NARRATIVE HEALING

Narrative Healing centers around the belief that writing is a healing practice and bringing work into the world can be transformative, connecting, and powerful. This book teaches how to use writing as a practice of working with the mind and healing others. It is the intersection between trauma/healing work, art therapy, and just applying a more holistic approach to the writing process - whatever your goal may be. It is The Body Keeps the Score meets writing practices meets yoga in a guide that will help writers of all levels use storytelling for healing as well as art.

Narrative Healing offers a new paradigm for embodied healing and creating - a holistic path forward to listening to, expressing, and sharing our stories in the world. The premise here is simple: as we are able to better know and embody our own story, we are better able to take in the humanity of those around us. If we start to listen to our body when it whispers, we won't have to wait for it to scream to hear what it has to say. And in building that internal listening capacity, we will have the capacity to listen to others more fully and compassionately, too. This is the first holistic creative program of its kind, incorporating ancient mindfulness and embodiment practices with creative prompts designed to use writing as an instrument to awaken the healing power of a creative life. In the same way our bodies process food, the storytelling process happens in a cycle and can offer deep sources of nourishment. By utilizing a six-part method (Awaken, Listen, Express, Trust, Release, and Grow), Narrative Healing takes readers on an inside-out journey to awaken and share their full selves in a safe and nourishing way.

Our natural cycle for creating, processing, and releasing stories is disrupted and in crisis right now. We are also overwhelmed by sheer information overload. We can't keep up, and this is hindering our ability to discern what stories are nourishing and eliminate stories that are not benefiting us and the greater world around us. At the end of the day, the effectiveness of any social movement comes down to an ability to communicate, connect and listen.

Narrative Healing is more than a book about writing, it is the belief that writing is a healing practice and bringing work into the world can be transformative, connecting, and powerful.

Lisa Weinert is the founder of Narrative Healing, an online community designed to offer the ideal conditions one needs to write, listen, and share their work in the world. What started as a series of workshops five years ago, is now a multi-format platform with a range of in-person and virtual offerings. Lisa brings a unique combination of expertise to her program and this book: she worked in the publishing industry for many years and worked with hundreds of award-winning and bestselling authors as an editor, publicist, and literary coach; and Lisa has also worked as a yoga teacher trained in restorative, therapeutic, and trauma-informed yoga. This unique experience in publishing and wellness has shown that yoga and writing go hand in hand - each unlock the stories we carry in our bodies and minds.