Align your story®
I used to find sitting down to write difficult, time-consuming, and often frustrating.
This practice changed everything.
Write From Your Center gives you a sure-fire way to tap into your creative voice at any time.
In just 15 minutes, transform your writing and your day.
This mindfulness writing course is designed for writers (and non-writers) of all levels to help you jumpstart your writing, reconnect with your center, and access your deep creativity.
With this course, you can:
*Be supported in your writing practice
*Be supported in a meditation practice
*Write with more ease
*Access your authentic voice
*Be more creative
*Reconnect with yourself
*Be more grounded
*Listen better — to yourself and others
*Feel more at peace
*Come into greater health
*Feel more fulfilled, communicative, and productive
*Access your authentic power
*Finally write the work you’ve been wanting to write
I’ve been amazed at how much progress I can make with my writing in just fifteen minutes. The mindfulness writing course sets me up to do some of my best work. Rather than sitting at my desk trying to figure out what to do, I find I have great focus and can get right to work following Nadia’s meditations and prompts.
SUSAN S.
I never had a daily writing practice before trying Nadia’s mindfulness writing course, and it revitalized my writing. It was so much easier–and more fun–than I thought it would be and I’m finally making good progress on my novel!
COLIN V.
Hi! I'm Nadia!
I have a PhD in English from Columbia University, I’ve been a literature professor at MIT, my own creative writing has been widely published in such places as The New Yorker, The Boston Globe Magazine, Spirituality & Health and The Kenyon Review, and I’m the author of the poetry book The High Shelf.
I had all the bells and whistles of a creative writer. But for a long time, I struggled as a writer. In order to get good writing time in, I thought I needed to clear two, three hours on my schedule. Then I’d sit down to write and often feel blocked. Maybe I’d get up and sweep the floor if I got stuck or check my email. I had a hard time really settling into my writing. I’d notice my mind would turn in circles. I’d sit reading a book that inspired me for an hour hoping the muse would come. I often felt unable to access my authentic voice.
Along my own personal journey, I realized that to access my full voice and story, I needed to tap into not only the head, but also my body, heart, and spirit. I did a lot of personal growth and healing and became a serious student of Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, a vipassana meditation pracititioner, certified yoga teacher–and my children were also always my teachers.
But it was only when I began to put together the head and the heart, my training as a writer and my training as a meditator that I was able to come into my authentic voice and an aligned writing practice.
When I meditated before I wrote, I was amazed at how much more quickly I could settle into my writing and my voice with this new method. And when I read a short piece of writing that I loved after the mediation, I found that my writing was more vibrant and exciting. And instead of needing to clear 2-3 hours from my schedule, I could get some of my best writing done in just a small fraction of the time! My writing is more clear, more direct, more focused, more profound, more creative, more surprising, more insightful.
I knew I had a method that didn’t just work sometimes, it worked whenever I needed a boost…and I didn’t need tons of time to do it!
Then I started introducing my students to this method, leading them through short meditations, sharing a piece of writing and a prompt. Students who told me that they had struggled all week to write would sit there and in ten to fifteen minutes have a beautifully constructed full piece of writing. Often the pieces that they wrote in these short writing sessions needed less revision than pieces that they had worked on all for weeks.
I started to record myself and share the process more widely. First, I offered just a five-day free meditation and writing challenge, but participants wanted to continue and make the practice their own, so I created Write From Your Center.
Students in the course have written whole books with the practice, have fallen in love with their writing again, have felt centered and whole and fulfilled in ways they haven’t for years.
Students who have been lifelong writers and lifelong meditators often tell me that they’re shocked that they never brought these two practices together before, but so glad they do now.
It’s hard to do this practice alone, though. With Write From Your Center, all you need to do is hit play.
Thank you, Nadia! I so enjoyed these writing sessions. They were like fifteen minutes of magic.
TRISHA W.
Thank you for this class.
I have been meditating for many years and I am a professional writer. Doing them in conjunction with one another just didn’t make sense.
There is no challenge for me in this class. It has given me an opportunity to sit with myself and my thoughts in a different manner. My writing is flowing easier. I look forward to pen and paper. Yes, my first drafts are on actual paper!
Again, thank you for this course that I will use as long as I continue to write.
mary s.
A Simple but Radical Practice
At the heart of this practice are 31 different 15-minute audio recordings.
The recordings guide you through:
*A 3-5 minute meditation to quiet the mind and body
Meditations include practices in the tradition of: Thich Nhat Hanh, vipassana meditation, kundalini yoga meditation, pranayama meditation, and more.
You get to experience lots of new meditations and see which works best for you.
*An inspiring and beautiful piece of creative writing
*Poems from authors such as Emily Dickinson, Rilke, Mary Oliver, Rumi, Ross Gay, Lucille Clifton, and many others
*Short prose passages from authors such as Audre Lorde, Rebecca Solnit, Virginia Woolf, Anne Lamott, Thich Nhat Hanh, Thomas Merton
*A writing prompt to guide your session
Questions, Collections of words to write from, Places to focus your attention, & more!
*Supported writing time (10 minutes)
Ten-minutes of writing after a short meditation can produce more powerful and insightful work than hours of writing in other conditions.
You write not only from your wandering mind, but also from the insights and wisdom of your body.
During the ten-minutes of writing time, I’ll offer short reminders to stay connected to your body as you write.
In just 15 minutes, you can have a full, creative experience and write some of your best work.
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Waukena Cuyjet found Write From Your Center allowed what wanted to come out and be healed was able to emerge and transform through Write From Your Center.
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Lori Scanlon writes professionally as a consultant. But in Write From Your Center, she was able to tap into a her own creativity and find her flow.
Participating in the practice is like going on a little vacation each morning.
willa m.
“I was feeling completely stuck in my writing–and in my life. Then I started to do Nadia’s meditation and mindfulness writing course, and everything began to flow again.”
chris b.
WHAT'S INCLUDED IN THE MINDFULNESS COURSE:
31 different 15-minute audio guides (more than 8 hours of recordings in total) in a beautifully packaged program so that you can listen to the audios again and again. The recordings take you on a journey into the self and your relationship with the worl around you. You'll often find an amazing synergy between the prompts and your life. Be inspired by poets such as Mahmoud Darwish, Mary Oliver, Rumi, Rilke, prose writers such as Virginia Woolf, Audre Lorde, and teachers such as Brene Brown and Thich Nhat Hanh. ($397 value)
Suggestions/Guidelines about how best to use the course and different ways you can benefit from it, including guidelines for how to use the course to deepen a writing project you’re already working on.
A calendar to chart your all your progress and visualize your schedule. Use it to stay on task as well as be productive and prioritize.
Lifelong enrollment. Start any time. Come back to the course any time! Go at your own pace! Each time you work with the recordings they will meet you where you are in the moment, and you'll have a different experience. (Hard to put a price value on).
BONUSES ($350+ value):
BONUS #1: ($147 value)
MEDITATION COURSE FOR CREATIVES
#1: This self-paced bonus supplemental three-part course will guide you through three different forms of meditation (pranayama, breath awareness, and chanting), help you get over roadblocks in your meditation practice, and connect your meditation practice with your creative writing practice so that you can more easily bring your meditation and writing (or any other creative act) together. This bonus course with both teachings and guided practices is designed for all levels of meditators who want to go deeper into the relationship between meditation and any creative practice.
BONUS #2: ($77 value)
FULL YEAR OF DAILY MEDITATIONS AND WRITING PROMPTS
#2: Expansion to use the 31 audio recordings month by month with new prompts for each month so the program becomes a FULL YEAR of daily meditations and writing prompts!
And once you have a year-long practice, it’s easy to make it a LIFELONG PRACTICE!
BONUS #3: ($37 value)
LONGER SUPPORTED MEDITATION
#3: Expansions to turn the 15-minute practice into longer supported, mindful writing sessions. Sometimes you want to write for more than 15 minutes. This practice will give you longer, supported writing sessions.
PLUS: EXTRA BONUS
MEDITATION FOR CLARITY AND DIRECTION ($57 value)
Special 20-minute practice session for greater clarity and direction in your writing—and your life.
Listen any time you need an extra boost!
The benefits of Write From Your Center can be more profound and long-lasting than a $60,000 MFA program
It’s hard to put a value on this course.
I’ve had students who have completed books with this practice after being stalled on their writing for years. I’ve had students use this practice to get through periods of illness and loss and thrive during the difficult process. I’ve had students tell me that they feel more connected with themselves as a result of this practice than they have in years and have seen more benefits from incorporating this practice in their life than they experienced in years of therapy.
When you take a new practice like this into your life, the rewards are long lasting and priceless.
Nadia, I need to thank you from the bottom of my heart and take the “accidental” introduction to your five days writing challenge one of those spiritual happenings that comes when you are in desperate need!
So today is day 10 of me waking up motivated eager and happy. I WANT to wake up. I LOVE to wake up early do my practice and sit down in the quiet space and be with me.
The meditation, although short, takes me away from my dreams ( sometimes nightmares) from what may happen during the upcoming day and lets me be free. No judgement no worries and no explanation!!
I love to write. But this early morning meditative writing is a totally different thing. And I write for more than the ten minutes.
I have a lot of physical pain but it’s so much easier now to put the pain and the sensations that come with it aside and welcome the day with a smile and an eagerness to know what will come tomorrow!
I can go on and on but let’s finish it here.
Thank you for being so kind. You are a giver.
Stay safe and happy
sara p, md
Nadia….thank you, I have never enjoyed a course more. (Seriously!) It was better than therapy in many ways. This experience has been such a benefit in changing that “Lack of Abundance Thinking” to ABUNDANCE….know you assisted this 70 year old woman see how young she is. What you did for me I hope to pass on to others !!
Take good care and know I am extremely grateful.
Smiles!
linda a.
Why this practice is so powerful: a radical detox and a revitalizing reset
Most of us live on overload most of the time. And as our mental and emotional systems get overloaded, our physical systems, too, get overworked.
Scientific studies have shown that just a three-minute daily meditation practice can help:
Every day, you’ll have a new guided audio meditation to practice with.
Whether you are completely new to meditation or an experienced meditator, this program will give you empowering meditations to clear your mind and physical system.
Coming into quiet is important. We also need to be energized and express ourselves.
After the detox, you’re led through a beautiful reset.
This program guides you to listen to yourself and tap into your authentic voice and deep creative power.
And it guides you to write not just from your over-busy head, but from your centered body.Each day I’ll offer a different prompt to help guide your writing.
These prompts are designed to jumpstart new writing and to help you go to new and deeper places with writing projects you’re already working on.
This program guides you to develop a regular writing practice so that you have a comfortable and intimate working relationship with your writing and your voice.
With this practice, you will write your best work from a more authentic, aligned place.
And, as an extra perk, just as meditation has powerful health benefits, writing has been scientifically shown to improve both emotional and physical well-being. Expression and self-understanding are key factors in health.
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Melissa Curran found a way to re-engate with writing through Write From Your Center.
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Yenna Yi was skeptical of this practice at first, but just 15 minutes a day is enough to transform her relationship with writing.
I gave myself a wonderful gift when I signed up for Nadia’s Write From Your Center course. I had so enjoyed her free prompt offerings and didn’t want it to end. I am a yoga and piano teacher. I’ve kept journals and writings here and there but this discipline opened up joy and playfulness. After finishing Nadia’s 31-day course, I had so many lovely pieces. I was encouraged by friends and my spouse to self publish a poetry book. Something I never dreamed of doing! It was an exciting project and I am so grateful to Nadia for her inspiration and support.
BARBARA L.
You gave me a tool that has helped me an immense amount in the midst of a very difficult year.
In the past hour I dealt with a task that had been causing me untold anxiety. Why is this relevant to you? Because in order to calm myself down, I first sat and did one of your meditations and freewriting exercises from the 31 day program. As a result, I was able to deal with something that had been weighing on me for ages. The relief is enormous.
When I tried your first freebie course back in April, I had tried other kinds of meditation before. They hadn’t really done that much for me, not noticeably enough to be worth putting the effort into making it a habit. Your practices did. I’d had no idea it was so easy to wind down. I used breathing meditation to calm myself before surgery. I used it in the bus on the way to work when I was getting wound up. I used it to fret less about my writing, and I produced some work I’m truly proud of this summer.
I’m writing this with tears of gratitude in my eyes. I sought guidance from many places this year, and the most useful was yours. Thank you.
IRINA D.
Nadia’s course gave me so many blessings….as an artist, meditator, and journal keeper, I found the prompts were wonderful right from that moment of ‘sitting in anticipation’. I was grateful for new breathing exercises and the reminders to breathe while writing. Sharing with the group and reading the amazing work of others was so inspiring and supportive…from the brilliant writers to the limited dabbler that I am, every contribution in the community was a gem. and I took handfuls of nourishment from other members…As a creative, whatever our route, expression in words mixes so well in that golden pot.
ANITA D.
Nadia, I’ve so enjoyed the meditation and writing course–it’s been incredibly helpful and useful to my work. I carved out two intensive weeks of writing this summer, and the course really helped me to sit down and focus, rather than getting distracted by chores, etc. Having a way to begin is so necessary. I finished two drafts of my manuscript, a process that I found incredibly nerve-wracking, and the meditation practice really helped me to settle myself with the process. I also wrote a lot of poems! 5 in one week, which is amazingly productive for me, and they felt like real poems too, with places to fit in the manuscript. Thank you!
ANNA R.
Nadia is a miracle worker. She has some magic alchemy whereby she merges yoga and breath, poetry and writing prompts. Her work brings me into my body, and help me create freewrites and fiction that surprise me every time. As I work on my novel, which at times is a task-master, requiring rigorous work around story structure, Nadia’s prompts keep me grounded in my body, where my deepest creative truth resides, every time. People talk about that well of creativity within us, but juggling work and family and creative endeavors, it is easy to loose touch with that cool water. Nadia’s guided writing exercises, in fifteen quick minutes, let me dip into that well I’d forgotten was there all the time. Her work is allowing me to get this book written, even during unprecedented times.
MAY K
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
What If I can’t commit to a daily practice, is this course for me?
Yes! Do what makes sense for your schedule. Try for three times a week. Or two. Be intentional about it and try to keep up with your own intentions. Use the facebook group for support.
Or use the practices in this course to onboard your writing at those particular times you need it.
There’s no falling behind in this course and no failing! The supporting materials will help you decide what is right for you. And once you enroll, you have lifetime access to the course so you can use it whenever you want.
I’ve never meditated before, is this course for me?
Absolutely! This course will walk you through meditation and you can always come to the facebook group for support.
I haven’t written in a long time, is this mindfulness writing course for me and don't think of myself as a "writer"; is this course for me?
You bet! You don't need to be a "writer" to enjoy writing, tapping into your creative center, and expressing yourself. This course will get you writing from a place of integration and take you on a journey of personal discovery. It's designed for people with all different writing backgrounds and identities. With the right approach, writing is a profound and healing practice for everyone.
I already have a daily meditation practice, is this course for me?
This course only offers short meditations, so stick with your daily practice and add this to it. If you have a daily meditation practice, I think you’ll enjoy bringing writing to another short meditation practice! When you bring silence and voice together, amazing things happen.
I already have a daily writing practice, is this course for me?
When you bring meditation and writing together it can really boost your daily writing practice and help you have deeper insights and access a different level of creativity! So yes!
I’m in the middle of a long writing project, is this course for me?
Yes! It can be hard to stick with a long writing practice. There are special directions for how to use this course in tandem with a longer writing project. This course will get you working more efficiently and help you clarify your message and your writing and strengthen your own unique writing voice. It's often amazing the synergy between the prompts and a piece of writing a participant is working on.
Now that I know about bringing meditation and writing together, what does this course add that I can’t do on my own?
With this course, all you need to do is hit play and be guided in a deep writing experience. Even experienced meditators and writers benefit from letting go of the reigns of control and going on a journey with their creative voice. When we allow ourselves to be led, often we can go deeper into our creative subconscious and have deeper insights and flow. This is primarily a practice in deep listening, and it’s hard to recreate that for ourselves. The course also is designed to take you on a journey and brings together carefully selected meditations, inspiring writing, and prompts.
Does the course come with a money-back guarantee?
Absolutely! I believe 100% in this course and offer a 100% money-back guarantee. If you try it and aren’t happy after 15 days, I’ll refund your money.
GIVE YOURSELF A GIFT
Sign up for lifelong access to this transformative practice
15-DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE
If you’re not happy with the course, just email me within 15 days of enrolling and I’ll refund 100% of your purchase
As the founder of Align Your Story writing school, where I’ve taught thousands of students, I am excited to share practices that will help you come into a more holistic and fulfilling relationship with your writing, your voice, and yourself. Write From Your Center shifts your relationship with your creative life; when you write from a more centered place, not only does your writing get stronger, you also get stronger as a person. Only when we can access our own fullness of being can we create our fullest, best work. I’ll hope to see you in the course and wonderful community!
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Since joining Align Your Story, Monica Lehner has been meeting regularly with a group of other AYS students to share work and experiences as writers and has stepped into her full commitment to herself as a writer.
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Sara Parvinian, a medical doctor, has been carrying the story of her teenage years in Iran under the Iranian revolution for decades. Now, with the help of Align Your Story, she finally has a method to put those chapter of her life on the page in her memoir.
Copyright 2023 Nadia Colburn