3 WAYS TO JOURNAL WITH MINDFULNESS FOR PERSONAL GROWTH
EVER FEEL LIKE YOU’RE NOT COMPLETELY PRESENT AND AS THOUGH YOUR MIND IS ALL OVER THE PLACE?
JOURNALING FOR MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING IS BECOMING MORE POPULAR, BUT HOW EXACTLY DO YOU USE A CREATIVE JOURNALING PRACTICE FOR PERSONAL GROWTH?
Do you sometimes feel like you’re not completely present? As though you are just drifting through the days? As though you are stuck in rut and can’t get out?
Raising your self-awareness is one of the most impactful self care practices you can develop. This can lead to understanding your real priorities, what you want most from life and setting meaningful goals,
Journaling and mindfulness
So how can creative journaling be a mindfulness tool and help with personal growth? In this post, I am sharing some simple techniques you can use in your journal to bring about a greater sense of self-awareness.
These are 3 techniques that I regularly use in my journals as a form of self care, I look back over them again and again because journaling in this way provides us with a beautiful reminder of who we are, who we’ve been and who we can become.
#1 Affirmations
Why use affirmations?
Words. Are. Powerful.
Words documented on the page and repeated in your mind begin to take charge of your thoughts and over time change your pattern of thinking.
As humans we often pick up on, believe and focus on negative words we hear. Writing your own affirmations gives you an opportunity to pay attention to your thoughts and re-shape them with some positive intention, adding art to the process allows our mind to bond a deeper level with the words.
How to affirmations in your journal
You can dedicate a whole journal to your affirmations or sprinkle them throughout the pages of your regular journal, it is completely up to you.
You can come up with your own affirmations or you could simply write down some ones that resonate with you from a card deck or on the internet.
examples of some of my affirmation pages
#2 Quotes
Why keep quotes?
A quote has the power to be something we lean on or hold into in times of need and offer us some real comfort. As humans we connect with quotes as we can often struggle to find the right words ourselves.
So many of the things we read that resonate with us throught the day are lost. We read them and are sure we will remember them…but we never do!
This is why I started collecting quotes in my journals, I use the term quote quite losely, as it could be anything from a phrase I’ve overheard, song lyrics, a book quote, something I learned from a YouTube video.
As with the affirmations, the act of writing a quote down allows us to connect more fully with the words, giving them more worth and meaning in our minds.
Gathering all these quotes in one place, these special, carefully chosen words, creates something that becomes a form of self expression, a book we can continure to look back through to understand ourselves more deeply.
Finally, the fact that these words we collect do not belong to us, they are not our own, but borrowed and kept safe among us gives them a whole new sense of credibility and power. They remind us that we are not alone in what we are experiencing, what we believe or fear or hope for.
How to use quotes in your journal
Start to build a habit of noticing what resonates with you and writing it down (if you are out and about just capture it anywhere and you can transfer it to your journal another time). '
To get you started you could collect a Pinterest board of quotes on a particular theme to then add to your journal.
When writing these quotes in my journal, I try to find ways to highlight or maginify the important words, with either different colours, or larger font etc. Try getting playful with different styles of wrting or collage letters in.
Most importantly, let go of the need for perfection here, embrace messy handwriting, spelling mistakes and words that don’t quite fit on the page and get squashed in!
Examples of some of my quotes pages
#3 lists
Why write lists?
There is something very satisfying about writing a list and science is proving that there is more to list making than simple organisation, it is actually really good for your brain.
The main reason I love writing lists as part of my journaling practice is that it creates an opportunity to focus and bring my attention back to what is important.
I once read that ‘when we work with information we pay closer attention to it’. Writing specific lists in my journal helps me pay closer attention. I want to be gently reminded, often, of all the things I want to do, I want to see, I want to read, I want to be reminded of all the little things I am grateful for or that made my day brighter.
How to use lists in your journal
There is no right or wrong way to do this, you could sit down and compose a particular list on a page, for example “places I want to go” or you could keep a running list, that you continue to add to, for example “books I want to read”.
You could even start with creating a list of lists you want to write! There is a whole lesson dedicated to ‘the power of lists’ and a process video inside The Art of Self Care course.
Examples of some of my list pages
Which one of these techniques do you think you will try next in your journal? Let me know in the comments!
journaling for beginners (and those looking for an inspiration booster!)
If you’re new to journaling or creative journaling why not try our free class and try the mindful magic of journaling as therapy and personal growth for yourself!
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