The Challenge of Meditation and an Alternative Option

September 23rd, 2015

At 10x, we understand how the daily grind can get to you. Whether you’re up late working on a project, or busy answering an inbox full of urgent emails. Meditation has been touted as a great way to improve your life. But if you’re like many of us who struggle to silence the mind, meditation is anything but easy. One minute you’re concentrating on your breath unwinding towards bliss and the next – “I wonder how Sue’s been. I should give her a call.” It’s the pitfall of simplicity and if it’s something that drives you to despair, there’s another option — free writing. It goes like this:

First, grab a pen and paper. Or use your computer. Or even your cell phone. Second, give yourself a word limit and commit to writing. Don’t stop and stare off into space or read what you have written. Just keep writing until the time is up.

Here are a few rules to stick to:

  1. Disregard grammar, spelling, punctuation, neatness, or style. This is not an essay contest; no one will read your free writing.

  2. Don’t stop writing. If you get off topic or run out of ideas, keep writing anyways. Write down everything that comes to mind.

  3. If you are struggling with it emotionally, ask yourself why you feel uncomfortable and write about that.

Free writing and meditation share some similarities. In both you are committing to a task for a specified time and observing what happens rather than critiquing. Free writing takes the edge off the restlessness in our brain. Our subconscious is connected to the tips of our fingers and the words just flow. Free writing also creates a separation between thought and self, much like how a camera separates the party recorder from the party itself. Go on, grab a pen and paper (or mobile device) and let the words flow.

https://medium.com/better-humans/better-than-meditation-12532d29f6cd