Welcome to Prompts & Explorations.
June 26th, 2022
This week’s theme: Body Prompting
I meditate. All. The. Time. I mean, walking is a meditation. As is gardening and cooking and mindless tasks like cleaning and de-cluttering. The mind sorts narrative as we sort through life.
One thing that meditation and yoga practice offers me, outside of the health benefits, is the ability to connect with my body viscerally. This is a major component of my writing practice.
I prompt and prep my body before I journal, revise, or pen a poem.
One approach is a brief meditation.
How: Sit comfortably for five minutes. Notice your body. What is twitching or uncomfortable? Where are you tight, restricted?
Listen: What do you hear? What are the sounds outside of where you’re sitting? What are the sounds within you?
Feel: What do you feel on your body, in your body, around your body?
After five minutes, spend a minute with your breath. If your mind wanders (and, if you’re like me, it will), keep returning to breath.
Now write. As you write, stay connected to your body as much as possible. Does your heart speed? Are you holding your breath? Take note of how your body responds to your writing.
PROMPT: You open a window and rest your elbows on the sill….
What do you see?
What do you smell?
What time of day is it?
What do you hear?
What happened before you opened the window?
Why did you open the window?
Who is near you? Who just left? Who is on their way?
Keep going….
My wish for you is to write. And while you write, my hope for you is full-ness, fulfillment.
Rebecca Evans 