How and Why to Start a Journal.

Could bitching and moaning on paper for 5mins each morning change your life? As crazy as it seems, I believe the answer is yes.

“Once we get those muddy, maddening, confusing thoughts (nebulous worries, jitters, and preoccupations) on the page, we face our day with clearer eyes.” - Julia Cameron

Nearly every day I sit down with my coffee, notepad & pen and journal for a minimum of 5 mins - depending on what is going on for me this can range from 5 min-45 mins. I don’t journal to be productive or come up with a literary masterpiece or to put down ideas for a blog I can publish. The pages aren’t intended for anyone but me. It’s the most cost-effective therapy I’ve ever found.

Reread the above quote. This may be the most important writing exercise you do even if no-one gets to see it. The process in this instance matters much more than the outcome.

Here’s how Journaling helped me….

Everyday we’ve got a million things going on around us and we’re living in constant noise and distraction. When we’re that busy it can be hard to see where we’re maybe shooting ourselves in the foot…. For me when I really slowed things down about 2 years ago I started giving myself 20 minutes a day just to write my thoughts, ideas, feelings, dreams and fears some amazing stuff came up. One of the simplest but most beneficial things that came up for me was identifying the things that make me happiest in life. One of those things for me was Yoga…. And so, when that idea came up in my journaling it was the little prompt I needed to go back training and explore this a little further. Fast forward two years later and here we are. Today I’ve got my own yoga business and couldn’t be more fulfilled. So what is it that you love to do but you’ve forgotten about, ignored, neglected or dismissed? It’s amazing what’ll come up for you if you take 20 minutes and some quiet time to write….. It can also be a healing practice through times of grief, anxiety or depression.

Tip: Whenever I am in an almighty rage, I angrily write down everything I am feeling on the page then tear it up and let it go - it feels great! It’s times like these when I look at what I have written down that I spot some of my own insecurities and flaws that induced the anger or even sadness. Task

1) Go treat yourself to a nice journal and pen.

2) Try and journal every day for the next 20 days for 10 minutes and see what comes up. Journaling is messy and mental and that is the beauty of it. You can curse, cry and do whatever you want with that pen and paper, it’s your little therapeutic get-away.

Remember, journaling doesn’t need to solve your problems it simply needs to just get them out of your head where there will otherwise bounce around all day.

Namaste,

Laura