Write To Heal
7 Journaling Tips For Self Discovery and Inner Growth
I firmly believe that journaling should be a part of every healing process. It's an amazing way to sort out confusing emotions and jumbled, racing thoughts. It allows the writer to go deeper than ever into their own psyche and helps bring revelations from the subconscious to the surface to be dealt with.
If the idea of journaling to assist you on your journey of self healing and growth feels intimidating, I have some useful tips that may help get you excited about the prospect.
I struggled for years to stay consistent with journaling, despite how much I absolutely loved it. Of course, there are no hard and fast rules, and everyone who embarks on this path eventually finds their groove.
There are techniques to make the overwhelming into something enjoyable.
And it's definitely not about following rules.
I've found over the years that, for some people, the idea of "having" to do journaling sounds like a dreaded task. However, it's such a powerful healing tool, I wanted to give some guidance to make it into a treasured hobby that you look forward to every day (or every week, or whatever works for you).
This is your path to take, and there are no rules, but there are some great guidelines to help you along the way.
Do what works for you, and don't worry about the rest. Sometimes it only takes one or two really great tips to get you motivated.
Journaling is a magical part of your journey, in part BECAUSE it can be personalized in whatever way speaks to you.
Once you let go of the idea that there is a right way and a wrong way to journal, you'll be able to find your groove.
I give tips and ideas here, but what you decide to use and what you decide to scrap is entirely up to you.
I only hope to inspire and motivate you to move forward on this path with joy and gratitude.
What Makes Journaling So Important?
Journaling has long been a very powerful therapeutic tool.
Journaling is a beautiful form of self care, and often brings deep insights, self awareness, and a state of conscious mindfulness.
Self awareness is the key to beginning the journey of self healing.
When you truly become aware of your deeply ingrained patterns, buried/haunting thoughts, and conditioned behaviors, you become empowered to make great change within yourself.
Being able to make change and growth within yourself is what will change your life.
It's very eye opening to turn your jumbled thoughts, feelings, dreams, and aspirations into the written word. It's like taking the mess of puzzle pieces out of the box and laying them all out on the table to see clearly, so you can start putting them together and finally see the big picture.
We tend to get caught up in our feelings and reactions, and can't see the forest for the trees.
Journaling gives us clarity, and from there we can gain a new perspective and a solid sense of direction. Writing down your desires, your feelings around why you haven't achieved them, and what you need to do to create change and go in a new direction can be a revealing and freeing experience.
7 Ideas For Therapeutic Journaling
1. Go all out or keep it simple
Art journals, bullet journals, a notebook written with pen...The possibilities for how you want to journal are as boundless as your imagination. If you want to go all out with glitter glue, paint, and decoupage, go for it! If you want to use pen and paper to lay it all out, go for it! Whatever works for you is what works.
2. Make Note of What Day It Is
Journaling 101- write down the date. You'll drive yourself crazy years later when you're reading your entries and can't recall when you wrote what. It's very eye opening down the road to be able to review where you started compare to where you are now, and the journey you took to get there.
Dive deep on a journey of self-discovery that can change your perspective and your life with this gorgeous 47-page journal.
3. No Judging
Release all judgment and don't hold back! This is where you can lay it all out - your true feelings, desires, hopes, and dreams. This is where you let the self-imposed limitations melt away. Your journal is a sacred place where there are no limits and no rules.
4. Have An Attitude of Gratitude, Whenever Possible
Practicing gratitude is one of the most important tools to changing your mindset and your life.
Write down what you are grateful for - people, places, pets, favorite drinks, the sound of rain, the smell of flowers on the wind - whatever lifts you up.
And, write down your gratitude for what you will have. Building an emotional connection to the goals you wish to create will move you along on the path to manifesting them.
5. Throw In A Bit More Inspiring Positivity
What little things do you come across that ignite your fires of inspiration? Favorite colors, clever aphorisms, or your most motivating mantras - put them in your journal.
Having encouraging reminders to keep you going, or images and colors that lift your spirits can help keep you on the path to reach your goals. You'll appreciate these small but powerful reminders as you move forward on your journey.
6. Practice Self Reflection
This is one of the most powerful uses of journaling. Writing down your true feelings, thoughts, and
desires gives you the ideal opportunity to look at what it is you really want from life, what you need to do to get there, and what mental blocks you have that are preventing you from taking that next step.
It's the perfect time to reflect on what you aren't happy about, and why you feel the way you do.
Journaling can become quite the rabbit hole down into the depths of what is really driving your patterns and behaviors underneath it all. Peeling back the layers, facing what is underneath, and releasing what no longer serves your highest good, is a truly freeing process.
7. Follow the urge
Journaling should never be forced. It doesn't have to happen every, or every week, to be real and effective. Don't worry about journaling if you're not feeling it - it would only become something you start to dread.
And, don't feel bad if you skip some days or weeks, or however long it's been. There are no rules about how often you "should" journal, other than the ones you set for yourself. Journal when you feel the urge to put pen to paper and let it all pour out. Journal when you look forward to it, when it feels like a treasured hobby.
Bonus Tip: Get journaling supplies that bring you joy
It's not absolutely vital, but I recommend gifting yourself the journaling supplies you truly love. The journal itself, colored pens, stickers - whatever you feel called to. Maybe you prefer a composition book and pen, and that's perfectly okay, too. Whatever makes you feel good and look forward to journaling is the right thing for you.
From the desk of Neelou Saleh
Spirit of Lotus
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