The Yoga Writers' Handbook

If you love yoga and you love writing...

• Learn how to establish good self-care habits that support you in your writing life.
• Free up your creativity through mindful walking and writing meditations.
• Learn how to write more sensually by mindfully bringing the five senses into your writing.
• Acquire skills that enable you to write in a more inclusive way that engages your reader.
• Free up your imagination so that you write in a way that surprises your reader and keeps them turning the page.
• Learn how to edit your work and build your confidence to submit a finished piece of work for publication.
• Deepen your understanding of yoga and fall in love with the writing life!
  

Praise for this Course

"Jilly is an incredible tutor and made me feel so much more confident in my writing through her beautiful feedback. I have never felt so held before as a writer, and I would definitely recommend the course to anyone who wants a fresh perspective on their writing."

Mookaite (they / them)

"The course was a great success, I loved it … I felt very supported all of the way, have learned a lot and gained the confidence to put my words further ‘out there’ in the form of blogs, and maybe one day the book I have rattling around in my head!"

Lindsey

"I am pleased to have done this course and the biggest learning relates to my language when teaching and needing to be clear with instructions. Looking from a different perspective and using the techniques you introduced me to is enabling me to understand myself better."

Marie

"I enjoyed all the modules and the way it was organized in bite-sized, digestible pieces. I enjoyed the writing tips and selections, suggestions for writing prompts, and I appreciated Jilly's feedback. I also learned some great tips throughout the course about point of view/narrative voice, and received a huge boost in confidence that using writing as a tool to heal is itself a yogic practice that I will continue, regardless of whether it gets published or not! I appreciated Jilly's vulnerability in sharing her life's story as it opened the space to do the same."

Jessica

The endorsements above are from students who took part in the pilot, tutored version of this now self-paced course.

The Yoga Writers' Handbook Course Programme

Module One – Getting Started

This module will help you find your feet as a writer and build firm foundations for your writing life. You will be encouraged to establish a regular Writing Meditation and Walking Meditation practice, to enhance your wellbeing and release your creativity. You will consider practical ways to integrate writing into your life.

Module Two – Getting Your Writing Flowing

In this module you’ll mindfully use your five senses to make your writing more sensual and readable. You will learn how to convey abstract concepts by using concrete images (bringing the spiritual down to earth). You will consider how to use yoga to remove creative blocks and get your ideas flowing again.

Module Three – Empower Your Writing

This module is a journey through perspectives and their impact on your writing. You’ll read examples of yoga writing in the first, second, and third person, and through a series of exercises, you’ll explore how a piece of writing changes depending on the point of view. We’ll also play about with bringing fun, surprise and original points of view into our writing.

Module Four – Tuning into Your Inner Wisdom & Navigating Stormy Waters

In this module we’ll focus on cultivating the art of mindful listening to access a deep well of inspiration for our writing. We’ll consider ways of tuning into our Inner Wisdom and trusting ourselves to be guided by it. We’ll also tackle the thorny problem of how to keep writing when difficult emotions arise, and how to navigate these stormy waters. 

Module Five – Harnessing the Power of Your Imagination

In this module you’ll dive into the depths of your imagination, and reconnect with the curious, playful, imaginative side of your nature. You will experiment with collaging your writing, keeping a dream diary, and you will go on an artist’s outing. We'll investigate the power of rules to either restrict, or to expand, our freedom of expression.

Module Six – Blossom into Your Full Creative Potential

In this module you’ll be encouraged to recommit to all those practices, such as Walking Meditation and Writing Meditation, that keep you a happy, healthy, and productive writer. You’ll hone the skill of editing and polishing your finished manuscript. You will explore ways to begin and end a piece of writing. You will discover how to make your writing an awesome experience for both yourself and the reader. We’ll touch briefly on publishing options, and the journey of a book from first ideas to publication.

Each module is designed to be completed over approximately two weeks. However, because the course is self-paced you can work through the modules at a pace that suits you and your lifestyle.