Write. Yes, the simple act of moving a pen or tapping your fingers like rain drops over computer keys can help you acknowledge, own, and resolve the stressful issues keeping you awake at night and preoccupying you during the day.
In my book Write to Heal, 78 pages, which can only be ordered on my site: www.JanMarquart.com for $8.99, I quote scientific studies, provide writing prompts, and offer guidance to express these underlying matters with writing techniques.
The written word is powerful. Given the fact that cliches derive from the truths of life the cliche: the pen is mightier than the sword holds a significant amount of weight.
My suggestion for this new year is to take up your pen and write out all those matters that are slowly eating you alive. I suggest the pen rather than the computer because it seems to have a much more intimate connection to the heart matters. I don't know why that is but you can try it out. Write something from the heart using a pen and then write it again on the computer. For me there is a distinct difference. But it might be different for you.
The point is to write. Write deeply.
Write until you can't write another word. Watch, listen, and let everything pent up inside find its way to the page.
Don't worry about someone finding it. Burn it, shred it, bury it. Just -- do it.
Here's to a clean start for the new year.
Until next time,
Jan
