Mindfulness practice is about bringing your focus and attention to the present moment and journalling helps us to do exactly that. If you’re anything like me then your house is probably littered with notebooks & journals of all shapes, designs and sizes that you were inspired to buy and started to journal in. I actually love re-visiting old journals that are often only half completed but are full of good intentions, goals, visions, prayers, cut outs and, often times, painful experiences. A bit like the Bujo before Bujo’s became a thing (A Bullet Journal).

I love the Bujo phenomena and wish I was as creative as some of the Bujo masters I’ve seen on Youtube, but presentation isn’t as important as content. The content is what YOU choose to write and it’s authentic just as it is. So, don’t compare your scribbles to those who are more calligraphically blessed, ok?

When you begin to write down what you’re noticing then you will be strengthening your mindfulness muscle. It will help you to become more present and gain awareness of the ‘as is’. You accept where you are at with kindness and without judging yourself. Also when your mind is cluttered or you are mentally & emotionally upset or confused then the act of taking those thoughts/feelings and writing them down can bring clarity, reduce stress and invite peace into the moment. Use all your senses to be openly aware of how you are connecting with your inner self and the world around you. You could just start writing how you feel in that moment and allow the cathartic experience to guide you. We can often think we’ve got nothing to say until we start to write and then we are surprised at how our feelings/ thoughts start to flow.  You gain a deeper awareness of who you are and how you’ve arrived at the place in life that you’re at. As we journal, we can be enlightened, grow, change, heal and be renewed. I recommend you hand write rather than type, even if your handwriting isn’t great. You can use a simple notebook or a snazzy journal. You can use a selection of coloured pens or highlighters if you wish. Again, up too you! Here are a few practices that can support your mindful journalling:

• Consider spending a few moments in meditation before you journal. Using concentrative meditation you can gaze at a candle flame with some gentle music in the background. Let your breath be your anchor and just see what rises up for you. Come from a place of curiosity of what surfaces.  When you are ready, pick up your journal and start to write.

• Consider sitting comfortably and either with or without background music, remember a favourite occasion. Immerse yourself in the memory. Remember what you saw, what you heard, even what you may have smelt or tasted. Take yourself back there and embrace the memory. The more you can immerse yourself in the good memory, the more happy chemicals will be released and will send a signal of well-being to your body. When you’re ready, come back to the present and start to journal. There’s no wrong or right way of doing this. Just write whatever YOU want to write.

• Consider taking a mindful walk and as you walk notice what you’re seeing, feeling, hearing or smelling. As you walk notice how your feet feel on the ground and how your body feels. Notice what rises up for you … your thoughts, your feelings, your general state of mind. Be ok with it and again, don’t judge yourself harshly. Just allow yourself to be present in the moment. When you return from the walk, sit down and write in your journal. Again, what you write is up to you and unique to you.

• If you’re feeling brave, then consider writing about something that has upset you. Something recent or even something that happened a while ago. As you write if you feel yourself getting upset then gently tap across your collarbone whilst breathing slowly in and out. Bring yourself to a calm place and then continue to write. If you’re struggling to put into words how you’re feeling, then consider asking yourself questions. If you ask yourself questions, then this helps your subconscious to send forward the answers of how you’re feeling. If you’re still struggling to write sentences, then consider drawing a stick man of you in the middle with a safe circle surrounding you. Knowing that you’re completely safe, draw some lines coming from the circle and throw out words, thoughts, feelings of how you feel or what rises up for you. Again, there’s no right or wrong answer here. Be as creative as you like. Use colours, diagrams, pictures, bullet points! Up to YOU!

It’s your journal … your thoughts … your feelings … your experiences.  Don’t judge yourself harshly if you have what seems like angry, upset or unkind words but be prepared to move towards kindness and non-judgement. Start with yourself and then towards the situation or people involved. You may find this difficult so consider re-framing the situation in your mind. Think about the good that you can gain from it, however painful. If we are learning and growing, then there is always something good to be gained. Then re-frame it! Reframing is a psychological technique whereby we can take a negative experience and intentionally interrupt the unhelpful thoughts and emotions that are associated with it. You can’t change the situation as it has already happened, but you can change your perception of it and choose to view it in a way that supports you. It’s the same picture, but you’ve changed the frame that surrounds and supports it.  EFT Tapping is helpful to process any remaining negativity within you.

You can journal as and when you like. Some find it helpful to write a few words in their journals before bed as it helps them to process what has happened that day.  Remember that ‘right’ mindfulness is from a caring perspective, so to practice mindfulness there should be an end goal of ‘care’. Care towards yourself and towards others. Mindfulness helps us to develop a different relationship with the struggles and difficulties we experience, which support peaceful living and building resilience.

Happy writing, and I’ll see you next week!

Love & Blessings, Sam x