07:18
WRITE - Developing a Journaling Practice for Whole Living
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User2020-04-01 02:44:24 UTC
Sarah? This was very emotional for me. I don't journal much but I 'brain dumped' today and well - I experienced a rough day so I just cried, and cried, and cried. In fact, I'm still crying. 💦💦💦💦💦 But you said I need to write in a Gratitude Journal so I will start this process now. Just wanted you to know how much you made me see that there are many things to be grateful for. 🙏🏻❤️❌⭕️
Lorry Perez2020-03-12 22:06:26 UTC
I love to journal! I have several places where I journal. I do a brain dump journal: this year I am using Winston on my laptop which is a typewriter app. Last year I used Hanx on my iPad and the year before I used OMM on my laptop. I usually do this journal daily and in the morning. I do a gratitude journal on an online Board that I belong to for academics. Every month we start a thread: *Month* Attitude of Gratitude. I post 5 things that I am grateful for every day. I also do this in the morning as I recognize and acknowledge what I am grateful for from the day before, the challenges of the morning (I am not a morning person), and the things I might be hoping for for the day. I use the Grid Journal app and set up several pertinent questions that I want to work through for the year (giving myself room to change them as I need to). I do the Grid Journal in the evening. I also use the Day One app to journal at least one photo which captures the day. I don't use Instagram for this practice because I want to be able to capture my day in a photo without comment, a memory that is just for me. I also keep a paper journal. I use composition books and take time to decorate the cover with stickers or drawings, fabric, whatever I'm feeling for the month (it's usually about 1 per month or two). In this journal I feel free to include poetry, notes and cards, photos, drawings, post-its, programs, anything that might catch my fancy. Some pages end up being a decoupage of all kinds of things glued and taped in. It sounds like a lot but in reality, it doesn't take that long if I let go of neatness, fanciness, etc. - which is HARD because I have issues with that! - I find myself leaving a trail of thoughts, ideas, emotions, joy, pain, LIFE.
Jessie Nelson2020-03-11 08:00:33 UTC
Sarah, these are great ideas! I'm a homeschool mom and I graduated with a bachelor's degree in Spanish 3 months ago. I had the bright idea of starting a journal in January as a way to contemplate my post college life and to write solely in Spanish to keep that up. I've been inconsistent at best and tend to only write about yoga! I wrote page after page for college, but facing my journal I feel robotic and hesitant. I think your ideas can help me get some more flow on the page and make journaling work for me instead of being a chore. Thank you!
Emilia2020-04-05 12:39:33 UTC
Hi Sarah :) Thanks for this, I've been trying to get into the practice of journaling for a while but couldn't really find a way in. Today I started with these videos and I'll see what comes up. I have one question. For the first time in my life, I've moved to the other side of the world to work (from Argentina to Thailand) and I'm experiencing a lot of changes and emotions right now, which is why I think journaling can help me clear my thoughts and emotions a bit. I'm bilingual (Spanish/English, Spanish is my mother tongue). I work in English and my brain switches from Spanish to English and vice versa all the time and I'm not sure whether to journal in English or Spanish. Do you have any recommendation? Should I just let it flow?
Thank you!
Emilia
Ankita2020-04-01 11:27:23 UTC
Thank you Sarah! :) In addition to the 4, I am using journaling to deal with difficult situations with people/co workers just to articulate clearly prior to any confrontation or atleast clearly know where my head is at. Sometimes people hurt us or we hurt people or we simply function differently as people which causes rifts or arguments so during those times, I like to write my thoughts about the situation and the person clearly as either a form of release or careful speech for when it does come to a confrontation. Also it gives me some reason and time to dwell on it and not let it pass and then blow up one fine day.
Merja Kujala2020-03-30 07:06:33 UTC
Hello! I'm actually councellor of therapeutic writing and this was interesting series. I wished that you would have gone deeper into that.
Carmen Gómez Molina2020-03-22 12:51:17 UTC
My first ever experience with journaling took place when I moved to the US during middleschool, in English and Literature class. Before then, through my education in Spain, I hadn't been asked to write on a topic everyday for a certain amount of time. As Sarah described it, it was certainly daunting at first. Afraid of lack of thought flow, or the lack of quality of those thoughts, or coherence in my writing. But as a habit was built (also a good connection with the teacher who would read them) I started letting go of those fears, freeing my writing up. That was age 13-15. I didn't carry on my own. I only came back to it last February/March, as prompted by the therapist I started seeing.
Before starting therapy, I knew that's what I needed to do, battle with my own thought processes, break them down into smaller chunks in order to get to the emotions behind them. But I just needed someone to push me into it, to hold me accountable for it. The first 3 weeks were such a huge struggle as I was carrying the burden of very heavy emotional blockage, and was afraid to just burst into pieces if I let it all out. But then by force of habit, and also by having to face the vulnerability of going back to my writing with my therapist in every session, I started loosening up and embracing it, seeking refuge and release in writing even though not with an everyday frequence. That went on not only for the 3/4 months we saw each other, but even after ending treatment since I was already a lot more stable and also about to take up a job opportunity abroad. It has continued to help me process all the life changes I have faced in this first serious job in a big metropolis where I don't speak the native language.
Now I feel a bit at a roadblock, accepting the fact that I need outside tools, ready to compromise to self helping myself out of this by seeking professional help again. But I also want to simultaneously seek that lost inner peace by reinforcing my journaling and yoga practices, which I tend to abandon in my darkest times because they act as a mirror of self, manifesting my own shadows and vulnerability which I have a tendency to resist. Exploring writing in a new light, experimenting with different types of it sounds like a challenge for someone who is mostly used to "thought/emotional dumping" but I am ready to be guided and put in the WORK <3 So thank you for this content!
Erin Gurski2020-03-19 22:25:46 UTC
Joining in late this week! I had a daily journaling practice from age 6 to 16 after which it kinda fell by the wayside. I'm now 30 and looking to start again but my biggest challenge I think will be that I am a first time mom with a 7 week old daughter to care for who doesn't have much of a routine yet. Looking forward to trying my best though!
Natalie2020-03-15 15:42:59 UTC
I started journaling on a regular basis as part of an online mandala class that I took when I was in the midst of a broken heart. This led to much deeper areas of self-healing that I needed to look at as part of what I had been avoiding that also contributed to my broken heart. What I've discovered over the past several years is that writing on a daily basis helps me keep myself grounded and as part of my daily practice I write 5 things I'm Grateful for and 3 things that Delight me. I recently wrote 'big toes' as something I'm grateful for :) I just use a simple notebook and colored pens so that I can use a different color for each day. I also have a little photo printer that I keep nearby so that I can include a picture of something that I'm writing about. I'm a morning person so do my writing after my morning meditation while I'm enjoying my coffee. Writing things, even negative things, helps me sort them out and approach them from a more positive viewpoint. For me, I was truly surprised at how much writing helped me get to my best SELF. Like yoga and meditation, it's portable so when I'm traveling I take it along so I am able to continue the daily routine of my self care. Thanks for sharing your suggestions and practices!
Bev2020-03-10 01:44:51 UTC
This is coming exactly when I need it.
I’ve journaled in the past but found it was often a sad or negative space. I focused on the wrong thoughts when putting pen to paper. Looking forward to this so much!
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