Proprioceptive writing

How can you use writing to get to know yourself better? The basis of this method is to quietly and calmly write down what comes to mind, asking yourself questions about what you actually mean. You do this in three steps. Wies Enthoven, who works with this method, explains step by step.

What is Proprioceptive Writing?

To start with the name: Proprioception derives from the Latin word proprius, which means ‘one’s own’. When you write in this way, you become aware of everything that goes on in your mind — pictures, feelings and ideas — that you normally wouldn’t be aware of throughout the day. Only when you listen to yourself calmly and write down what is there can you really reflect on your thoughts.

How do you write with this method?

Simply put, you sit quietly at a table with a blank page before you. For about twenty minutes, you ‘listen’ to your thoughts and put them down on paper, all the while asking yourself questions. You follow three important steps:

1. Write down what you hear.
2. Listen to what you write.
3. Ask yourself: What do I mean by…?

Step 1: write down what you hear

All you want to do is write down what you think. It sounds simple — and it is — because many thoughts are likely to be shooting through your mind all day long. And although you may not always think in words, you can give words to the images or feelings that come to you. There are no rules for what you are or are not allowed to write: Anything goes, because they are your thoughts and feelings. You’re probably not used to being constantly aware of your thoughts. So sit down and take your time.

Thoughts are like voices

To make it easier, you can imagine your thoughts as spoken words. Every thought is connected to a voice. In this way, you hear a thought as a sentence that you could also speak aloud. For example, the voice that says, ‘I still haven’t made an appointment with the doctor’. Usually there is another voice that says something very different, such as, ‘What’s the point of going to a doctor, I just have to take it a little easier’.

Most of us have various voices that all want to tell us something, but they don’t always get the chance: One voice is more dominant than the others. Often the predominant voice is the one that wants to make a ‘polished’ or ‘clear’ story; this voice is formed by what society expects of you and it wants you to narrate something that others can understand. Now you are reflecting on what you think — there is no right or wrong. Listen to yourself. Hear the things you want to complain about: that’s how you can explore your thoughts.

Often you’ll get further by daring to confess the things that you think you are the only one to have. You won’t solve a problem by acting as if it’s not so bad or doesn’t even exist, and you’ll never discover anything new. So ignore the one that says in advance that your story should only be nice.