The Act of Writing as a Mindfulness Approach: Activating the Lens of Zen Arts Practice

This thesis explores connections between the act of creative writing and mindfulness approaches. In Western traditions, we often think of the act of writing and mindfulness practice as separate activities. However, in Zen arts practice, one can use the arts to cultivate mindfulness. We can simultaneously write while practicing mindfulness. This thesis presents three artefacts: (1) a mindfulness program tailored for creative writers; (2) a report on writers’ actual experiences of the program; and (3) a narrative for children. The main research finding is that writers who attended the mindfulness program recorded a statistically significant increase in trait mindfulness.