Writing is Righting: Awake Integration Circle

For this month's circle I am using a technique I learned from writer Laura Davis that can greatly help with psychedelic integration and with uncovering subconscious material.

According to an article in Forbes:

1. Handwriting increases neural activity in certain sections of the brain, similar to meditation. According to a study performed at the Indiana University, the mere action of writing by hand unleashes creativity not easily accessed in any other way. And high-tech magnetic resonance imaging has indeed shown that low-tech writing by hand increases neural activity in certain sections of the brain, much like meditation.

2. Handwriting sharpens the brain and helps us learn. Writing is good for keeping one’s gray matter sharp and may even influence how we think, as in “more positively,” studies show. Apparently sequential hand movements, like those used in handwriting, activate large regions of the brain responsible for thinking, language, healing and working memory.

3. Handwriting forces us to slow down and smell the ink. Another often-overlooked benefit of writing by hand is that it just plain forces us to slow down and enjoy the moment — a novelty in today’s world where immediacy reigns. Mindful writing rests the brain, potentially sparking creativity, according to neuroscientist Dr. Claudia Aguirre.

THE PROCESSS

You will bring paper and pen with you. I will give you a key phrase or word as a writing prompt and then you will write whatever comes to your mind for 10 minutes using a pen on paper, without editing. Then we will go around the circle and read our entries out loud (optional). We will rinse and repeat until we run out of time.

Most people find this process insightful and sometimes revelatory.

The class is $10 for the evening and all proceeds go towards Awake.net's FEAT program to fund individual ibogaine treatments to end opioid addiction.