5 tips how to use poetry for self-nurturing

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Business in Rhyme, Write, create, innovate: exercises

poetry_prompts_nurturing

Today I want to talk about why you need to be selfish. We all need to be selfish, but in a healthy, unconditional way – not capriciously neglecting others. What I mean is that in many situations, we dedicate our time and energy to others and fulfilling other people’s needs while completely forgetting to take care of ourselves. And we can lead our lives in such manner for some time, but it’s not sustainable. Dissatisfaction, disease, stress will silently crawl into our lives and we will start to wonder: Where did I go wrong?

I do believe that we all need to have that little time in a day when we only focus on ourselves and our needs – when we practice self-nurturing. That can manifest in many forms: eating healthy, exercising, having a meaningful daily/morning routine. These little acts of self-love can recharge our whole being so we have more energy, ideas, creativity and even time to share and be of valuable service to others – being that family, our job, community, sharing our creativity through hobbies. It doesn’t matter. Being mindful of our own needs and why we want to fulfill them is what it means creating positive experience and fertile soil for desired impact. And now you might ask, what does poetry has to do with it?

Well, some time ago I wrote how poetry has that restorative power and how it can  help you in reconnecting with your own true self. It can help you in your creativity, meditation. But it does go further than that. Here I share my 5 favorite tips on how poetry can help you in your self-nurturing practice.

You know when you have a bad mood, like during those autumn raining days when you simply don’t want to get out of bed and all you can think of is sleeping ‘the rest of your life’? Well, we all have those moments. Instead of forcing yourself ‘to be normal’, take few minutes of your time and write poem:

What do I feel?

Words and rhythm you put in your poem will not only help you reinforce the healing power of poetry, but you will be able to come down to the root cause of your feelings, which is the first step in your recentering and addressing what’s been bothering you.

The second thing you can do is to simply let go of anything you think might be holding you back and write a poem about it:

I let go…

and have paper accept everything you want to release: being that negative feelings like resentment and anger, to stuff, people and relationships you believe are not beneficial to you and your self-growth. Use this writing prompt as an opportunity for self-reflection and analyse what’s the excess in your life. Once you write that down it might even spark some inspired action where you further simplify your life – by letting out what you don’t need you make room for new, constructive experiences to enter your life.

And we all know that where our focus goes, that’s where our energy flows. We can use this in a positive way and instead of dwelling on what’s wrong with our life all the time we can take a look at what we have to appreciate.

I appreciate in my life…

and continue your poem about hings you love in your life. What makes your life remarkable, different, what you are grateful for? It is such an empowering motivation that shifts your mind and actions to be rather grateful for what you have instead of complaining about what’s missing.

We also as a human beings have tendency to be our worst and hardest self-critics. We have a habit of blaming ourselves for even situations that were not in our control and beyond our influence. Well, it’s time to step back and simply allow yourself to be a human being that makes mistakes, make wrong judgments and sometimes acts unaccordingly.

I forgive myself…

is a writing  prompt where you can pour your heart out and set your self free of any guilt, past decisions, choices you made and simply accept your quirky, unstable but beautiful nature.

And the last one is a sort of a bucket list:

I want…

Start your poem with these simple words and focus your thoughts on what you would like to attract more of in your life, what to experience. Don’t contemplate on why and how, but how it feels, indulge  all your senses and let your imagination do the rest. This is similar to visualize with words exercise, I recommended sometime ago, but here don’t play around with specific goals, but more with feelings you would like to invite in your life.

This writing prompt will further help you in your future decisions to have more patience with yourself, to be kind and gentle towards what you think is right for you. It will also help you sharpen your intuition and act from that deeper knowing what’s good for you instead of what’s right thing to do (according to other people opinions).

In the long run, we all strive to achieve that peace with ourselves and listening to our inner guidance is the only sure way to reach it.

How do you practice self-care? Please share in the comments below.

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26 thoughts on “5 tips how to use poetry for self-nurturing”

  1. Hi Maja. When I was growing up, I was taught that selfishness was a bad thing – but of course, as you note, we need to be selfish Enough to care for ourselves, not just everyone around us. Poetry is indeed a fine place to put feelings good and bad; it helps with release and appreciation, both. I’ve had people express concern when my poetry is “dark” yet I am happier for having released worries and tribulations. Poetry is a lovely vase in which to put things! Thank you, as always, for your post! ~ Peri

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  2. Hi Maja, thanks for this motivating masterpiece, I’m into it already and I hope others can make good use of it too; keep up the good works…

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      1. They are always nice, the essay, prose and poetry; I’ve seen you liked them 🙂 and I’m dropping a fresh one tomorrow!

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  3. A really good idea. I started blogging when I felt very anxious and sad about something and although I didn’t express my emotions directly through my poetry, I was drawn to write poetry and take photos of nature which made me feel well and happy. 🙂

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  4. I appreciate your ideas for using poetry writing to bring healing to our lives. Writing poetry has provided a source of respite and a safe place to process my feelings. In this fast pace world daily writing is what keeps me sane. This is not about creating a product. It is about the practice of making space to just be.

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  5. “How do you practice self-care?” Among other ways, the most important tends to be writing, reading, prayer and meditation. Certainly, they all interweave together, especially where writing is concerned. Much of what I write comes from prayer, meditation, reading … and heart-to-heart conversations with loved ones, nature walks, etc. All very therapeutic.

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  6. Maja, Thank you for the excellent tips. I have also read the highlighted three pieces, and feel refreshed and elated. In my country, poetry is a dying genre, and no publisher is willing to accept manuscripts, except in self publication, which incur unaffordable cost in marketing and display in book shelves, Poetry might not fetch a market value, but it’s valuable for those who love reading them. The market flame may die, but internal flame is eternal.

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  8. A nice inspirational and thought provoking piece, Maja. I think in the fast pace of today’s society we become so consumed with the needs and wants of others, we forget to take some time out for ourselves. This post is a reminder of the positive benefits for doing so. And using poetry as the medium, what could be better.

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  9. Writing has always been my safe haven, the place I go to when I am struggling, where I can let it all out and make some sense of the turmoil that may be occurring in life on just in my mind. It doesn’t come naturally to everyone to want to write down how they feel, some people prefer to talk things through, not me, I am an introvert – I find this very hard, and so writing is my best friend, my loyal confidant. And it is open to everyone in the world, without exception – what an incredibly powerful tool!

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