The Mindful Writing Series invites you to explore your story as well as your writing life with a fresh, inspired perspective. We’ll examine what prompts us to share our stories, why we make particular narrative choices and what we’re truly hoping to elucidate. What do we know, and how do we come to know it? What do we not know that might open a path to curiosity? How may we learn to or perceive anew and write about the discoveries?  

In this last session, we will experiment with mindful practices that Refresh our entire Being to prompt an energetic shift in our writing. Here, we spark our sense of:

• Noticing – boost awareness in all seasons of light, shadow, limbo

• Nature – what feels relevant, what may be resonant

• Nurturing – befriending the self to sense possibility in ourselves and our characters

Together, we will Pause to actually pay attention to what refreshes us in the moment. We’ll notice what disrupts this sense of ease, and with compassion, return to our inherent wisdom for sustenance and support. Begin again in this session to cultivate a simple yet sustainable mindful practice that makes our writing – and our life – luminous.

Lara Wilson, a writer, teacher and 40-year meditator, devotes her life to exploring the intersection of mindful wellbeing, nature immersion and storytelling. Intent to share the meditative practices that helped her through years of breast cancer treatment, she established the mindful wellness educational collaborative Be Well Be Here, a 501c3 nonprofit in Concord, MA. Lara’s short stories have been published in The Kenyon Review, StoryQuarterly, American Fiction, Confrontation, Indiana Review, and the Chicago Tribune Book Section as well as anthologized in Printers Row and Hacks: 10 Years on Grub Street. Her essays have been featured on NPR / WBUR’s Cognoscenti and in a collection honoring her mentor, the late Andre Dubus. Lara holds a master's degree in English and American literature from Harvard and a graduate certificate in Mindfulness Studies from Lesley University; she also earned certification in restorative yoga (RYT-200), Reiki (Level II) and advanced mindfulness trauma training (TSMa). She and her husband are the parents of four beloved adults, two of whom were married last year. Ask about her passion for forest bathing and equine experiential learning – and share your story!