Meditation as a Brainstorming Tool

The fashion these days seems to be mindful in everything you do. Experts tell us to be mindful when we eat, when we exercise and when we do pretty much everything. As I said, it’s fashionable to be mindful.As fashions go, it’s not a bad one. One does wonder if its appropriate in every situation. I’m not so sure it is. One thing I do know, is that it can be useful in brainstorming. You just need to relax and try it.

At the core of mindfulness is meditation. Or maybe I mean mindfulness is the core of meditation.Either way, it is a good tool to have in your writer’s toolbox. It can be a useful tool for brainstorming. If nothing else, it will calm and focus your mind. You want that when you need to solve a problem or generate ideas. The key word there is focus. To brainstorm well, you need to focus on your problem or the kinds of ideas you want to generate. Meditation can get you that focus. Focus can also mean control. If you can control your focus, you can solve any problem. Calm your mind and relax. That’s how it works. You relax and tap into your unconscious mind to find solutions to problems as well as ideas.

Yet, meditation can help you in another way. You can use meditation techniques to do some free writing. Just sit down, set a timer if you wish, begin your meditation by going to your calm or happy place. Then, write whatever comes to your mind. I know what you are thinking, you’re supposed to empty your mind when you meditate. That’s true for the most part, but everyone has thoughts that drift through. Even women with the most experience in meditation will have thoughts slide through. You can use that to your advantage. Let them come into your quiet mind. Note those thoughts and that’s what you free write. As each stray thought enters your mind, write it down. Then let it go. Let another thought drift in. Write that one down. Let that one go. Do that until your timer goes off, or for the number of ideas you set as a goal for your brainstorming session. You will find you have a lot of ideas to work with. Meditating can give you that.

Meditation is tool to reduce stress and help you focus. You can also use it to generate ideas or solutions. It’s all in how you use the tool. Think of it as a screwdriver. You can use a screwdriver to loosen or tighten scares, but you can also use a screwdriver as a pry bar. If done the right way, it can be a useful method for brainstorming. It’s just another tool for your writer’s toolbox. It’s there with your character charts, setting forms, world building equations. It’s there with all the tools you need to create your fiction. So go to your happy place, calm yourself, focus, and get some ideas. That’s all there is to it.

About pebblepup

I am not one who is comfortable talking about myself but here goes. I enjoy writing, family history, and reading. I decided to do this blog because I wanted to try something new. I decided to make it a weekly blog because I wasn't sure that I could keep up with a daily one, and monthly seemed like I was writing a magazine. I think I did ok with my choices. You'll notice that there are not a lot of graphics on my site. That's because there are graphics plastered everywhere on the Internet and those sites sometimes take forever to load. This blog is a place where you can kick back, relax and be ready to be amused. At least I hope I willbamuse you. This blog is on a variety of subjects from my ficitional cat agency, the FFL, which is monthly, to instructional blogs to editorials, which are my opinions only. I admit that I don't know everything and could be wrong -- I frequently am. Now, stop reading about me and read what I have to say!