Your Weekly Challenge - Journal Your Heart Out

Published: Mon, 03/12/18

 
Your Weekly Challenge - March 12, 2018
 
 

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Many people are adverse to journaling because it brings back memories of school, English and grammar. However journaling can be one of the most valuable tools in our journey. If you have not tried journaling, I encourage you to give it a try for at least 30 days. I think you will like the results and see the benefit of continuing journaling as part of your centered practice.
A few journaling rules that I have found handy over the years:

* Use a spiral notebook, nothing fancy. Often when we use a fancy journal we can subconsciously intimidate ourselves about what to write.  
* Keep your journal in a safe place. Consider purchasing a small locked safe that you can keep your journal in so that you can freely express yourself.
* Don't worry about grammar or wording, this is for your eyes only.

Journaling in the Morning
I have found that journaling in the morning when I have my coffee is very helpful in my balanced journey. When we journal first thing in the morning, it allows us to get all of our "floating thoughts" out of our minds so that we can think clearly throughout the day. If we don't record those thoughts, we will likely ponder them well into mid-day. Writing them out in the early hours helps us release them so our mind is free to focus on the moment.

Here is how I do my morning journaling. I encourage you to try this for a week and see how it frees up your mind to stay more present in the moment.

Within an hour of waking up (you may have to get up a bit earlier to do this before house starts getting busy) set a timer for 10 minutes. Write continually for 10 minutes without stopping. Don't worry about what you are going to write, just write. Just start writing about anything that is on your mind. If you can't think of anything to write, write "I can't think of anything to write," over and over again until something comes to you. The key to this free-writing exercise is not to stop at all---keep writing. What you will likely find is that more and more comes to the surface as the minutes go by. When you finish, you might be very surprised at what you have discovered on paper! If you find that you are just "getting going" when the timer stops, consider changing your writing time to 15 or 20 minutes.

Be warned that often the first 5 minutes can be a bit slow without much coming to the surface, it takes a while to relax and letting thought flow freely. This is why it is imperative that you don't stop writing, even if you have to write "I can't think of anything to write" over and over again.

Two other quick rules: Write in pen and don't erase, worry about grammar or spend time looking for the perfect "word." Also, don't reread what you wrote during your "timed" journaling. (And of course, don't criticize yourself for anything you write!)

You can repeat this activity in the evening to "free your mind" from the day's events.

As you discover the joys of journaling, here are some additional prompts you might chose to explore either through timed free-writing like above, or at your leisure.

    * What has life taught you so far?
    * Vividly describe times when you were at peace or happy.
    * Who do you most admire and why?
    * If you could leave 3 pages of wisdom for future generations based on what you have learned in life, what would it include?
    * What is the most valuable advice you have been given throughout the course of your life? Are you following it? Why or why not?
    * What expectations do you have for yourself? Are they realistic? Where did they come from? Are there any that you need to let go?
    * What are the best ways you can nurture and support yourself?
    * What do you fear?
    * What do you need more of in your life right now? What is an action step you could take toward obtaining that need?
    * Is there anything you are angry about that you need to release? Write about the experience and your emotions.
    * Is there anyone you need to forgive? Write about the experience and emotions.
    * How is your past influencing your present? Where there is a negative influence, what can you do to change it?
    * Where do you tend to make things more complicated than they actually are?
    * What relationships need attention in your life? How can you nourish them?

As you journal or reread your entries, you will likely  discover additional subjects or ideas to journal about. Keep a journaling prompt page and record ideas as they come to you. When you are ready to journal, turn to your prompts page and choose a topic that appeals to you. Journaling is not self-indulgent, but one of the best activities to keep ourselves centered, self-aware, and healthy--in turn, we can support those around us in positive and productive ways.

Your Turn: This week try your hand at journaling at least 3 days using one of the suggested exercises.

 

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