Writing with the Non Dominant Hand
a practice to awaken your subconscious and inner child
I’ve been doing some journaling with my non dominant hand as a way to stretch my brain and tap into my intuition. It’s been super illuminating, challenging, and like a big workout for my cognitive and physical brain function, not only that, but there are incredible psychological benefits as well. Art therapist Lucia Capacchione's research shows that writing with your non-dominant hand helps stress and anxiety and is also a great way to access the voice of your inner child.
Here are few reasons why I recommend you trying this out for yourself:
🧠 It’s a great way to tap into your subconscious mind and inner knowing. Ask yourself a question with your dominant hand, then let your non dominant hand answer with its intuition.
🧠 It’s a powerful way to listen to your inner child/ younger self. Ask a question to little you with your dominant hand, then let them respond with your non dominant hand. You will see how the handwriting mimics your young handwriting. Bonus? Do this with a picture of little you close by.
🧠 It’s a way to practice Parts work (Internal Family Systems, bringing all the parts of you to the table for a conversation. Dr. Lucia Capacchione created a Non-dominant handwriting practice as part of IFS and Parts work, since it can increase access to the Parts that are young and vulnerable.
🧠 It’s a wonderful way to stretch your brain. When you use your non dominant hand in tasks, it challenges your cognitive and physical development. Think, it’s like lifting weights, but for your brain!
🧠 It can be a fun way to bust through writer’s block. Try writing with the non dominant hand to clarify a big idea or write new ones that are outside the dominant thinking. For example) write a list of book ideas in the non dominant hand and see what arises! In the words of Marina Albramovíc, “if you get so good at drawing with your right hand that you can even make a beautiful sketch with your eyes closed, you should immediately change to your left hand to avoid repeating yourself.”
What do you think? Are you going to try it out? Let me know how it goes for ya!
Love, Megan
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Interesting! I will definitely try this out (and maybe even start a separate journal for this practice entirely).
A couple of weeks ago, I was trying to pen a male sheep and he mashed my pinky finger on my dominant hand between the gate and his horn. Poor guy. His partner had passed away from birthing complications and he did not want to leave the pen they shared to go live with a goat family. But I digress...
My finger has been almost completely functional, except for the searing pain caused when I try to write with that hand. Because of the pain, I have avoided journaling (or writing for any reason) with pen and paper or with my tablet.
Sounds like now is the perfect time to try your method!