An example of a Yoga and Creative Writing Workshop 

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Time to get the notebook out, pen in hand, hand to page. It doesn’t matter if you’re a seasoned writer or a newbie, this workshop will give you the space to think differently and get some words on the page. 

 

In this workshop we’ll be using Jack Kerouac’s “Belief & Technique for Modern Prose” as our springboard. Kerouac didn't just talk freedom, he wrote it. His prose, uninhibited and open, is fun to read because it's true. When we come to the yoga for writers practice, the aim of the game is to connect to what is true, because that's what's interesting. To put it in Kerouac's words, "It's not a question of the merit of art, but a question of spontaneity and sincerity and joy I say. I would like everybody in the world to tell his full life confession and tell it his own way and then we'd have something to read in our old age."

 

Brenda Ueland, a favourite writing teacher of mine said a similar thing:

“Gradually by writing you will learn more and more to be free, to say all you think; and at the same time you will learn never to lie to yourself, never to pretend and attitudinize. But only by writing and by long, patient, serious work will you find your true self. And why find it? Because it is, I think, your immortal soul and the life of the Spirit, and if we can only free it and respect it and not run it down, and let it move and work, it is the way to be happier and greater.”

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The goal of writing and yoga is the same: to get to the truth. Even the drive to get to yoga mat or page is the same; it's the search for meaning. 

 

So what will we do? 

We start with a gentle yoga flow to loosen up both physically and mentally. When I say "gentle" I mean accessible, feel-good yoga: if you can do a downward facing dog, you can do this. The idea is to use the poses to tune in, to become a little more malleable and free. We will move toward an extended deep relaxation to sink a little deeper into ourselves and I will plant some ideas along the way, for the writing later. From deep relaxation we move straight into writing prompts, Kerouac style, to free up the hand and get the words flowing; these prompts will encourage you to write wild secrets and scribbled shame (you can burn it all later), to open up your mind and listen in to your own creative voice. Each prompt will build on the last with the goal of getting to the heart of things. We'll try a visualisation, a practice that can be quite enlightening for some people and not so wonderful for others - the thing is to try it and see what works. We end the workshop with some craft, trying a more challenging writing exercise that pulls our prompts together. And then you see what you've got! It's often surprising, always useful. Things will come up and some of it will keep you going, long after the workshop is over. 

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There will be the opportunity to share if you would like and some discussion about what worked and what didn't for you. There is no pressure to be brilliant - just honest with your words. 

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A note to those of you who have joined this workshop before: the prompts are always different and the visualisation will be different too, no two workshops are ever the same. 

 

Try it! Check out my homepage for the next workshop and upcoming retreat. 

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