Journaling is one of the best ways to connect to your inner guidance, the wisest part of yourself. With pen and paper you can share your inner most thoughts.
Why would you want to spill your guts onto a piece of paper in a book? Well…it allows various parts of yourself the opportunity to be heard – parts of yourself you may not usually pay attention to or even knew were there. There is great transformation that can take place through journaling by internally healing the past. This internal work ripples out into your day-to-day life in a positive way. It can help bring clarity to a situation and bring you insights that only can come from the wise intuitive part of yourself.
You may have a fear about journaling, that you will just feel worse afterward. In reality, you may experience intense feelings for a short time while writing, although you’ll likely gain a sense of relief once you’re done.
Here are some ideas how you can use a journal:
- Writing personal successes
- Gratitude
- Analyzing dreams
- Documenting special memories and events
- Diary
- A Couples Journal to communicate with your partner
Often people get stuck, not sure where to start or what to write. It’s common to try to complicate this simple and easy process by thinking it needs to be more difficult then it actually is. Before we have the chance to write anything down and tap into our inner wisdom, we start judging ourselves. You probably already know YOU are your worst critic. It’s easy to get caught up over analyzing or judging a situation instead of getting to the root of our deeper, darker feelings.
Most of us have old suppressed emotions stuffed deep inside that are waiting to come out. They are there, negatively impacting our life, because we didn’t effectively deal with the feelings in the moment we first experienced them.
After a while, the deeper parts of yourself will begin to trust you, allowing the old suppressed thoughts, feelings and beliefs flow onto the paper. This gives you the opportunity to recognize why you are repeating an old pattern in your relationships, your finances, or any other area of your life. As you acknowledge these old feelings and beliefs you begin the process of dismantling them and letting them go. This is the ultimate goal.
A great way to start your journal entry is to begin with a question. Write this question at the top of the page, take a few deep breaths, re-read the question and immediately start writing the words as they come to you. You may have random words come to mind, it may come as a flood of feelings or even a conversation that you seem to be having with someone else (your wise self, negative ego, your ex, your mother). Whatever you get, go with it. Give those parts of you a voice. Don’t judge them, they just want to be heard and acknowledged by you.
To help you get started here are a few sentences to prompt you.
- Why am I experiencing this (feeling, situation, etc)?
- How do I really feel about?
- What is it I am to learn from this situation?
- What is this (person, situation, etc) mirroring back to me?
The journaling process naturally takes you to where you need to go. Trust whatever comes to the surface and continue writing until you feel like you’re done. You will notice feeling different. You may feel more at peace, feel inspired to take action, or may feel emotionally tired depending upon what you are dealing with. Those are all completely normal experiences.
Finally, there isn’t a right or wrong way to journal. The key is just to get started!
Please share your experience with journaling or any unique tips you use in the comment section below. I would love to hear them!
xoxo
Angela, The Goddess Next Door
