"Dear Diary,..."
Journaling - we have all heard about it, probably a lot of us have tried journaling or diary writing when we were kids. Nowadays a lot of people think it's not for adults but it's one of the best tools for self-therapy and its free.
Today I want to talk about journaling for self-growth and self-discovery. It's simply writing down your thoughts and feelings to understand them more clearly, to heal, to grow, and thrive within. Writing is an amazing process for discovering who we are for personal development.
"What you think you become. What you feel you attract. What you imagine you create." - Budha
Some months ago I did a 7-day self-discovery journaling challenge and now I want to share more about my own experience through writing journals and the scientific benefits from it for your mental and physical health.
I know a lot of people look at it skeptically probably because it looks childish or silly but there is much more hidden in writing down our thoughts than we think. It can be a really therapeutic and healing process for us. All those thoughts and ideas in our heads can sometimes feel overwhelming. Through our daily journaling experience, we can identify our behaviour patterns, and use it for personal growth, problem-solving, increasing self-esteem, reducing stress, learning about ourselves and life lessons, and so much moreâŚYour Journal is your personal space where you can express yourself and let it go, what you canât say aloud, analyze yourself, be creative or vulnerable. A space where you can be You and the way you are.
Some benefits which journaling can bring to your life:
Manage anxiety;
Reduce stress;
Cope with depression;
Improves Immune Function;
Keeps Memory Sharp;
Allow yourself to self-reflect;
Inspire creativity;
Clarify your thoughts and feelings;
Evoking Mindfulness;
Achieving Goals;
Strengthen Your Self-Discipline;
Healing;
Process Life Experiences;
How to start journaling:
Journaling for beginners doesnât need anything special, you donât need any specific skills or tools just be yourself and get a pen and notebook (or if you prefer write down in laptop create a separate folder for it).
Find the right time and space. Choose a place where you will not be disturbed and feel relaxed and peaceful. Try to make it your daily habit even if it's for a few minutes. It's good if you do it every day at the same time. Maybe you start your day with a journaling practice for 5-10 minutes or maybe the opposite if you feel happier to finish your day with a journaling practice. Do what feels the best for you.
Try to write every day. Regular journaling will help you to achieve better results in the self-growth process. A daily habit of journaling will disclose all the benefits of this incredibly easy self-therapy.
Time for yourself. The time you give yourself to write down to journal is your personal time, dedicated just for you, where you can be yourself, truly honest with yourself, and connect within to understand yourself better. You can start your journaling with a few minutes of meditation or just closed eyes to relax and bring yourself to the present moment where you can fully connect with Yourself. Be yourself. This is your sacred and safe place to be. Let the words flow freely. Don't worry about spelling mistakes or what other people might think. Be the way you are, the way you think. Always remember this is for you not for someone else. Be honest with yourself because it is your own journey. Ask questions. You can write whatever you want in your journal. There are a lot of different topics you can choose to write down or just let yourself write whatever comes to your mind. Brainstorm ideas or writing down goals, dreams, future plans. Maybe you want to let go of some long-kept emotions or write a letter for a specific person. I will share down below my 7 days challenge ideas with some different topics, which you can follow or find your own ones. Re-read your notes. Do the review weekly (or if you prefer daily) read again what you wrote and discover what is going on with you. Once you re-read what you have written, make a summary, or notes of what looks the most important to you, how you could improve or if you have noticed some repetitive patterns.
7 days Self-discovery journaling challenge
1. Gratitude. Today I started my self-discovery journaling challenge and the first day is all about Gratitude đ I gave myself time to be just with me. Just 10 minutes disconnecting from everything and opening my journal to write what I am grateful for today đ There are so many things I found I am truly thankful for and I feel so a lucky person, there is no place for negative energy when Gratitude fills my life. Just in a few minutes I wrote more than 40 things I am grateful for and could continue but in the beginning, I thought it would be difficult to find even 10 but now I see how life is beautiful and full of magic with so much joy, happiness, and even âbadâ stuff has actually turned into good. I believe we all have something to be thankful for đ Just tryđ¤ such a powerful practice and so simple đ And today I say my biggest thank you for this beautiful place I live đ I am so Grateful for the turquoise paradise đ
2. Self-Love. Continuing with journaling challenge đ¤đTodayâs theme âwhat I love about myself?â
So many times in our life we see ourselves as not good enough with so many bad sides and so easily we forget how much good inside us. Nowadays everyone talks about how to get better but maybe we are good enough already and just need to love ourselves. Give yourself a minute and notice what you really love about yourself đ
I really love that I have a beautiful, innocent, good, and full of love heart â¤ď¸ I love about myself that I really love people. I love that I still believe in beauty and good in people even when so many times people donât believe in themselves. I can see the bright side of everything and everyone. I love my innocence, sometimes I feel like a child who really believes in everything. Some days I think itâs not so good to be like this in this crazy world but it makes me unique and I love it.
3.Inner Child. Today we are reconnecting with our inner child đđź The task for today is easy one đ writing the letter from âlittle Youâ to âAdult Youâ đ
What the little girl ( or boy ) inside you would tell you? Donât try to think too much just sit for the moment and write whatever comes into your mind, sometimes unconscious writing gives you the best ideas and brings up feelings or emotions that didnât even think existed đ¤
I think it would be really interesting to hear what little Egle would say to grown-up Egle đ¤đđ
Dear Big Egle, oh you have so grown up and not as old as I thought you would be at 31 đ Are you still dancing? You loved dancing, do you still remember how to? And creating your own dance moves was your favorite part. I wanted you to become a dancer... or no, wait, maybe a singer... but also a teacher đŠâđŤ Actually I see you accomplished one of our dream professions. Not sure what is a yoga teacher, I liked playing a Math teacher more but your choice sounds not bad, even closer to the mix of a few careers in one đdancer + teacher đ I hope you are having fun every day and eating lots of ice cream đŚ and having a dog đś ...............................( another part of the letter I will keep it for myself )
- little Eglute đ
Give yourself time come back to your childhood and remember or imagine how you thought you would be when you grew up, what were your dreams đŚđŠâđ đ Connect with your inner child, be the child again and let joy, adventures, and happy times fill your day again đđŁđđ¸ Writing a letter from little me to me now actually has been really fun and I realized I am not so far away from what I wished for myself when I been little đ
4. Inner Child part 2. Happy Children's Day đź in Turkey today is a Big Day đšđˇ(April 23rd) I decided today for the self-discovery journaling challenge day4, to continue with the inner child connection đŁ The whole country is today celebrating Children's day. Me too 𼳠My inner child feels really festive 𤊠and to be honest I really enjoyed journaling yesterday and writing the letter from little Me to Adult Me 𼰠I learned so much from this experience. Today is part 2, writing one more letter just from Me now to little Me đđ Feels like there is so much to tell to little Egle đ If you forgot what it means to be a child itâs an amazing experience to come back to where everything startedđđŚđśđŚđ and what would you tell from todayâs perspective to that little kid?đ¤đ
By the way, this beautiful drawing is from one of my best little friends Kotryna đ
Dear little me, I love you so much and I am soo happy you are still with me every day, we still share the same innocence and I love it ( even in this adult world sometimes feels better not to be so innocent but I am happy I am đ) ........................(I think I will skip some parts, wrote a very long letter this timeđ)........................... I want to say for you, little one, keep being yourself, the way you are, youâre amazing and donât think you have to be like others, be yourself always. And remember all the time Life is beautiful. Life will be with a lot of ups and downs but you will survive everything and will become a strong woman with so much love for this world and people. đ................. Enjoy your every day, itâs one of the most beautiful times in your life. Maybe life will not always go how you wished but believe it will lead to beautiful destinations đĽ°........... and so sorry, you didnât become a dancer or singer but you still dance very often đ and you love your job, this is the most important, you do what you love đ and by the way, you will live in Turkey đšđˇ start learning Turkish đ¤đ Happy Childrenâs Day happy kid đđ
- Grownup You đđź
5. Goals. .We are already in Day5 of the Self-discovery Journaling challenge đ¤ and today we are writing to journal our goals đ đ What do you really want from your life? What are your goals for today? for the week? ...month and year ( 5 years or 10 years or lifetime goals)
Remember what are your dreams from deep down in your heart, be honest with yourself, and find out what is your real purpose not what society imposes on you. What will make you truly happy?
We all have small and big goals but the question is if itâs really what you want? Just have a moment with Real You and ask yourself these questions. Remember the most important part about journaling is to be sincerely honest with yourself ( there is no one we have to impress, just yourself ) go through this experience with an open heart and mind đđ , and do not forget to believe in yourself, everything is possible đ
6. Let it go. We all have in our lives things to let go, sometimes itâs not so easy but it will help to move forward đ Renew your life and refresh your energy, releasing old, letting go of toxic people in your life, situations, or habits.
What is not serving you anymore in your life? Itâs time to let go...for a brighter tomorrow đ sometimes letting go is the best way to love yourself as is a self-care practice đ
7. Happiness. We are at the end of the self-discovery journaling challenge weekđđ¤ The last topic for day 7 is happiness đ Such an easy but deep subject and so different for each of us.
What is real happiness for you? What does a happy life look like to you? đđ Donât forget to be truthful with yourself đ
Be Happy đ
Take your time and sit for a moment with your notebook to discover more about yourself. My personal experience showed me that writing down, sometimes even unconsciously, can bring you so much clarity in your life. Sometimes everything you need is there, you just need to write it down to see it finally. So simple. Enjoy the process. The journey is the most important not the results.
Namaste
Love and Light
"Yoga with Eagle"