Hot Penning - My Favorite Daily Self-Love Practice

You are writing and rewriting your life’s story in every minute of every day. The question is, “Are you writing your life’s story for you or against you?”
Do you believe you have the power to change your story? And therefore, your life. If not, why not?
“The story” is a great coaching metaphor. After all, you are the protagonists, observer, narrator, editor and critic of your life’s story anyway. What’s important is for you to realize that you have the power to change the plot, story type, the underlying themes, and literary genres anytime you want. This is the big secret between those who are living the life of their dreams from those who are not.
Your life is not static or written in stone. Your life is dynamic. It is constantly changing, shifting and transforming. It might not always seem that way, but it’s true, nonetheless. Since that is a fairly accurate assessment; why not create your life more consciously? You can write a new story with a better ending.
The best way to evaluate whether your story is for or against you is to pay attention to your thoughts. The easiest way to do that is to write them down. The method I share with my clients is called "Hot Penning" which I have found to be the most productive method for gaining clarity about your thoughts.
Hot Penning work like this – every day, using pen and paper (not a computer) write every thought that comes to mind. Allow your thoughts to flow freely onto the pages without interruption, without overthinking and with absolutely No control. You might find it weird and strange in the beginning, I did as well, so I "Hot Penned" out a list to work from - a list of, "Who" and "What" I felt was holding me back or impacting my life in a negative way. Every day I choose someone or something off the list and allowed my soul to pour onto the paper in front of me.
You will discover that when you reach about a page and a half something begins to happen. It is here that the pen practically writes itself. It’s as if you have finally entered the secret combination to your mind. Everything that you are confused about or are subconsciously repressing starts to come out. Don’t worry, nothing you write will be too much for you to handle. This idea that we can’t handle our “stuff” is BS. You are capable and able to process all of your life experiences. You are resilient.
Daily "Hot Penning" helps you be honest with yourself and amazingly it free’s your brain up too. That’s because those pages become your garbage receptacle. You no longer have to try to keep your processing in the narrow confines of your mind. Instead, this habit acts similar to taking out the garbage. By doing this on a regular basis, you free up your mind, emotions and senses to process what is in the present. The good news is this tends to interrupt the habits of obsessing about the past or worrying about the future.
This is not the only thing you need to do to write a better story for yourself. You also need to know what to do with the words you have written. The answer is nothing! It is imperative that you don’t get caught up in evaluating, judging or analyzing what you have written. Honestly, if you were to take the time to read your pages, you would discover that most of it doesn’t make sense anyway. Remember, you are simply taking the garbage out. Also, don’t be surprised to find similar garbage the following day. We are, after all, creatures of habit. Just know that between the hours of dumping and the following day – your brain is processing more effectively.
I tell each of my clients the process of "Hot Penning" is to allow yourself to release the emotions you have shoved "Deeply Rooted" within you. All the physical aches and pains, no doctor can find an explanation for - these are the emotions you have literally shoved within every morsel of your BEing, desperately begging you to be released. I advise my clients to NEVER re-read the words they have written (That would be taking it back into your system) - Empower yourself at this stage by having a fire burning purification ceremony, in a safe fireproof container always practice Safety Precautions with the ability to extinguish out the fire - it can be shredded and buried into the earth or even flushed - Whatever feels most empowering for you!
The second way for you to know what type of story you are creating is to pay attention to the amount of drama in your current life. Drama is exhausting, and it slows everything down. If there is a lot of drama going on, chances are you have created a story about how things should be. Getting pulled into believing life or others “should be” a certain way will cause you to go against your own current. This is a resistance to life that keeps all the good at bay. “Shoulding, Coulding and Woulding” are often subconscious and automatic negative thoughts that keep you from the present moment. These thought habits will keep you spiraling in a way that keeps you creating outcomes that do not really serve you.
Lastly, the most important suggestion I have for evaluating your story is to turn inward. That’s right, have a little love chat with yourself. Do you actually like and love who you are? If not, why not? Perhaps you are thinking, believing or acting in ways that are out of alignment with what you know are true for you. If this isn’t coming out in your Hot Penning – you will feel it. You will know something is up because you will be riddled with guilt and shame. If this is true, it’s likely that you need to face a situation and remedy it. Like it or not resisting will never give you the renewed sense of self that makes you feel great again. Whatever "story" is currently keeping you emotionally hostage, ask yourself this... Does this bring me JOY? Does it make me feel excited to start a new day? Lit Up? - Anyone or anything that does not instantly give you these feelings and emotions is a sure sign of being out of alignment with the life you came here to experience.
Your story always begins with how you see yourself. Your relationship with yourself is the lens from which you relate to others and the world. You have the power to improve all of your relationships and experiences. The power you have is choosing Unconditional Self-Love through every.single.experience. No matter how traumatic that experience or relationship may be. You are here to listen to your inner wisdom, your Intuition, gut instincts, tightness in your chest - If there is no JOY attached - It is time for you to FEEL IT - SURRENDER IT - FORGIVE YOURSELF FOR HOLDING ONTO IT/THEM FOR SO DAMN LONG - RELEASE IT - HEAL FROM IT.
It begins with just one little seed thought. I hope you replace the negative thoughts you have discovered through "Hot Penning" and re-write the subconscious narrative/stories - Replacing them with positive affirmations of who you are TODAY because of them - How have they Impacted you in a Positive way? What will you no longer tolerate because of the experience? plant and cultivate positive new EMPOWERING thoughts daily. When you recognize the subconscious negative thought patterns - Say Thank You for the lesson, it has taught me_________ about myself, you no longer serve a purpose in my life, I forgive you and release you now, because I am __________ because of this experience you have given me to choose unconditional love for myself.
When you begin to release and make room for the JOY in your life to be experienced, you will not only improve the most VITAL relationship you have - The one with yourself - You teach others how you need to be respected, honored and loved. This is a very beautiful, yet extremely challenging journey with a domino effect - you begin naturally teaching those around you as well - almost giving them permission to join you on the Self-Love journey.
You become the Lighthouse keeper.... Illuminating the Path Ahead
Love and Light, Always
Jennifer Lynn White xo