Wendy Brown-Baez
Writing for Healing: words to light our way
Writing Circles for Healing
creative writing for self-expression, self-awareness,
self-compassion, and healing
Writing can help us heal by accessing
our own inner guidance and wisdom.
Using a simple technique of spontaneous freewriting, we unlock our intuition and dive down to our deepest feelings. We gain fresh perspectives and new insights. We may be surprised at what flows out on the page and we may be surprised by the resonance we feel as others share what they have written. We experience creative rejuvenation and we recognize and celebrate our strengths. We discover an ability to meet our challenges and our journey of healing is undertaken with courage and hope.
Healing is a process and we can encourage this process through writing. By sharing our stories and listening to each other with empathetic, focused attention, we validate our experiences.
We realize that we are not alone.
Writing is a way to de-stress, rejuvenate, and recalibrate.
It boosts our capacity for self-compassion and ignites our creativity.
It is a way to practice self-affirmation and to cultivate our resiliency. It is a way to show up for our life experiences with compassion and care.
These writing circles are not therapy sessions and I am not a therapist. I am an experienced, devoted writer who uses writing for my own self-awareness and healing.
I believe that writing is a way to accentuate our innate ability to heal. By practicing self-reflective, intuitive writing and then sharing our stories, we experience commonality, connection, meaning, and wholeness. Transformation comes from understanding both the positive and the negative aspects of our experience as we delve deeper into its significance to find hope, grace and renewal.
To listen to my essay Story as Medicine click here
Responses from participants in a
Writing Circles for Healing workshop:
Allows me to put into words what I feel without judgement.
- I’ve learned to express myself.
- Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Uplifting insights on my past and present.
- Temporary escape from stress of chronic illness
- This is such a powerful medium of tuning into self.
- It was wonderful to let go of the logical and discover who I could be in the moment.
- It helps me get in touch with my inner spirit.
- Helped me process my grief and get in touch with my feelings.
- Probably the most transformative class I’ve taken yet.
- Today felt sacred.
- Thanks for helping me find myself.
photo by Nazara Matos
Wendy is available to speak to your writer's group, classroom, support group, or book club. She can design a workshop for your organization to experience the power of words for healing and hope.
photos courtesy of Jonathan Charpentier
Testimonials:
Each class I attend with you as the facilitator gives me a new insight, technique or facet to writing and this class was no different. I gained insight into taking journal writing one step further to self-reflective writing. It was a discovery that illuminated the writing process as a tool for healing. You shared your story in a clean, graceful way that was inspiring and up-lifting. As always, the caliber of your class was excellent, providing an atmosphere of safety and acceptance, encouraging vulnerability and authenticity in sharing.
--R.K.
Your class was par excellence, the crème de la crème. I never imagined so much new information. Every second of the class was filled with inspiring information to further my writing goals. I especially appreciated your support and encouragement after I leave the class in terms of writing groups, websites, other classes. You are extremely knowledgeable, passionate, and willing to share what you know and have learned. I highly recommend you.
-- Patricia Anita Young
Your teaching technique was really inspiring and fun. It also taught me that even if you’re not so good at writing or hate it, inside everyone of us there is a story ready to be told and as long as you can picture an image in your mind, you will always have something to write about. Also it doesn’t really matter how you write because everyone has their own style. Thanks, I learned a lot. —Xee
I just wanted to thank your for helping me get started with your writing workshop. I have been thinking about how therapeutic the writing has been for me, and how it has inspired me to write further. It has been very confidence building! Thanks again, Julie
I was so impressed by your talents to teach; to create; to inspire; to yield stories from the heart. I loved being there, in fact, I would take your class over again -- you have a very unique way of stimulating our stories.
--Margareth Miller
Wendy's ability to unlock the potential of the writer in each was contagious and an inspiration to those of us exploring for the first time getting our thoughts on paper, and the seasoned writers. -- Elizabeth Ellis