Journaling for beginners, Journaling tips & techniques

Healing through Journaling – Find your voice and purpose

We all are gifted and sent with a purpose that makes our life worth living. The purpose is what fuels our life and makes living exciting. I know, many of us are still looking for that ‘gift’ and purpose’, I too was. I was super desperate to find my voice, the ultimate purpose that would make my life thriving every single day.

My voice was born on these white pages where I wrote all my thoughts, every single thing that bothered me, and what actually I wanted to do with them all.

Journaling made me realize my true self and reconnected me back within. It was solely through this beautiful art of journaling that I was able to find my voice. Hence, I thought of sharing this piece to help you find your voice through this brilliant art of journaling.

I know, you would have so many ‘Aha’ moments while reading the previous healing though journaling post in this series. Whenever I get into the journaling talks with my readers, I love their enthusiasm and this eagerness to know what actually is this writing practice and especially from where do they begin.

healing through journaling

If you landed here without reading the first one in the series, buckle up and read the beginners’ post of healing through journaling where I busted some Journaling Myths + gave some healthy tips to get started.

I am sure, this piece will make much more sense once you go through the previous one in the series. This piece will guide you all the way to find your voice but before jumping into this, do read the benefits of journaling and how to get started.

 

Read the first post in the series – Healing through words

So the other day, while soaking in the sun in my veranda, I had this thought; How do I actually push myself to journal even when I don’t feel like? Raise your hand if you felt totally the same.

healing through journaling

You beautiful human, I see you, I can totally feel you. It is not easy to stay on track especially when you are just starting.

We have this habit of having quick results and when we fail to see some, we tend to lose our interest and give up. If you feel the same then this piece is exactly for you darling. I am also going to take you on the journey of different types of journaling methods.

Hold yourself tight and lets dive in.

healing through journaling

( Ah! if you are addicted to the evening tea like me, you might totally need to grab one)

Healing through Journaling – Finding your WHY

So right here, we are jumping into the second part of our journaling series and I still strongly recommend you visit the previous one if you still haven’t. In this part, we are going to get clear with our purpose and we shall also learn about different types of journaling so that you have plenty of options left to start with.

Before starting the art of journaling, you need to do this:

Alright, my creative junkie, so you already have a clear idea of what journaling is not and yet you may at times be feeling like wasting your time while writing on these pages.

Sometimes, you might totally feel like giving up maybe because you don’t know what to write or simply because you feel it tiring. I got you covered here.

It becomes utmost necessary to find the purpose, to know the reason behind starting something new. For example, I always used to avoid going to the gym or having some time for exercise by having some futile excuses like it consumes time or I am already fit and I don’t need to go anywhere.

You see, what I lacked was the purpose, the idea behind doing that thing, and initiating a new habit. I had to get clear on my WHY part before even jumping into it.

I had to know what was my reason behind going to the gym or exercise. I found my WHY after some brainstorming work. I really needed to go because I wanted to increase my stamina.

Know your WHY before starting Journaling.

Get clear with your purpose of journaling. there may be many reasons why you actually want o start with this healing through journaling. Note them down and keep it somewhere you can always return back to.

You may want to start journaling because;

Life is tough and you need to clear your things out.

You are an overthinker and you want to do some braindump.

You simply love writing and keeping track of all your emotion.

You are a writer and you want to stay focussed.

You want to organize your life.

You really need to be self-aware and practice mindfulness and so on.

There can be ‘n’ number of reasons that inspired you to start with this practice and I really urge you to find your purpose before getting into the art of journaling.

So when you are clear with your purpose of journaling, you can actually go back and read whenever you don’t feel like doing it.

Your WHY will always remind you of your purpose of being on these pages, your purpose of writing those pages. Also, you can come out from the web of the guilt of wasting your time. It actually is investing your time.

Read here the 10 habits of a purpose-driven life.

So just take a pause or bookmark this page and write down your WHY. ( I would totally love to read it in the comments below)

Now, when you are clear with your WHY, paste it somewhere you can see or where it is handy. I always save it to my Google Docs ( because as my mom says, I am always on my laptop)

I know this would get a little heavy because of brainstorming and finding your purpose. Hence, I kept the next part of this piece really simple and fun where you will be choosing the type of journal you actually felt called to.

Different types of Journals to keep

1. Gratitude Journal

This is so far my favorite type of journal all because it is so effective and really time efficient. Sometimes I wonder, we have so much to be thankful for and how utterly blessed we are.


Gratitude journaling is your way of expressing gratefulness for everything that you have in your life.
It is the way of telling yourself that you honor things in your life and you aren’t taking them for granted.

Gratitude journaling can be practiced in different ways. When the other day, I conducted a gratitude challenge on my Instagram, I gave them a template to mention 5 things they are grateful for.

Here is a beautiful post on being grateful.

While you can also write little thank you note to everyone you wish to express your gratitude. Most importantly, write a thank-you note to yourself too for being this beautiful human you are.

2. A Meditation Journal

If you, my darling are looking for some better sleep or less anxious sleep then this type of journaling is for you. Meditation journal is mostly done during or before your bed-time. It is for logging your thoughts and writing affirmations.

Affirmations are the positive statement that you tell to yourself and yes they are so much powerful. If you feel it difficult to sleep, write down your thoughts, and watch the pattern.


Also, keep a close look on your meditation patterns and note it down.

When your head is calm and free from worries, you indeed will be blessed with blissful sleep.

Here is the detailed post that I wrote on How to reduce sleep anxiety for better sleep.

3. Bullet Journal

The bullet journal is the most creative type of journaling. It mostly includes ‘lists’ or some habits if you wish to track.

In my BuJo, I track down my habits, my mood, junk food intake, my tasks, the plan for the month and so much more.

You can use this Bullet Journal to actually organize or balance your life. I am a big fan of making checklists and having a bullet journal keeps me on track.

I am actually able to avoid distractions because of keeping track of the usage of my time. There are so many beautiful ways that you can use to decorate your BuJo.

I love making small doodles around and using all the colorful, glittery pens. I am listing below my favorite journals and the pens I totally love to use. ( Alright, I am a stationery addict + hoarder)


4. Travel Journal

Raise your hand if you love to store your travel memories!! Isn’t it amazing to re-live the moments that you enjoyed while you were on vacation? I love visiting those old moments and cherish them whenever I sit alone.

You take your travel journal along with you wherever you go and doodle the things you see, or just paste the tickets, stamps, beautiful pictures of that place.


You can also describe your most memorable moment of the particular place you visited and maybe you can share it with your friends and family whine you are back.

I love carrying my little journal during my solo travels. It is super traveling with a book in your hand and camera in another.

Isn’t the mere thought of having a collage of all the beauties around the world just amazing!!

5. Prayer Journal

I have seen many of my friends having this prayer journal along with them. I initially had no idea what this particular journal was about but when they showed me those beautiful scriptures from the holy books, I was totally in love with the thought of having a prayer journal.

You can add beautiful quotes, sayings from Shreeemad Bhagvat Geeta or The Bible or Kuran, or even just random quotes that make you strongly believe in the supreme power. This will indeed strengthen your bond with the Creator.

Read here how to start a prayer journal.

6. Dream Journal

Who here loves to dream? Ahh!! I am not talking about some weird dreams that you get while you are asleep but the ones that never let you fall asleep.

I am talking about your goals, your highest ambition, your purpose of existence. We all have so many dreams, some of them are easier while others aren’t.

I strongly believe that we all have the power to make our dreams come true. If we have this sheer capability to visualize them, we indeed have the strength to make them a reality.

I love keeping a dream journal and writing down all my wildest and silliest dreams. You get one life my dearest, make it the BEST.

Grab your favorite journal and start writing down your dreams now. It is already proven that 80% of dreams come true when they are written.

6. The Morning Pages

Heads down everyone and welcome my best journaling practice ever. Morning pages as the name suggests are to be mostly written in the mornings when you are fresh.

healing through journaling These pages have healed me, they have grabbed me from the darkest tunnel and showed me the ray of light. Morning pages are initially a brain dump, where you put down all the thoughts that are troubling you and just talk with yourself.

This method of journaling will be effective when you practice daily for at least 30-40mins and I know it will be difficult at first but just start, the words will flow. I write my morning pages daily and they have brought so much clarity in my life.

This idea was actually presented by Julia Cameron in her book, ‘ The Artist’s Way’ and I am so grateful for having that book. ( If you are an artist, you NEED this book) If you are confused about which type of journaling to pick, choose this one definitely.


Here is the detailed post on How morning pages helped me change my mindset.

7. Letters to self

Old school anyone?

I totally am though.

I love writing letters but this thought of writing letters to your own self could be intimidating at first but when you start this, you will totally fall in love with yourself. I call this as little love notes to self.

You, my darling are so precious and you deserve all the love.

 

 

Give this love to yourself by writing some cute tiny letter on how much you adore yourself. You can also have an apology letter or thank you letter for yourself. I write one every time on my birthday. This indeed is such a beautiful form of self-care.

Here are the amazing tips to practice self-care even at your worst + I do have a free self-care planner for you.

Grab your free self-care planner to nourish your soul, body, and mind.

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There indeed are so many ways you can use your journal or even an empty notebook.

You just have to be a little creative and fill it out with your heart.

I also have Poetry Journal where I write all my poems on self-love and mindfulness. My bestselling ebook, Silent Defiance’ is available for free on Kindle Unlimited.

I really hope that you pick your favorite journal and experiment with a few types mentioned. I am sure you will find your voice soon.

This post is the second one in the series of Healing through journaling so don’t forget to read the previous one. I have so much more to share in the next post too.

Here is the link to the first post in the series.

I would totally love to read your comment on which type of journal you loved the most and also on your WHY.

Remember to take it slow, one day at a time.

14 Comments

  1. Alyssa

    May 3, 2020 at 2:18 pm

    I love journaling! I always take record of my day ans dreams I have and journeys I’ve taken but I have never thought of separating them into different notebooks. Thinking of doing it now though so that everything is more “organised”.

  2. Patricia P.

    May 3, 2020 at 4:53 pm

    I love journaling. A notebook never leaves my side. I jot down my thoughts and ideas. These notebooks are a mesh-mash of stuff. But I do have a happy journal… a pretty notebook that I keep all positive thoughts and quotes. I kept a cancer journal when I went through that mess of health issues. I wrote down my thoughts, treatments and side effects. It still comes in handy as I write and blog about my cancer journey. I also keep a weight loss journal. Great post. Journaling is such a valuable tool in our lives.

  3. Maddison

    May 6, 2020 at 6:47 pm

    Nothing I love more than journaling -loved this read! Gratitude and bullet journals I love! Gratitude journals bring me back down to earth, being present and grateful for what I have. Bullet journals let me be creative with my life on paper!

  4. Ria

    May 6, 2020 at 6:51 pm

    I absolutely loved this post and I will be implementing some of these journaling habits. LOVE this! I will continue to follow

  5. ABIGAIL

    May 6, 2020 at 8:08 pm

    This was a great post! Thank you!

  6. Xiaoyu

    May 6, 2020 at 8:10 pm

    Thanks for all the recommendations on the journal types! I’ve been looking for a new one.

  7. Nil

    May 6, 2020 at 8:11 pm

    This is an amazing tip! Also, I do journalling daily. Mostly I enjoy to design pages!! It is a lot of fun there 🙂

  8. Cynthia

    May 6, 2020 at 8:31 pm

    Great reasons to journal! I’ve found that when I have a pretty notebook and a topic to write about, it’s easier to get the ideas in there, or thoughts, or whatever that book is for. Thanks for including some links to some good products too.

  9. TheWellnessVilla

    May 6, 2020 at 8:52 pm

    I remember I used to write as a kid almost every day. And then adulthood happened and I forgot about this beautiful practice which can make a lot of difference in the world of anxiety and depression. Thanks for sharing this, I shall start to write to myself again 🙂

  10. Osayi

    May 6, 2020 at 9:34 pm

    I also love using coloring books- it helps me think through the process

  11. Nicole

    May 6, 2020 at 10:15 pm

    Journaling is such a great way to get your thoughts out. I have been journaling since I was a kid and I include journaling in my artwork. I love your comment on knowing your WHY. I think that’s important when it comes to pretty much everything 🙂

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    May 11, 2020 at 11:08 pm

    […] Here is the post on finding your voice and picking up your own journaling style – Step 2. […]

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  14. Ellie

    June 13, 2020 at 7:03 pm

    Thanks for this really informative post! I’ve recently started dream journaling and love it!

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