For NaNo-ers working like dervishes through 50,000 words, for those (like me) trail-blazing through revisions -- or anyone straining to complete unruly projects that seem to be erasing whole chunks of time and personality to boot -- I offer an early holiday gift: this guided, meditative centering exercise.
It's from The Silva Method (beware, that's some surreous long-form, hard-sale copy on that there page) -- and no, I didn't buy their big ol 10-CD, $200 program; I'm cheap and this download's free -- and it's the craziest, trippiest, most mind-bending way to relax and remember who you are and what you're working for.
This along with regular mindfulness meditation has completely reversed how I approach myself, writing and work. Which is a helluva big deal. Almost all of 2011 was an ugly slog for me, a time when I was straining so fiercely against the steel cables of bipolar and ADD that they constricted until I couldn't think, see or write over the noise in my head. I was constantly racing to catch up, clenched so tight that it's a wonder I functioned at all (I didn't).
Now, I find myself relaxed, calm and with this gorgeous mental cleanliness that, instead of knotting up and feverishly working, actually seems to make me step back from work -- even on deadline -- and relax. Then I go back and finish in a better, more alert state of mind. It actually seems to build hours into my day. How about them apples, y'all?
Enjoy :)
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