Journal Your Feelings, Part two

 

Journaling exercises for during plan 2, of the slow detox program, every day you should wake up, grab your notebook, and start writing. Write down as if no one will ever read it. Write down your dreams, insecurities, fears, … Just write! 

 

As a guide to help you poor your ideas on paper, I’ve listed a couple of my favorite topics picked up along the way my years of getting coached. 

 

Inspired by @heyamberrae, @universalempress, @sharniquinn_yogicoach, @loveoutloud.movement, @thepattern, … Follow them all! They are incredible people!

 

DAY 7: HOW WOULD IT FEEL TO BREAK THE RULES? 

 

Whatever progress you’ve made, take a moment to celebrate showing up and connecting with yourself in these uncertain times. <3

 

I’ve also received *a lot* of questions about the “rules” of this journaling journey. I’ve heard:

 

Can I skip around?

What if a prompt doesn’t speak to where I’m at?

Can I answer one of the questions multiple days in a row?

Can I do only part of the prompt?

Can I answer multiple days of prompts in one day?

Can I skip a day?

Can I share my journey online?

 

Yes. Yes. Yes. You can do whatever you want. This is your journaling journey, so choose your own adventure and follow what feels good for where you’re at. I’m sharing techniques and tools that have been powerful and useful for me. Take it if it helps. Move on if it doesn’t. An important rule of thumb: You don’t have to do anything that doesn’t feel aligned for you.

 

Speaking of creating our own rules… in May 2018, I stopped sending email newsletters. I felt obligated to write them, and then I felt shame and disappointment for not following through. So I just stopped.

I recently reached out to that email list to tell them about Journal Your Feelings, and how I hadn’t felt inspired to write—and someone replied:

May I suggest you ditch the have-to-do-promised-timed emails or content and adopt the spirit-driven-content which feels so much more authentic and keeps me reading to the end and wishing for just a little more?

That felt like the hug and spark of guidance I needed.

Why was I putting so much pressure on myself to write emails that I didn’t want to write, and stick to a timeline that didn’t feel good?

(Let’s clarify one thing real quick: I AM LOVING WRITING THESE JOURNAL EMAILS. Something about the journey of inquiry and power of questions feels fundamentally different from what I was doing before.)

But this got me thinking… How often do we put pressure on ourselves to do something that we don’t actually want to do?

How often do we follow rules that leave us feeling caged and trapped, rather than wild and free?

That’s your invitation for today: to reflect on your relationship with obligation and “should.” So grab your journal, and let’s dive in…

 

What have you been telling yourself that you “should” do that you really, truly don’t want to do—at least not now?

What rules are you following that are no longer serving you? 

And finally, what would it feel like to let go?

Here’s to creating the space for so much more of what you actually, truly, and deeply desire.

 

Journalling PRO Tip:

Forget what you “should” journal. Do what feels right. 

 

DAY 8: A BETTER, TRUER, WILDER WAY

Today we share about imagination, indoctrination, and creating a better, truer, wilder way.

 In Glennon’s words, from his memoir Glennon Doyle’s, Untamed: 

“There are two orders of things: There is the seen order unfolding in front of us every day on our streets and in the news . . . we call this order of things reality. This is ‘the ways things are.’ It’s all we can see because it’s all we’ve ever seen. Yet something inside us rejects it. We know instinctively: This is not the intended order of things. This is not how things are meant to be. We know that there is a better, truer, wilder way.”

At this point in the book, my insides are screaming “YASSSS,” I’m double underlining sentences, and putting exclamation marks in the margin because her words are perfectly capturing how I feel about the state of the world today. 

 

She then says:

 

“That better way is the unseen order inside us. It is the vision we carry in our imagination about a truer, more beautiful world . . . Discontent is evidence that your imagination has not given up on you. It is still pressing, swelling, trying to get your attention by whispering: Not this.

 

Not this is a very important stage. But knowing what we do not want is not the same as knowing what we do want.

 

“So how can we get from Not this to This instead? How can we move from feeling discontent to creating new lives and new worlds? In other words: how can we begin to live from our imagination instead of our indoctrination?”

 

We imagine a better way. 

If you’ve been feeling discontent… if you’ve been feeling disenchanted by ‘the way things are’… if you’ve been feeling a whole lot of Not this!, I’m with you. Here’s my invitation for you today:

 

What’s the truest, most beautiful story about your life that you can imagine? 

What’s the truest, most beautiful story about the world that you can imagine?

That vision is your marching orders.

Journaling PRO Tip: Trust what comes. You don’t need to be profound on the page. 

 

DAY 9: MEET YOUR FUTURE SELF

 

What wisdom does your future self have for you?

 

One day our future selves will look back on this period in our lives with a perspective that might be hard to see right now. 

 

What if we could tap into a sliver of that wisdom today? 

 

Your invitation for today is to write a letter from your wiser 70-year self* to your present self. 

 

*Already 70, or well into your golden years? Pick a future age that feels right for you 🙂 

 

To begin, pull out your journal, and at the top write: 

 

Hey [your name], it’s me, your wiser 70-year old self. Here’s what I want you to know… 

 

Tip: ask your future self for perspective on a current challenge or burning question.

 

Journaling PRO Tip: Set a timer for 10 minutes and write without pausing. 

 

DAY 10: EASY DOES IT

 

In a challenge that you’re facing, what’s the path of least resistance?

 

I recently chatted with a friend who’s had to pivot her *entire* business because of COVID-19. She shared with me several ideas she has to serve her community, but I could hear in her voice that she wasn’t fully behind any of them. She was already overwhelmed, and launching a new product with a kid now at home felt like way too much. 

 

I asked her, “What feels light and easeful in your body to offer right now? 

 

She said, “I’d start with a simple offering that has a pay-what-you-can model. That feels so much better.” 

 

“Great,” I said. “Do that.” 

 

It’s easy to get stuck in our heads and make things more difficult than they need to be, especially in challenging times. But when we pause and tune into our options, chances are we’ll find a better way—and feel more motivated and energized to move forward.

 

If you have something on your plate that feels challenging—whether it’s this moment in time or a specific project—your invitation today is to ask yourself: 

 

How can I make this easeful? Enjoyable? Light? 

 

The light way is the right way.

 

Journaling PRO Tip: Write as if no one will read it. This is a space that’s just for you. 

 

DAY 11: PAUSE. REFLECT. WONDER.

 

What’s the biggest thing you learned about yourself this month?

At the beginning of each month, I reflect on the previous month and set intentions for the month ahead. That’s your invitation for today. 

 

Grab your journal, and complete the following prompts:

 

The biggest thing I learned about myself this month is… 

The highlight last month was… 

This month, I want to feel… 

To feel this way, I will… 

One thing I’ll regret not doing this month is… 

This month, I want to give myself more permission to… 

If I feel stuck or stressed, I will…

Journaling PRO Tip: even if you write it down, you can always change your mind.  

 

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