Try Journaling to Feed Your Soul

You’ve probably heard of the benefits of a “news fast” or “social media fast” or “screen fast.” Sometimes we just need to slow down and take a step away from the fast-paced, constant stimulation of the modern world and its screens.

What you focus on instead of screens can make the greatest difference in feeding your soul and replenishing your mind, body and spirit.

And, today, I’d like to suggest journaling.

How Journaling Nourishes Us Deep Within

Journaling requires us to slow down and pay attention to our inner lives — emotions, thoughts, memories, what our bodies need, what our souls crave. And when we pay attention to our inner lives, we can make choices that nourish us, rather than choices that disempower, deplete and distance us from our true selves.

I like to journal in a real physical book. There’s something about the physicality of the paper and pen. And there’s much to be said for taking our eyes off our screens and looking at a blank page instead.

Oh no. Did I say blank page?

No problem. You don’t have to start from scratch. Try these soul-nourishing journaling tips instead.

5 Ways to Journal that Feed Your Soul

1. Start a Gratitude Journal: One of the most soul-nourishing activities available to you every moment of every day is to focus on the things you feel grateful for and allow that feeling of gratitude to well up inside you. When you do so, you open up to the generosity of life itself. You see with new eyes the myriad things you may have taken for granted — the warm sun, the stars at night, a cozy bed, the different colors of food on your plate. The possibilities for gratefulness are limitless.
2. Journal Your Moods: Take your emotional temperature a few times a day and note it in your journal. As you notice how you feel, you may begin to connect your thoughts and activities to the emotions they provoke. Emotions provide an indicator of when you’re nurturing yourself and your soul and when you’re neglecting or even punishing yourself. The simple awareness from journaling can help you make healthier and more fulfilling choices.
3. Engage Your Resistance: What we resist persists. Rather than resist your resistance, journal with it. Ask it questions in your journal and write the answers that come to you. You can be playful with this.
4. Record and Explore Your Dreams: When you wake up in the morning, try to recall your dreams. You can start writing immediately, or lie in bed and piece your dreams together before you write. Sometimes I jot down some quick notes to remember the various dream scenes and sequences before I start writing the full story. After you write down the dreams, you might explore the metaphors and multiple layers of meaning your dreams offer. You might even take it a step further and engage in some playful exercises with your dreams. Dialogue with a dream character. Ask him why he ran after you or who he is and why he showed up. What does he have to teach you? Your soul speaks to you through your dreams. By paying attention and using journaling as a way to access your soul’s wisdom, you can give your soul what it needs most from you — and receive what it has to offer.
5. Get Playful with a Prompts Journal: No need to stare a blank page. A prompts journal takes the pressure off producing and asks a question or gets you started. From there, just go with your flow. If you feel grouchy, write grouchy. If your writing feels trite, take a risk on the page. If you don’t quite want to answer the prompt but it inspires you on a tangential path, by all means follow your muse. A prompt can get you going. And often, that’s all you need to expand into new creative territory that feeds your soul.

Looking for a particularly empowering and engaging prompts journal? The Joy of Writing Journal: Spark Your Creativity in 8 Minutes a Day makes it easy to write daily. Its nifty features include QR codes you can scan with your phone for a guided meditation to inspire your writing time or a video to inspire delight before you write.