Writing as Refuge™

Writing as Refuge™– A Mindful Writing Practice

Writing as Refuge™ was created by Jen Johnson from 40+ years of mindfulness practice and her own experience of writing as a contemplative path through life’s most difficult moments. What began as a personal practice became a framework she has shared with writers, creatives, and seekers for over 20 years — and at its heart, it remains what it always was: a sanctuary carved out of ordinary time.

This is a mindful writing practice for self-discovery, transformation, and creative renewal. Through guided writing, meditation, and community, Writing as Refuge™ invites you to explore your inner landscape, reconnect with your authentic voice, and find your way back to belonging — with yourself and the living world around you.

This is a practice of writing honestly, with curiosity, compassion, and presence. Whether you are a lifelong writer or have never considered yourself one, you are welcome here.Come as you are. Bring a journal, an open heart, and your curiosity.

What Writing as Refuge Practice Offers

This contemplative practice can help us to:

• make meaning from our lives
• claim our ordinary lives as valid
• connect with our emotional and sensory lives
• embrace ourselves as we are
• discover the voice of our wise inner self

Page by page, we write our way into a more inspired and meaningful life.

How Writing as Refuge Works

Each session opens with a writing as refuge meditation — a guided practice to settle the mind, invite presence, and connect us with a sense of belonging with the living Earth. From this place of stillness, we write in response to mindful writing prompts designed to guide you toward your authentic voice and the stories that make meaning from your life.

Over several weeks, we explore themes that reconnect you with a sense of inner calm and aliveness. When you participate in a Writing as Refuge™ workshop, think of it as a sanctuary carved out of ordinary time: a space to step away from the rush, to breathe, reflect, and write in community.

Writing, Neuroscience, and the Narratives We Live By

Writing as Refuge™ draws on the intersection of mindfulness, narrative medicine, neuroscience, and contemplative practice. Research confirms what writers and contemplatives have long known — that writing about our lives helps us process difficult experiences, integrate memories, and develop greater self-understanding. When we pair writing with mindfulness practice, we deepen that effect, cultivating the present-moment awareness that supports lasting change and resilience.

Writing as Refuge™ helps us relate more skillfully with difficult experiences, cultivate positive mental and emotional states, and develop new insights that support lasting transformation.

The stories we tell ourselves about our lives determine how we live and how we heal. When we pay attention to the stories we tell about our lives, we begin to see them from a fresh perspective — and that shift can transform not only our writing, but how we live.

Identity is both declared and created with narrative. — Rita Charon, MD

I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say. — Flannery O’Connor

Telling our story does not merely document who we are; it helps to make us who we are. — Rita Charon, MD

What We Explore Together

In Writing as Refuge™ workshops, together we explore:

• Writing as a path to self-discovery and creative awakening
• How our stories shape our lives and how we heal
• Cultivating authentic voice and creative freedom
• Meeting ourselves and our experience with kindness and curiosity
• Finding belonging in the living world through story and soul

About Jen Johnson– Creator and Facilitator of Writing as Refuge™ Workshops

Jen Johnson is a mindfulness coach, therapist, and writing teacher with more than 40 years of experience in mindfulness practice and teaching. She is a Mindfulness Instructor at UNC Chapel Hill. Jen has taught writing at Mars Hill University, UNC Asheville, Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, Antioch University, and Story Circle Network and has led private mindful writing workshops for individuals and organizations.

Jen is the author of the book chapters “Mindful Writing for Transformation” in Transformational Journaling for Coaches, Therapists, and Clients and “Making Peace with Your Inner Critic” in The Creativity Workbook for Coaches and Creatives. Her writing has been published in Psychology Today, PainPathways Magazine, The Healing Muse, Creativity Post, and professional training manuals.

What Participants Say about Writng as Refuge™ Workshops:

“Jen Johnson offers a sanctuary for creative discovery in her Writing as Refuge™ workshops. She is a seasoned master of the well-placed prompt — she can ignite the imaginative spark lying dormant in every soul.” — Ethel Simonetti, Durham, NC

“Jen’s approach is helping me to trust my inner voice. Writing from the heart is something I’ve always wanted to try, and I can’t wait to keep going.” — Geraldine

“Writing about my father’s early death has helped me to be more aware of how his absence has affected my whole life. I’m so grateful for the thorough, thoughtful, compassionate, and helpful way that you’ve welcomed my work.” — Kaaren

“I have new tools to use on my grief journey. Writing has helped me to put some difficult thoughts on paper — sometimes causing me to remember things I had pushed deep down.” — Shayne

“One of the most important insights from this workshop was discovering that it is possible for me to find a calm center so I can deal with and write about difficult emotions.” — Paul

Upcoming Writing as Refuge™ Workshops

The next Writing as Refuge workshop is happening in fall of 2026. For more details on this and other workshops, check out the mindfulness workshops page.

CONTACT JEN TO JOIN THE WAITLIST

If you have been hearing an inner call to story, to soul, or to deeper connection with the living Earth — perhaps this is your time to answer it.

Interested in 1:1 writing coaching with Jen for self-discovery and transformation or for support in establishing a regular writing practice? Learn more about therapeutic writing coaching or contact Jen for a free 15-minute consultation to discuss therapeutic writing coaching.

Writing as a Path to Authentic Voice

When we practice writing from the heart and soul of who we are — meeting whatever arises on the page with kindness and curiosity — we begin to discover our authentic voice. This is not a voice we invent. It is one we uncover, layer by layer, through the practice of honest attention.

Writing is really a way of thinking — not just feeling but thinking about things that are disparate, unresolved, mysterious, problematic or just sweet. — Toni Morrison

Writing as Refuge™ encourages an exploration of our inner landscape with non-judgment, compassion, and curiosity. When we explore our inner experience with kindness, this nourishes self-compassion in our everyday lives and deepens our appreciation of our own beauty and complexity.

I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear. — Joan Didion

Writing as a Path to Inner Freedom

Mindful writing practice can support us in our journey toward personal and creative freedom. When we write regularly, new insights begin to emerge that support forward movement and growth. The practice can help us shift from a fearful mindset to an inspired and courageous one.

Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende

Making time to write is an act of self-care — a radical act of standing by ourselves and validating our ordinary experience.

So long as you write what you wish to write, that is all that matters. — Virginia Woolf

Mindful Writing for Resilience

Writing for resilience helps us cultivate positive mental and emotional states that support healing and wellbeing. Through a regular mindful writing practice, we begin to pay attention to the stories we are telling — and to see the opportunities for growth and transformation that live within them.

Whatever we rest our attention on grows. Mindful writing as a meditation practice helps us refocus our attention in ways that support mental health, peace, and happiness.

Storytelling is at the heart of life. In finding our own story, we assemble all the parts of ourselves. Whatever kind of mess we have made of it, we can somehow see the totality of who we are and recognize how our blunderings are related. We can own what we did and value who we are, not because of the outcome but because of the soul story that propelled us. — Marion Woodman

Writing as Meditation

Here, we make art from everything. — Carole Maso

In writing meditation, we practice meeting ourselves and our writing with kindness and curiosity. This can lead to many benefits in daily life including increased self-acceptance, self-confidence, and a greater sense of agency and voice.

We write through our eyes. We write through our body. We write out of what we know. — Terry Tempest Williams

Writing Courses and Workshops Previously Taught Privately, in university settings, and for organizations include: 
Writing as Refuge™
Writing as Meditation
Grief Journaling
The Still Place: Mindful Journaling for Transformation
Mindful Writing: The Path to Freedom
Mindful Writing: Discover Your Authentic Voice
Mindful Journaling
Mindful Writing for Resilience
Mindful Writing for Transformation
Mindful Writing for Transforming Grief
Mindful Journaling
Grief Journaling
The Still Place: Mindful Journaling for Transformation
Mindful Writing: The Path to Freedom
Mindful Writing: Discover Your Authentic Voice
Narrative Witnessing: Healing Bodies & Souls
Expository Writing
Argument Essay
Writing the Personal Essay
Writing for Healing
Narrative Witnessing: Stories of Survival
Invisible Wounds of War Writing Workshop