36: Mindful Writing with Donna Strickland

The Life Story Coach

Donna Strickland Helps Writers Add Mindfulness to Their Workday

Donna Strickland knows firsthand how painful writing can be. When she started hating the book she was writing, she knew something had to change. That's when she discovered the principles of mindful writing, a practice she teaches in classes and workshops across the US.

Mindfulness is that quality of paying attention to what's happening in the present moment without judgment."

In this episode, we discuss:

• the work of Robert Boice
• interpersonal mindfulness
• the transformative power of becoming aware of our body
• what tight shoulders and hunching over the computer might be telling us
• why short, focused sessions are better than longer ones, and the lure and danger of hypomania
• suggestions for a few moves and yoga postures that we can use throughout our workday (Hint: they don't have to be complicated!)

Links & Stuff

Reach Donna via email

Donna's upcoming (November 2018) workshop

Donna's book, The Managerial Unconscious in Composition Studies

How Writers Journey to Comfort and Fluency, by Robert Boice

Mindfulness for Educators Program at Antioch University

Ann Bettencourt, who runs the Mindful Relations Laboratory at University of Missouri—Columbia

Ken Robinson's TED talk, Do Schools Kill Creativity? [Spoiler: Yes!]

And finally, a big thanks to our sponsor, Hoefel Haus Bed, Breakfast & Bike Hostel