Have you ever lain awake at night telling yourself to go to sleep? The harder you try the worse it gets. If I tell you, whatever you do, don’t think of a pink elephant, most people will instantly picture a pink elephant. It’s like our brains are trying to sabotage us. It’s like a battle with yourself.
Then there’s another state, which some people call flow. You can see it if you watch a football match. Early on in the game, when there’s no pressure, someone may score an incredible goal. But as the match comes to an end and the pressure to score gets really intense, that same person may struggle, because they’re trying too hard. They’re thinking too much, and that panic and stress of the clock ticking get in the way of them performing.
Now obviously there are times when you need to be really awake and thinking logically – like crossing a busy road. You don’t want to start daydreaming then! Or if you’re trying to solve a maths problem, then that part of your brain is pretty useful.
But the trouble is, we tend to all use that part of our brain – the thinking part and inner critic – way too much. It keeps us safe, but it often stops us from doing things because it thinks it’s keeping us safe. Like not speaking out in class in case you say the wrong thing and look stupid.
But we’re missing a trick here. Although we use 100% of our brains, scientists still don’t even know what 90% of our brains actually do. We’re just waiting around while the thinking brain tells its stories about ourselves and the world around us, and we buy into that. We tell ourselves these stories and because we believe them, they become true.
So my story was that I was rubbish at maths and sport, so I never really tried and then of course I was rubbish at maths and sport! Our thinking brains are switched on pretty much all the time and they are running the show. Unless you’re hypnotised or you meditate, it’s quite hard to bypass that strong voice in our heads and get to a deeper place which is your intuitive mind, which everyone has.
But have you ever surprised yourself. Done something effortlessly without thinking too much about it and then wondered how you did that? Or really enjoyed doing something and lost track of the time because you were so engrossed?
Sometimes, when we relax and stop thinking so hard, there’s another part of us that takes over. The person with a bad stammer might start to sing and have an incredible voice, with no trace of a stutter. It’s the same with Tourette syndrome – something else takes over. Or someone with dementia, who can’t remember their own name but can still sing all the lyrics to their favourite song.
And you can tap into that with writing too. Not as work – like writing an essay – but to express yourself. A large part of all problems are caused by self-talk in the head – focusing on the negative. Using that part of the brain to write from is just going to end up in a long list of problems and worries, and it won’t make you feel better, it just reinforces that fictitious person you’ve made up.
So OutPour is just that. Tricking your brain into not thinking, while your subconscious takes over for a bit and tells its own story. There are ways of doing this, which is what I’m hoping to share with you, to tap into a superpower you may not even know you have.
One of the ways to get into flow is with music. Most people enjoy music – it doesn’t matter what type – you could be into death metal or folk – no problem, as long as it makes you feel something. So listening to music and lyrics that affect you is a really good starting place.
Then there are exercises you can do quickly, so you don’t give your thoughts too much time to censor what you want to say. This could involve writing really fast and not even looking at the page.
There are no rules of grammar, punctuation, or spelling in intuitive writing. You can write in another language, symbols or pictures. You can repeat words. You can doodle or scribble or write blah, blah blah.
You will find that even when you think there is nothing to write, something indeed will come out—something you least expected. You don’t need to share your initial writing with anyone at all, or you may want to talk about it and use it. Let’s see what you produce!