Mindful Writing: A pathway to inner freedom // with Marianela Medrano

Mindful Writing connects us to the here and now without judging the experiences of the body, feeling, mind, and understanding. Somatic practices are important parts of MW and lead to centeredness and equanimity. 

In this course, you’ll discover how mindful writing expands your lenses and ratio of vision to see all the layers of your personal story in a way that strengthens it. You will dive into the myth of separation and navigate pluriversality and radical relationality as ways to counter the myth. Through various practices, you will deepen your understanding of Ubuntu, Sankofa, and Vincularidad and see how these concepts potentially generate active hope. 

You will learn viable ways to elicit vigilant introspection, which refers to our ability to devise mindful ropes to tether the mind and facilitate equanimity. Some practices will lead to fruitful or introspective silence, the basis for building vigilant introspection and creating engaged spirituality, which is the backbone of mindful writing. Silence develops intimacy with the self. In this course, you will see how the four foundations of mindfulness and the four Brahma Viharas are the perfect platforms for establishing a connection with writing that goes beyond the personal. 

Mindful Writing is the act of writing from the roots, meaning that as we write, we take a retrospective look at our point of origin or racial, cultural, and family history to engage in discerning practices that can help us respond from a more genuine sense of self.

Week By Week 

Week One: Understanding MW and its principles. A combination of short lectures, meditation, and group discussions.

Week Two: We will explore somatic practices, define the myth of separation, and discuss countering it through meditation, writing, and group discussions. 

Week Three: Situating the self in the Pluriverse and radical relationality. We will use meditation, writing, and group discussions. 

Week Four: Poetizing the personal story. We will use meditation, writing, and group discussions. 

Who Should Take This Class

Therapists, educators and anyone interested in engaged spirituality. The course will give individuals an insight into the use of writing to create individual and collective transformation and healing.

We offer scholarships based on income as well as some partial scholarships for people living with serious illness and/or disability or people of color through the Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg Fund. Please fill out this scholarship application form so that we can find the best way to make the class accessible to you.

Format

Weekly Zoom sessions on Wednesdays from 7-9 PM ET | 6-8 PM CT | 5-7 PM MT | 4-6 PM PT | 12-2 AM UTC

About the Facilitator

Marianela Medrano was born and raised in the Dominican Republic and has lived in Connecticut since 1990. A poet and a writer of nonfiction and fiction, she holds a Ph.D. in psychology. Her literary work has appeared in anthologies and magazines in Latin America, Europe, and the United States. She is the founder of Palabra Counseling & Training Center, LLC. 

Her TEDTALK at Ursuline College speaks about her work and research on the Taino people. 

She is a certified Mindfulness Meditation teacher and mindful eating instructor, and mentor/supervisor for the International Federation for Biblio/Poetry Therapy, IFBPT. In 2023, she was awarded a grant by the Bess Family Foundation to research interspecies care. She loves the earth and is committed to caring for the pluriverse until her last breath.