We had a splendid turnout to start off the Mindfulness and Writing project. Adrienne began with a mindfulness session using sound, and Bev followed that up with a soundful writing prompt on thunder since Glasgow enjoyed a thunderstorm this morning.
One and all reported the combination of mindfulness and writing to work well, some of the comments appear below.
We began with a reading from
The writing prompt: my mind has thunderstorms
was taken from the poem Thunderstorms by the Welsh poet William Henry Davies,
an artist with a fascinating life journey and this led to the most rewarding part of the session - the sharing.
Here is some of the writing that happened:
Prompted by Welsh Poet William Henry Davies
by Sandra Walls
My Mind Has Thunderstorms:
The heady clap of thunder booted me out of my REM sleep and dreams of horses coursing on foam waves crashing my mind. Too many recent deaths to concentrate on creativity. The heavy electrical scent of black flat low nimbus brings the dense dark veil after the white crack of the dance of lightening. But the doors open and waves come crashing back into my soul. Like a spiritual prompt to get back on the horse after a fall. The inclement hard storm lashes and bounces back a foot above the tarmac. I watch cosily from inside my bedroom window, maintaining the peep from my twitching wooden slats that keep out the dark and at the same time keep in the dark. Black Stallions rhythmically hoof through my core and rise upon hind legs; to meet my crashing white mares. Waves from my wakening of creativity - once again, my muse voices to me to lift my pen.
Let the rains and the sea salts cleanse my body and mind from my darkest deepest thoughts and stop welcoming the brooding thoughts of death into my house.
Mind Storms
by Terry Baldock
My mind has thunderstorms,
My body is lightning,
Which crackles with energy
In the depths of depression.
Ideas in torrents,
That flood the pages,
Feed the parched landscape of dust and tumbleweed.
There are ominous rumblings.
Dark thoughts on the horizon.
Huge raindrops on tin roofs.
Bang bang bang, can you hear them?
The streams are rivers
Held back by dams
Which break with the pressure.
The words form sentences
That start making sense.
The dark clouds drift away
Until another storm
Appears.
My mind has thunderstorms
by Louise Terry
The lightening comes first
A flash of anxiety
A tense moment of waiting
Counting until it thunders in my ears
Then I know
If it’s near, or far
A catastrophe moment
Or a meandering one,
Blowing itself away
Hopefully beyond my hearing
To leave me in peace.
Bex Woodsford
My mind has thunderstorms
I can feel them building
The pressure in my head
and on my body builds.
The trick is recognising this,
The trick is to allow
Allow what comes without resistance
Allow the tears if that’s what’s needed.
Allow the dance
Allow the song
Allow whatever comes
Giving space to the weather in my head.
The rain that comes
The clouds that lift
Honouring and recognising what’s there.
Words from my mind onto the page
No sense nonsense
Doesn’t matter
Reduce the pressure
Just write
Thunderstorms by bonbon
With the thunderstorms in my mind, I can feel the chaos for parts of my day. I’m worried about life and death in my world, I’m irritated by the nonsense of my 9 month online customer service experience and how simple becomes complicated and time consuming - stealing away my precious minutes. Family are turmoil with COVID furlough and redundancies and fears for the future. The power of the thunderstorm is heavy.
I suddenly remember what I’ve said for years and years during previous thunderstorms when asked what I want and what makes me happy
I want all the big things in life……….like love, smiles, hugs, laughter and peace…..
I STOP…. I breathe, smile and allow the sunshine into my head. I can cope with each mini storm.
I can breathe again and my head is calming - the thunderstorms move on …a few minutes more for the one or two persistent flashes, then I am calm in a beautiful blue sky day……..but I continue as I Know each time, the storm will always pass
Thanks to you all
for such heartening feedback; here is the chat transcript from the end of the session:
- wonderful kx
- lovely and relaxing
- Thank you so much. Lovely to meet you all!
- Sorry that I had to leave earlier. My neighbour came to the door with cake and the dog was getting excited. I loved the session. Thank you.
- thank you Adrienne and Bev for this wonderful time spent together connecting with our thoughts, with each other and with our writing
- thankyou for a wonderful session
- a perfect balance
- loved hearing everyone’s work.
- great writing shared
- Many thanks Bev and Adrienne, I really enjoyed today’s session, the writing opportunity perfectly bookended by mindfulness. The mindfulness feels like a great tool to be used for self care and for improved writing practise
- thank you to everyone, Bev and Adrienne
- thank you. loved it, Wonderful combination, mindfulness and writing. x
- Thank you both for a lovely session, the mindfulness practice before the writing really freed up my writing process - see you next week
- Final Thoughts. Mindfulness and Writing was like a cohesive marriage. mindful. clean mind and giving you a blank uninterrupted page to write.
- A great session, really made the connections between mfn and writing. Great guiding and felt like a really safe space to share.
- thanks so much for both sessions. powerful synchronising body and mind. the calmed mind gives strength to my ailing body.
- Thank you Adrienne & Bev - loved both sessions. Very new to me and exceeded all my expectations. I feel quite energised, much more than I have for some time.
- Wow, what a wonderfully powerful combination. I feel like its a brand new day……..I thank you both so very much. I thoroughly enjoyed all the sharing thank you everyone xx
- Wonderful! An inspiring combination. Thank you so much. xxx
Please contact us on readbevs@gmail.com if you would like to join the next session on Friday 3rd July.