Well-being is a core competency in the area of Personal Mastery. To be conscious and aware of your physical, mental and spiritual well-being is integral to success in caring for yourself and ensuring optimal performance.
Expressive Writing and Well-Being
Expressive writing, a reflective practice, is a writing process that encourages the writer to freely express themselves, diving deeply into an exploration of thoughts and emotions. Expressive writing comes from the core of our experience and focuses more on the feeling and thought experiences than on events, memories, objects or people in the narrative.
In the process of expressive writing there may be a beginning, middle and end to the story or may be a story swelling to peak and finds resolution as it folds upon itself. During writing you may have feelings of uncertainty, unpredictability or just a sense of being unsettled. These feeling are okay…expressive writing is not necessarily what happened (or is happening), as it is about how you feel in the matter.
This is a cornerstone of physical and emotion health and foundation for overall well-being. The potential health benefits of writing about emotional experience or trauma have been extensively researched by Professor James Pennebaker (University of Texas/Austin) and replicated hundreds of times by other researchers around the world.
The Writing Prompt
A writing prompt is simply a specific writing assignment designed to create a certain result, usually in the area of comprehension. In this case, the assignment will provide a deeper understanding of your thoughts and feelings. The following page provides direction for you in the process and covers: Preparation to Write, What to Write About and What to do with your Writing Samples and a few writing and journaling resources.
Preparation to Write.
- Schedule a time and private place to write. A good time to write is the end of the work day or bed time.
- Promise to write a minimum of 15 minutes each day for 3 to 4 consecutive days.
- When writing, write continuously. Spelling and grammar mistakes are okay, do not self-edit. And, if you find you have nothing to write, re-write (copy) what you’ve already written.
- Any writing medium will work: longhand or computer.
- Write about the same thing over the consecutive days or something different. It’s your choice.
What to Write About.
Choose Prompt A or B:
Prompt A
Take a moment to imagine your life in the future. Imagine looking back over your life knowing everything in the past occurred as it should and there is nothing good or bad, true or false about your past life events. You have worked hard, overcome hurdles, and achieved things you have always wanted. Describe this future life.
Prompt B
Take a moment to imagine your best possible self. Imagine yourself as you believe you could be, if you thought, felt, behaved, and achieved all that you hoped for. Consider what virtues, relationships, and successes would help build your accomplishment. Describe this optimal you.
What to do with your Writing Samples.
Your writing is your own. The sole purpose of this exercise is for you to explore feelings and thoughts and be totally honest with yourself in the process. Give yourself time to review and compassionately reflect on what you’ve written. You can choose to keep or dispose of your writing as you see fit…it is yours and you can keep this writing secretly to yourself.
Resources
Baldwin, Christina (1992). One to One : Self-Understanding Through Journal Writing. Evans Publisher
Goldberg, Natalie and Guest, Judith (1986). Writing Down the Bones : Freeing the Writer Within. Shambhala Press.
Pennebaker, James W. (1997). Opening Up: The Healing Power of Expressing Emotion. NY: Guilford Press.
