Foundational habits: journalling
In my last blog I talked about the I talked about the importance of play. Play is the first of the 3 foundational habits I share with clients as a One of many Certified Coach. Today I want to talk about the second of these – journaling.
Journaling each day can be a powerful habits that provides a space for you to check in with yourself. It can be a direct line to what is going on in your unconscious mind, switching off the thinking part. This allows the feeling part to just let you know what is there, whatever is there, without any judgement of what you write.
Lockdown: journalling became a lifeline
If I’m honest, my journaling practice was always a bit hit and miss; until the first Covid lockdown came along. At that time it became an absolute lifeline for me. When the world felt like it had gone completely upside down and there were more worries than I could carry all day, having a space where I could just let it all out onto the paper and let it be was incredibly powerful.
But beyond those crazy times, I find that when I journal regularly I can tap into more clarity on what I want, where I am going, and into a more authentic version of myself.
Morning Pages: a journalling technique
The approach to journaling I usually share with clients is called Morning Pages. This is based on an approach set out in the book, The Artists Way by Julia Cameron. The idea is to grab your journal as soon as you wake up and write 3 pages of A4 as quickly as you can.
Writing fast lets you bypass the conscious part of your brain and let the flow through from your unconscious brain. So write big, write fast and write messy to get in the flow! I use plain paper journals as then my inner perfectionist doesn’t have to worry about writing on the lines!
How journalling can help
When you do this regularly you may find that it has a number of impacts:
- It can be a great ‘head-clearer’ at the start of the day – getting all the ‘to do’s and the worries and the niggles out before you get started.
- It can become a great source of creativity – you went to bed with a problem and woke up with a solution. Or even completely new ideas that just popped into being overnight.
- It helps you dream – either remembering the actual dreams you had the previous night or helping you to be more open to the dreams that maybe you’ve been keeping hidden deep in your heart. It’s magical to see what can pour out of a morning!
Starting out
Often when people start journaling for the first few times they may find themselves writing “I don’t know what to write!” or writing out their to do lists. They end up deciding that it’s not working, or that they’re doing it wrong, because they feel like they’re just scratching the surface. So, let’s compare this to other habits we build.
You wouldn’t expect to sign up to a new fitness class and be lifting the biggest weights or doing the deepest squats in the first class! It takes time to build up the muscles. It is the same with habits such as journaling (and the other Foundational Habits). Looping round that to do list or the “I don’t know what to write” moments is allowing your unconscious to get used to what you are doing. It helps you to build trust in the process. It’s scratching the surface a little deeper each time. And as you keep going deeper and deeper you start to find the underlying worries to release, or the underlying inspiration that you didn’t know was there. Stick with it! And see what it can bring.
Your challenge: get journalling
What could be the impact for you of taking just 15 minutes a day to write whatever is there for you?
If you are not already a member of my Facebook group, Soulfire Community, please do join, and share how your journalling practice is going. I share a journalling prompt each Tuesday evening to as a suggestion.
To find out more about journaling and the other foundational habits, make sure you are signed up to my newsletter!
