Writing &amp; Meditation

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All my life, exercise has provided me the opportunity to do more than raise my heart rate. For example, repetitive physical acts like swimming and walking have allowed my mind to unwind, solve problems and reduce stress. As I developed my writing career I found that through exercise I was able to provide the perfect runway for my writing to take off and unwrap plot and character problems. In those early days, I found I could belt out thousands of words in just a few hours after exercising. The cycle of exercise and writing fed itself, creating excitement for me as well as concrete progress in the quality writing. As critique became part of my writing, exercise became even more important as the critique partners raised problems in my stories...

MINDFUL OF MY TRUTH by Julie Long

Posted on February 22, 2013

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I'm on the edge of something - an idea, a truth. Trying to write about it feels like drawing an object when I can't yet picture it in my head but I feel it. Putting it in writing will give it permanence I'm not sure I'm ready for. This is so often the case with me: I want to see the entire picture before I begin. In reality my truth changes daily. How silly I have not recognized this before. In January I turn inward and stay quiet. I am giddy with pleasure at having the freedom to do so when the rest of the world is kicking off a new year with gusto. Being home alone with no interaction is bliss. I do what feels right: meditation, yoga, and walking, reading,...

Writing After Fifty

Posted on December 9, 2011

With passing years, writing becomes our most trustworthy friend. Wherever we go there it is! It paces with us as we enter the autumn and winter of our lives. We age. Writing is ageless. So many writers, still in their forties and fifties, feel an urge to write full time. They leave a paying job when they can afford to do so, to follow their writing passion, to fulfill their dream of getting a manuscript completed and the book published. In an interview with Gabriel Packard, Walter Mosley, who began writing at 34, said, "If you come to something later in life, and you've been beaten down enough-your ego's been beaten down enough for you to think, "Well, I might actually be a failure at life" (as a writer)-I think that's...

Pleasure of Writing Meditation

Posted on November 30, 2011

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Mindful writer does not spend too much time talking about getting published. She just writes! She knows unless she births a good book there is nothing to publish. When she mails a manuscript to an editor or an agent, at once she begins her next writing project. She does not forget that the reason she began writing was the sheer love of writing. Not for fame or fortune. Her goal is to finish a good manuscript and move on to the second and then the third one. She believes that a fine manuscript, with right effort, patience and perseverance, would get published. As a mindful writer, my best Writing Meditation days are when I mediate before sunrise. After the sunrise, I journal for half an hour and then get absorbed...

Revise Your Day!

Posted on November 13, 2011

A Mindful Writers Mantra Deep in meditation, one morning the phrase, "Revise your Day!" appeared to my mind's eye. For a year or so I had been searching for a meaningful phrase, called mantra in Sanskrit, a phrase that would coalesce my passion for writing, my abiding love for meditation and the pursuit of the betterment of my life until the last breath. A few weeks prior to this revelation, I was struggling with how to better my life similar to the way I revise and rewrite my rough writing drafts. A decade ago, I had quit my teaching job partly because I did not want to fall into an academic teaching rut. I wanted to focus on my writing and painting and to improve my daily life. It was not that...

What is Writing Meditation?

Posted on October 18, 2011

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Writing Meditation is a discipline based on ancient Asian contemplative practices. I evolved this discipline through decades of my experiences as writer and meditator. The discipline combines a method of meditation and the process of writing to guide writers of all levels to improve their craft, discover their voice, strengthen their style and bring depth to the content. The discipline also helps clarify thought and intensify emotion. The practice of Writing Meditation has two goals: to light a fire of passion into your written expression, and to increase joy in life. A typical session of Writing Meditation consists of ten to fifteen minutes each of guided Body, Heart or Mind Meditation followed by a writing session lasting one to four hours. In Body Meditation, you focus on your inhalations and exhalations as...

The Devi Gita: Chapter Ten

Posted on March 25, 2011

(THE GODDESS SETS FORTH THE PRELIMINARIES OF TANTRIC WORSHIP) 10. 1-5 The Goddess Spoke: Rising at dawn, one should call to mind the radiant lotus on the top of the head, shining like camphor. On that lotus one should recollect the form of One's own blessed guru, kindly disposed, adorned with shining ornaments, conjoined with his consort. The wise person will bow to them, and then calling to mind the coiled Goddess Kundalini, will reflect: "She shines brilliantly in her ascent; she appears like nectar in her descent; I take refuge in that woman who wanders along the middle channel in the form of bliss." Meditating in this manner, focusing on my form as infinite being, consciousness, and bliss that dwells in the internal flame, one should meditate on me. Next one should complete...

The Devi Gita: Chapter Nine

Posted on March 18, 2011

Vedic and Internal Forms of Goddess Worship (HIMALAYA QUERRIES THE GODDESS ABOUT THE RULES OF RITUAL WORSHIP; SHE OUTLINES THE BASIC TYPES) Himalaya said: 9. 1-6 O Goddess of the Gods, Great Ruler, Ocean of Compassion, Mother, Proclaim now in detail the proper manner of your worship. The Goddess Spoke: I shall explain the manner of worship, O King that pleases the Mother. Listen with great reverence, Best of Mountains. My worship is of two kinds: external and internal, the external also is said to be of two kinds: Vedic and Tantric. Vedic worship is also of two kinds, according to the type of image used, O Mountain. Vedic ritual is to be performed by Vaidikas-those initiated into the Vedas. Tantric ritual should be embraced by those initiated into Tantric lore. One who knows not this mystery regarding worship...

The Devi Gita: Chapter Eight

Posted on February 24, 2011

Chapter Eight (HIMALAYA ASKS ABOUT IMPORTANT PILGRIMAGE SITES, RITES AND FESTIVALS OF THE GODDESS: SHE RESPONDS BY STRESSING HER ALL PERVASIVE NATURE) Himalaya said: 8.1-4 O Ruler of the Gods, what scared dwelling places here on earth should one see? Which ones are preeminent, purifying, and most pleasing to the Goddess? What rites provide satisfaction, and also what festivals? Tell me all about these matters, Mother, where by a person becomes completely fulfilled. The Goddess spoke: Every site is my dwelling place is worth seeing, all moments are fit for observing rites, and festivals may be held on any occasion, for I pervade all times and places. Yet loving my devotees as I do, I shall be more specific. Listen attentively to my words, Mountain King. (THE GODDESS COMMENCES TO ENUMERATE HER SACRED DWELLING PLACES AND...

The Devi Gita: Chapter Seven

Posted on February 11, 2011