Showing posts from tagged with: meditation

I am the hurricane. Calm the mind, be creative in 3 simple steps

Posted by boekcoach in Inspiratie, Schrijftips | 0 comments

12.01.18

A theme of the past weeks has been a lot of people who are stressed out, anxious, on the verge of being burned out or going through life changing events. I think it’s in the air. What I want to share with you is a technique I use when I’m under a lot of pressure or stressed out and nothing seems to help. I came up with it when I was at a point in my life where I hardly could cope with everything. And the suggestions that I had to control my breath, have a mind with empty thoughts when I meditated, stressed me out even more. Now I use the hurricane-technique for everything. It’s a great technique when you’re stuck in a creative process, want to write and cannot write or there are just too many damn options to choose from. And the best thing is, you can do this anywhere, anytime and for as long as you want. The most effective way for me: In bed, right before I sleep. Or in a chair right before a demanding or creative task or first thing in the morning when I wake up anxious. No pressure. No demands. Easy and let go.

Step 1: Be the tornado or hurricane whichever you prefer :)

Imagine yourself as a hurricane. A huge swirling wind with a calm eye in its centre. The outside layer of the wind is everything that happens outside of you. All the pressures, demands, emails, other people, anything you can think of. The inside layer of the wind are your thoughts, your emotions, your ideas, your feelings. Because you are the hurricane all these elements are mixed and form a real storm. Let the storm blow. Feel the destruction. Feel it’s power. Feel how fast it swirls around you. Just let it be. It’s ok that it’s there. Just let it swirl. If you do this more often you will start to notice the intensity of the hurricane and the thickness of the layer of wind will differ depending on how you feel.

Step 2: The eye

Imagine yourself as the eye of the hurricane. You are the eye. Your emotions, your thoughts everything else are the wind. They are swirling around you. Let them swirl. They are not you. You do not have to control them. You do not have to slow them down. Just accept that they are there. They do not define you. They are not you. You are the eye. Just observe. Sit as long as you want. 30 seconds or 5 minutes or even half an hour. No pressure. If you do this more often, you’ll notice that the size of the eye will vary in size depending on how you feel. When I started this exercise, the wind was literally in face. Now I have kilometres of space around me. Just let it swirl. Everything is ok.

Option a: The eye advanced ;)

You can, if you feel comfortable, start to play with the wind. Let it grow, let it go up and down, let the speed vary, calm it down, speed it up. Put some colours in it. Just have fun and play.

Option b: The eye advanced ;)

You can also let the wind be and focus on the eye. Make it feel peaceful. Imagine sounds, colours, images. Everything is ok as long it’s peaceful for you. It’s your happy place. My happy place is sparse. Just blue sky, sunshine and some green grass, water and mountains.

Step 3. Ready

When you are done you are done. This can be after 30 seconds, after half an hour or even after an hour. When you are done sit for two more minutes without looking on your phone or talking to someone. And that’s it. You are now ready to tackle the world or write your masterpiece or go to sleep.

You are the hurricane

The more often you practice this, you will start to notice your breathing will become calmer, you will be more at peace and will move more inward. But the great thing is. You do not have to. Easy. No pressure. Just let it swirl around you. You are the hurricane.