Laraine Herring - Writing Begins with the Breath: Embodying Authentic Voice

Practical, accessible, and motivational.

The Washington Post

A worthwhile and motivating read for all writers, whether or not they are familiar with yoga. Those who enjoy Julia Camerons (The Artists Way, etc.) holistic approach should similarly like Herrings work.

Library Journal

The practice is exquisitely clear; breathe and write. This book is an excellent guide and a catalyst for that deep work, and a wise companion for the writers journey.

SARK, author and artist of Fabulous Friendship Festival

Laraine Herring takes you on a journey toward wholeness as a writershe not only explores every aspect of the writing process; she also invites you to explore every aspect of your writing selfbody, mind, and spirit. Anyone who writesor wants towill find this book as essential and inspiring as breath.

Gayle Brandeis, author of Fruitflesh: Seeds of Inspiration for Women Who Write

ABOUT THE BOOK

In this distinctive guide to the craft of writing, author Laraine Herring shows us how to tune into our bodies and connect with our emotions so that our writing becomes an expression of our full beings, rather than just an intellectual exercise. With warmth and wisdom, Herring offers a path to discovering deep writingprose that is unique, expressive, and profoundly authentic. Lessons and imaginative exercises show you how to: stay with your writing when your mind or body starts to pull you away; explore the five senses in your writing; and approach your writing without judgment.

Writing Begins with the Breath will open up a whole world of creativity for people who may not have considered themselves writers before, while also providing keen insights into the craft for seasoned writers.

To learn more about the author, Laraine Herring, visit her website at www.laraineherring.com.

LARAINE HERRING holds an MFA in creative writing and an MA in counseling psychology. She has developed numerous workshops that use writing as a tool for healing grief and loss. She is the author of Writing Begins with the Breath: Embodying Your Authentic Voice, Lost Fathers: How Women Can Heal from Adolescent Father Loss, the novel Ghost Swamp Blues, and the short story collection Monsoons. Her short stories, poems, and essays have appeared in national and local publications. Her fiction has won the Barbara Deming Award for Women, and her nonfiction work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She currently teaches creative writing in Prescott, Arizona.

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WRITING

BEGINS

WITH THE

BREATH

Embodying

Your Authentic Voice

LARAINE HERRING

Shambhala

Boston & London

2011

Shambhala Publications, Inc.

Horticultural Hall

300 Massachusetts Avenue

Boston, Massachusetts 02115

www.shambhala.com

2007 by Laraine Herring

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Herring, Laraine, 1968

Writing begins with the breath: embodying your authentic voice / Laraine Herring.1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

eISBN 978-0-8348-2575-8

ISBN 978-1-59030-473-0 (alk. paper)

1. AuthorshipPsychological aspects. I. Title

PN171.P83H47 2007

808.02019dc22

2007012971

For my students and teachers

CONTENTS

In deep gratitude to:

Alma Luz Villanueva, Gayle Brandeis, Jeffrey Hartgraves, Robin Craig, Gus Brett, and Mary Sojourner for heart guidance and ears to listen while I babbled on endlessly about this book.

Gayle Brandeis and Jeffrey Hartgraves for insight and guidance in the earliest drafts, Keith Haynes for invaluable editing assistance, and Cain Carroll for generous feedback on the yoga principles and tone of the book.

Eric Walrabenstein at Yoga Pura in Phoenix, Arizona, and Cain and Revital Carroll at Yoga Shala in Prescott, Arizona, for teaching me not just a new language, but a new way of being in this world.

Soapstone writing retreat for snow, solitude, and stillness. Yavapai College for space, time, and support.

Linda Roghaar, my agent, for believing in the project and in me, and Jennifer Brown at Shambhala for wisdom, patience, and direction.

My Prescott community: Carolina, Tracy, Ramona, and Grace for Big Love.

Keith, for more than I can ever say.

And always, my students, past and present, for opening their hearts to their writing and their lives. You have been one of the great gifts of my life.

The Seeker, the Sought, and the Space In-Between

A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What one can be, one must be.

ABRAHAM MASLOW

IN THE WINTER OF 2003, I was accepted into a three-week solitary writers residency on the Oregon coast. The brochure said the cabin was modern, but that the resident should be comfortable with solitude in the wilderness. The cabin had electricity, a stove, a shower. The heat came from the woodstove, which came with three single-spaced pages of operation instructions. I could follow directions. I didnt anticipate any problems. I had lived in Phoenix since 1981 and was eager for water, cold, and clouds.

I arrived on December 21 to sun and more shades of green than I had ever thought possible. The earth was so damp it sunk down under my boot, the softest carpet I had ever stepped on. The unfamiliar smell of damp, decaying wood and leaves awakened something primal in me. Bugs lived in the tree stumps, and salmon still swam in Soapstone Creek, which ran directly beside the cabin. The rush of the winter water was louder than television static. I had not seen moving fresh water since 1980, just before I moved to Phoenix.

Its hard to explain what living in Phoenix is like. Many people move there for the weather, and while its true you wont shovel snow off your roof, you will soon find yourself trapped in your air-conditioned house or car eight months out of the year. You will find yourself buying very expensive window treatments to keep the sun out of your house. Youll create your own hibernation den in bright sunlight.

As oppressive as the weather is in Phoenix, one thing it is not is a consideration. Everyone knows it will be sunny and hot, except for the four months when it is sunny and not quite as hot. Weatherthe moods of the earthis not a factor in the lives of Phoenicians.

The third day I was in Oregon, it began to snow along the coast. In those first three days, I had seen more water falling from the sky, rushing under bridges, cresting in the ocean, than I had seen in the previous twenty-four years. Water was amazing. It was every bit as powerful as my beloved fire, yet it had the quiet, patient strength to sculpt rock. Locals told me the snow would stop soon. They told me, It never snows here! At first, it was beautiful. I was confident it would indeed stop soon because I had planned several trips to Portland to pay homage to Powells, the largest used bookstore in the United States.

Snow still fell the day I planned to go to Portland. An unfamiliar quiet hung in the woods. In order to get to Portland, I had to travel through two mountain passes I later learned were known as snow zones. I didnt think it would be a problem. Portland was only seventy-two miles away, and it