Practice Ways with Tanya Lynch
Ease, anchors, permission
Practice Ways is a monthly feature on Balance Practice that shares notes from writers, makers, coaches, and creatives, offering perspectives on what balance looks like as real life is happening.
I’ll be honest, this journalling queen had me with the name of her business: Ease (retreats, that is). What an ever timely invitation: Ease. It’s so available and yet we so often forget. Through her bespoke therapeutic journalling workshops and online programs
sparks ever-timely remembrance of our easeful baseline, and creates space on the page for all of us to channel emotions into positive creativity.Perhaps best known for her unique writing and well-being retreats, Tanya collaborates with bestselling authors and creative experts to create truly transformative experiences around the UK, and was recently named amongst the best retreats for aspiring writers by The Times newspaper. She’s also a certified bibliotherapist, skilled in prescribing you the right reads, and offers generous weekly reflections, guidance, and prompts on her publication
.You’ll find Tanya, blue Kaweco fountain pens, and a big TBR stack on the epic Welsh coast, and if you’re lucky you might catch her new drive through journaling sessions via camper van (I’m trying to convince her to roll through Scotland soon!). We’ve recently bonded over our shared love of writing, books, and the sea — a beach girl after my own heart, truly. We’re dreaming up ways of working together for our members, more soon!
Balance? It’s all about permission!
- Tanya Lynch
What’s feeling good to you in this season?
You know what’s just so delightful right now? The magical moments with my ridgebacks while I watch the sunset from the shoreline. I’m lucky enough that I get to walk on the beach daily. Where there’s this perfect pocket of time when the light is so illuminating and I watch my my dogs in the distance running free chasing the seagulls. It’s a gorgeous bubble of calm before the day sweeps me away into its beautiful chaos!
What does balance look like for you right now?
Balance? It’s all about permission! Permission to scribble that gloriously messy first draft of my book without my inner critic Nigel showing up uninvited. Permission to shut the laptop when my brain turns to complete mush. Permission to wander along the beach with absolutely NO agenda while the waves do their hypnotic thing.
I’m basically learning that balance isn’t some perfect equilibrium, it’s this wild dance between creating like crazy and then actually letting myself refill the well.
What practices support your sense of balance?
Oh, the anchors that keep me from drifting away. My non-negotiables include daily journalling (with my favourite journal and fountain pen), beachside wandering with my four-legged companions who remind me what living in the moment actually looks like, and diving into a thought-provoking memoir just before sleep. I’m absolutely obsessed with gathering with fellow writers too, there’s something awe inspiring about holding space for each other’s words. And I always, ALWAYS come back to the page, especially on days when it feels impossible. Those are usually the days when the best stuff happens!
What’s one gesture toward center you’d invite everyone reading to partake with you today?
Try this with me — pause for thought — close your eyes for 2 minutes and while doing so, check in with your breathing. Tune into any fragrances or sounds that are close by, appreciate them all. You have my permission to tell your inner critic to simmer down. Keep checking in with your breathing and lastly do a quick body scan — When was the last time you checked in with your little toe, your wrist, or your thigh? This is a good time to be grateful for the vessel that is our body that gets us from A to B without hesitation.
I encourage all my journalling students to do a pause for thought every time they are about to start their journaling practice. It is a beautiful ritual and helps us to check in with ourselves before getting our thoughts onto the page.
Whatever tiny whisper you hear while pausing before journalling, honour it! It’s your path back home to yourself, and these small acts of love are how we find our centre again.
Sending you ALL the warmest and creative mojo wherever these words find you today. I look forward to connecting with you in the not too distant future.
Tanya Lynch is the founder of Ease Retreats, holds a diploma in therapeutic journalling, and is a certified bibliotherapist. She’s on a mission to help women heal and reap the benefits of daily writing and journaling practice. Learn more about her work and retreat with her at easeretreats.com.