Prompts for cultivating creativity and resilience. For therapists (and other humans).
Listening Inward Prompts are a new feature I’m experimenting with. I’m offering prompts for journaling, movement and art making/creative expression.
For now I am offering them here and there – every other week or monthly and I’ll see how it goes. I’d love your input and requests.
If you’re already familiar with the Listening Inward Prompts, scroll down to the prompts below!
These prompts are designed with therapists in mind, but they can be used by anyone who finds them helpful. Therapists may choose to offer them to clients if they feel useful in clinical work.
You might bring one or two of these prompts into your morning practice, an evening wind-down, or play with them during your day between sessions. See if you can let them be an easy resource to support you.
My hope is that they will support you in taking some time for yourself, making some space to breath and connect with yourself and nurture your own creativity and resilience.
You can use these prompts in any way that you like. They are for you!
If a journaling prompt encourages movement, go for it. If a movement prompt inspires you break out the art supplies, that’s terrific. If you’d rather write than make art, follow your own wisdom. And if you want to simply sit with any of the prompts and be curious, that’s a lovely way to explore and reflect.
No writing, movement or art experience needed. For art/creative expression prompts you can use materials as simple as pen and paper or as fancy special paints or other materials. A few markers, your kids crayons – all good.
For now, I’m sharing these prompts freely with everyone. At some point, they will likely become a benefit for members of the Somatic Playground community membership.
If you try out the prompts, I’d love for you to comment or join in the chat. Feel free to share your own responses, reflections or art. I’d love to hear what resonates.
The Cost of Over-Efforting
Journal Prompts:
- Reflect on where you’ve been pushing yourself too hard lately—emotionally, physically, relationally. What’s the cost of that over-efforting?
- Is there a way your body has been trying to get your attention about this? What would it be like to honor that signal?
Movement Prompts:
- Bring your attention to a part of your body that feels neglected or forgotten. Pay attention to any impulses you can feel to move. See if that part of your body would like to move. How does it want to stretch, shake, soften? Try it out.
- Tune into your inner rhythm today—how fast or slow are you moving inside, regardless of the pace of the world? How does this feel? How does it support you or challenge you? Move with your own tempo for a few minutes. Get curious if you want to try out something different. You may choose to add music that matches your rhythm or try something with a different pace, mood or vibe.
Art/Creative Expression Prompts:
- Draw the shape or image of “efforting.” Use sharp or heavy lines if that fits. Then move back a little and get curious about what you see and what you notice. How would you like to adjust the image to support you in relaxing some of the extra efforting? Adding soft colors? Blending some of the lines? Ripping or tearing part of the image off? Folding it?
- Create a visual of your current internal rhythm—curves, lines, colors. Let it be abstract and intuitive. Or create a visual of the rhythm that you crave or long for. If you depict both, how are they the same or different?
Bonus:
Try taking one of the prompts and exploring it with two or three of the options – writing, movement, or art. Go back and forth between different types of expression and see what emerges.