Madhu Bazaz Wangu | Writing & Meditation
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Writing & Meditation

CANDY By Gwyn Cready

Posted on September 26, 2013
in Writing & Meditation
6 Comments

My grandmother used to read me a story about a girl who was given a magical box of candy. As long as the girl ate no more than two pieces each day, when she woke up the next morning, the box would be full again. But if the girl got greedy and ate more than she needed, which of course she did, the box would lose its magic and never refill itself again. I can think of no better metaphor for the joys of this world. If we can give up our need to dictate the terms of our joy-the amount, the timing, the flavor-we will find all the joy we could want without even looking for it. We need the red leather sandals with silver buckles, but we find unexpected joy...

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MINDFUL WRITING PHENOMENON–TRAINING FOR A MARATHON by Lori M. Jones

Posted on July 6, 2013
in Writing & Meditation
4 Comments

"Just stick with it. What seems so hard right now, will one day be your warm up." I came across this quote from a running Facebook Page, but I thought it could apply to writing as well.   A few years ago, I needed a goal to maintain my workout schedule. I'm a quitter when it comes to exercise, but I enjoyed running. My goal was to run in a 5K. No measly 5K, I signed up for Pittsburgh's Great Race with 5,000 other runners. When I survived that first one, I scheduled the next and the next.   Each one became easier than the previous one. As a writer, I decided to implement the same plan for establishing a schedule and improve my writing stamina. I needed a goal. My...

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GO DAD GO! by Meredith Mileti

Posted on May 30, 2013
in Writing & Meditation
13 Comments

For the last several months I've been traveling between Pittsburgh and Boca Raton to help nurse my dad as he battles the challenging complications of a chronic illness.   Although lately I haven't been able to devote as much time to my writing as I would like, every day I try to practice what I've learned in Mindful Writers Group with whom I practice the Writing Method Meditation. Never before has the Method, which includes Journaling and Meditation, been more important to me. Journaling allows me to create quick emotional sketches that provide insight into what I am feeling. Meditation sharpens my focus, while also centering and calming me. Together the two practices help me understand and accept the next steps in this difficult journey. Being mindfully present with my...

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FINDING THE PORTAL by MaryAlice Meli

Posted on May 3, 2013
in Writing & Meditation
2 Comments

Before I met Madhu B. Wangu, meditation was a dim memory from the late sixties and came with headbands, patchouli oil, aummmmmm and the kind of fragrant smoke that makes one crave cheese doodles. I've practiced a kind of meditation all my life; I just didn't know that's what it was. I thought I was praying or concentrating or daydreaming. What I didn't understand was how to intentionally meditate. "But what am I supposed to think about?" I questioned Madhu, a patient, clear and creative teacher. To meditate, she simplified it for me, is to breathe. Just breathe and don't think? Too simple, surely; but not too easy.   Now I follow Madhu's quiet instructions and, after several minutes of clearing my consciousness of tasks, problems or other thoughts, I am always astonished...

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LIFE TRANSFORMED by Kathleen Shoop

Posted on March 11, 2013
in Writing & Meditation
1 Comment

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...

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MINDFUL OF MY TRUTH by Julie Long

Posted on February 22, 2013
in Writing & Meditation
1 Comment

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,...

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Writing After Fifty

Posted on December 9, 2011
in Writing & Meditation
0 Comments

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...

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Pleasure of Writing Meditation

Posted on November 30, 2011
in Writing & Meditation
2 Comments

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...

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Revise Your Day!

Posted on November 13, 2011
in Writing & Meditation
0 Comments

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...

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What is Writing Meditation?

Posted on October 18, 2011
in Writing & Meditation
3 Comments

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...

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