Small Practices, Big Insights
Some simple little practices I use to help get myself unstuck when I’m feeling wedged in life.
I am an active accumulator of methods that fall into the self-discovery, personal development and self-help category of life. There are so many brilliant tools that can activate the intuition we all have once we become a little curious.
Over the years, I have realised that most of these practices do one of two things. Some help me discover what is bubbling beneath the surface. Others help me process what I find there.
None of these practices has fixed my life or turned me into some enlightened being who has all the answers. What they have done is crack open a belief, reveal a truth, offer a different perspective or remind me of something I had forgotten about myself.
I thought I would share a few of the practices I have been circling around lately that have created insights, perspective shifts and stepping stones on my own path. Perhaps one of them will spark something for you, too.
Flow Writing
Flow writing, also known as morning pages or stream of consciousness writing, is just as it sounds. Literally putting pen to paper, turning off your thinking mind and letting your hand go crazy.
It sounds easy enough, doesn't it?
I can assure you it is not. Not for me anyway.
The more I have thought about why I resist this practice, the more convinced I have become that it is because I receive so many juicy little nuggets of wisdom when I do it, and my ego mind hates it. My conscious mind is a petulant child that wants to be in control of every little thing, and being set aside for fifteen minutes to allow the depths of my subconscious to emerge is no small task.
And on the days that I do it, it feels like such a win.
Here's the thing about flow writing. It’s magic. Ok, not really. But it has the potential to surface things that you know you know, but you do not really know.
You know?
When I get into my groove and things are actually flowing, here are a few things that happen.
My handwriting changes. So much so that I often have difficulty reading it afterwards.
My voice changes. Not my actual voice, but my pen voice.
I switch between first and third person writing.
Sometimes I ask questions and receive answers as though a conversation is unfolding in real time.
It is honestly a bizarre thing to witness. Sometimes I feel like I am not entirely sitting in my body when I am doing it.
I know. It sounds a little strange.
I have met plenty of people who hate journaling, and I completely understand that. But I would encourage you to give this a little go before deciding it is not for you. Try it every day for a week or once a week for a month and see what happens.
The other cool thing about flow writing is that I almost always find little gems to tap on. This process often becomes the beginning of a healing path that uncovers something I need to explore further. Sometimes I tap on those things myself, and sometimes I take them to a practitioner when they feel bigger than I want to hold alone.
Are you curious about how this works?
One of the most popular books on this practice is Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way. Elizabeth Gilbert also talks at length about writing letters to yourself in her book, Big Magic, which I read every single year because I love it so much. She also has a beautiful Substack community devoted to this kind of writing.
Sarah Blondin has a gorgeous meditation on Insight Timer that I sometimes use when my brain needs a little assistance settling down.
The Process
Treat this like a meditation practice.
Find yourself a quiet space.
Ground your energy and take a few deep breaths.
Begin with a question or a prompt.
Sarah Blondin often uses:
"What I'm not thinking about right now is..."Elizabeth Gilbert often uses:
"Dear Love, what do I need to know today?"You could also ask:
"What does my heart want me to know?"Write for ten to fifteen minutes.
Give yourself a big, huge hug!
Read through your writing and pull out any insights.
And if all you discover is that your brain is loud and your mind likes to be in charge, that’s ok. That is useful information too.
Drawing
In the same vein as pen to paper writing comes pen to paper drawing.
I have recently been reading The Art of Manifesting by Colette Baron-Reid and Anna Denning. It is essentially the artistic version of flow writing, although perhaps a little more intentional.
I am slowly making my way through the book and doing the exercises, and I absolutely love it.
I love art anyway, but that part of me rarely comes out to play these days. Adulthood, parenting stress, responsibilities and endless to-do lists have somehow convinced my little inner artist to stay tucked away.
This process feels like an invitation to my inner child to get out some fun markers and a pretty pad of paper and let loose.
The exercises help you move beyond perfection, open your imagination and reconnect with creativity. There is no right answer and no finished product to achieve.
You simply create.
And honestly, I think many of us could use a little more creating just for the sake of it.
“The Work”
This one is so simple and yet so easy to forget to use.
The Work, created by Byron Katie, is a process for breaking down the beliefs that shape our experience of life.
It helps us challenge the stories that keep us stuck.
I always have to repeat myself.
Nobody listens to me.
I am bad with money.
The universe does not have my back.
The process invites us to question these thoughts.
Is it true?
Can you absolutely know that it is true?
How do you react when you believe that thought?
Who would you be without that thought?
Then you turn the statement around and find examples of how the opposite may also be true.
It sounds ridiculous at first.
Yeah right.
That cannot possibly be true.
But the point is not to convince yourself. The point is to open the door to the possibility that it could hold truth.
I have found this process incredibly powerful because it allows my ego to slowly loosen its grip on a story. From there, I often bring the thought into EFT tapping to work with the emotional charge underneath it.
For me, these two practices work beautifully together.
Ho'oponopono
This is the Hawaiian forgiveness prayer, and I absolutely love it.
The phrases are simple:
I'm sorry.
Please forgive me.
Thank you.
I love you.
You can direct these words toward a person, a memory, a situation, your body, your bank account or even your own thoughts.
For me, this practice creates softness.
It lets me release some of my need to be right. It lets me release resentment and return to love.
You do not need to agree with what happened.
You do not need to excuse hurtful behaviour.
You do not need to love the person who caused the pain.
You are just allowing yourself to release some of what you have been carrying in your own body.
You can speak these words during meditation, write them in a journal, repeat them while walking or create a little ritual around them.
Light a candle.
Play some gentle music.
Use essential oils.
Listen to solfeggio frequencies.
Make it your own.
Rain Therapy
Sometimes the thing I need least is another book, another podcast or another personal development exercise.
Sometimes I simply need to get out of my own head.
I walk barefoot or hug a tree.
And occasionally, especially in the warmer months, I lie down outside in the pouring rain wearing as little clothing as possible and let nature completely drench me.
Tip - Winter rain is very cold. Summer rain is joy and magic.
There is something about the water dripping and rushing all over my skin that reminds me that I am truly alive.
I stop thinking.
I stop analysing.
I stop trying to solve myself.
The wet of the water, the smell of the earth and the feeling of being completely present in my body seem to reset something. I often find myself in a fit of laughter.
Nature has a way of reminding us that we belong here.
Sometimes I feel like my nervous system does not need another answer.
Sometimes it just needs the rain.
If You're Feeling...
Overwhelmed?
Try Ho'oponopono.
Stuck in your thoughts?
Try The Work.
Disconnected from yourself?
Try flow writing.
Creatively blocked?
Pick up a black pen and draw.
Completely in your head?
Go outside. Find some grass or a tree, or wait for the heavens to open.
Final Thoughts
None of these practices has fixed me.
None of them has made me wiser, more spiritual or permanently peaceful.
What they have done is help me hear myself more clearly.
They have helped me uncover old stories, reconnect with creativity, soften difficult emotions and remember who I am beneath the noise of daily life.
You do not need all of them.
But perhaps one of them is the next stepping stone on your own path.
And if one of these practices uncovers something that feels ready to move, release or process, that is often where EFT enters the picture for me.
Not because it has all the answers.
But because it has become one of the ways I help my mind, body and heart catch up with the wisdom I have already discovered.
Ready to process what you find beneath the surface?
If you try one of these practices and find a story or emotion that feels ready to move, I’d love to support you. Click here to learn more about how we can work together to help your mind, body, and heart catch up to your inner wisdom.
