Throughout the last few years, I have discovered some amazing tools for managing and soothing my emotions, healing old emotional wounds, and growing into the person I am becoming.
These tools were shown to me when I did Yoga teacher training, and it is no understatement to say that they saved me, and continue to save me from myself to this day.
A lifelong asthmatic with a dust allergy, who decided at 17 that cigarettes were a great way to deal with anger, and at 19 that marijuana was amazing (if it is good enough for The Beatles…..), I never really took very good care of my lungs, and was never able to use them properly. When I was stressed out, which was very often, I would abuse my body in numerous ways, attacking my lungs with toxic fumes from the things I smoked thinking they were helping me.
Learning to breathe as part of my Yoga teacher training was such a revelation.
Following advice to cut out dairy products cleared the permanent blockage in my nose, and I was able to take full, controlled breaths. Immediately my stress levels reduced, I was able to sleep and relax naturally instead of anaesthetising, and I was able to get a grip on my emotions.
Another powerful tool I discovered was writing. Through the essay questions I had to answer on my training, I uncovered things about myself I had never known before. I still remember sitting back in my chair and staring at the screen in astonishment at a deep truth I hadn’t known consciously until I saw it written down.
I have always loved the written word, but now I know it has real power not just to inform, inspre, educate or entertain a reader, but to transform the writer.
Writing your thoughts allows you to clear your confusion, to work out what you really feel and think, to access the wisdom that lies deep in you.
When you sit and write, you get to see in black and white what you think. That wisdom is often blocked by the conscious mind, as it is focused on material and sensory needs, which aren’t always what we truly need. I have learned truths through things I have written to myself that my conscious brain tries so hard to persuade me is wrong. But that voice that emerges when I write without editing my thoughts, that is my truth.
My friend Dale Darley knows all about the amazing healing and transformative power of writing. She is an experienced writer, author and book coach who lives everything she teaches, using words to navigate her way through the challenges life sends her.
This morning, we talked live on Facebook about the gifts of writing, breathing and connecting to yourself and nature. We shared a mutual love of the Welsh coastline, and talked about the gifts we can find when we breathe, write and ground ourselves in nature.
Dale is a wonderful coach and guide for anyone wishing to explore themselves and their ideas through writing, whether you want to write a book to share your gifts and insights with the world, or if you want to explore your deepest thoughts through journalling.
Dale runs a wide range of courses in her Soul Writer’s Academy, where you can take her 7 day non-fiction book challenge, Kick Start your Memoir, or join her wonderful BIG Book Inner Circle, which she mentions in the video, among others. Take a look at the full range of courses available in the Soul Writer’s Academy to find your perfect course.
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