The following is a 2-minute writing exercise created by one of my heroes: Dr. Laura King at the University of Missouri at Columbia. The students who did this two days in a row experienced greater physical and emotional health up to a month later compared to a group of students who were asked to write about their campus life.
You might be in the middle of a sentence when you to stop and that’s more than okay. She designed the timing to interrupt us! Our brain likes closure and will keep the story in the background of our attention.
Instructions:
- Actively remember an intensely positive experience that you recall…a time when you experienced wonder or happiness or ecstasy or awe or laughed out loud or loved and felt loved
- Look at the clock or set an alarm for two minutes and then, being as vivid as possible, write about it.
- When it’s time to stop, observe your thoughts and feelings and body.
You might consider doing writing about another experience tomorrow… which would make it two days in a row!
© Copyright 2013 Maria Hunt
