You know that feeling when something is right on the tip of your tongue, but you can’t find the right word? It’s the same feeling you get when you’re sitting in front of your laptop with two words typed into a Word doc. Then deleted. Then retyped.

When that happens to me, my instinct is to cajole myself: “Think, Marissa! What do you want to say?” But I’m learning that there’s a better—and less stressful—way.

In her book, “Writing Begins with the Breath,” Laraine Herring talks about writing being a bodily thing. For most of us, it will take some doing to reframe it that way. We are primed to think of writing as an intellectual exercise—and I am not here to discount the beauty of the intellect.

What I am growing to understand, though, is that the intellect is one thread in a vibrant and living fabric. It’s not the whole piece. It’s not the loom. And it’s not the weaver.

Writing, when it’s at its best, springs from a much deeper place, and the only way to get there is to get out of your head.

Whatever you’re writing today, if you find yourself stuck or stumped, take five minutes to stop thinking. Our minds race with thousands of thoughts an hour. Let it be quiet for five minutes. Focus on your breath. Breathe in through your nose for a count of four, hold it for seven, and breathe out through your mouth for a count of eight. Let yourself settle into your body, and be still.

I’m not guaranteeing that the words will flow with divine inspiration when you’re done….but then again, the divine has a much better chance at flowing through you when you get grounded in yourself and reset the connection.