Top Tips for Journalling

ArticleVICTORIA COCHRANE

So, you have a mind that can’t stop thinking, can’t let you sleep or you have so much on your mind you don’t know where to start? The answer is simple: get it out of your mind and down on paper!

People write for all kinds of purposes in their dayto-day lives, but the art of journalling is particularly useful when the main purpose is to help to reflect, remember, problem-solve or vent in a highly personal and for-your-eyes-only kind of way.

Journalling helps you to sort out your thoughts and to allow you to get them into some kind of order that you can make sense of in your own time. Whether you share it or not, journalling is a great way to release emotions and to clear the mindclutter in a cathartic and productive way.

WAYS YOU COULD USE YOUR JOURNAL

1. As a diary to record a period of your life to look back on and remember later on. This could be when you go on a special holiday, a spiritual retreat or while you are doing a course.

2. To record your dreams, meditations, spiritual healings, past life regressions, etc. We always think we’ll remember but then, of course, we can’t and we wish we’d written it down. If you are having vivid dreams or receiving guidance and messages in your meditations, recording them in your journal will help you to see patterns and spiritual growth in yourself over time.

3. As a memoir to help you to release and forgive past trauma. Write the story, forgive yourself and then ceremoniously burn it if you need to. Once the past is released you can move on.

4. As a way to unravel your thoughts and to organise, categorise and prioritise. If your mind is like a trash and treasure market, writing it all down and then categorising your thoughts into mustdo, will-do, might-do and no-can-do is one way of sleeping better at night!

5. As a way to make an important decision. Write down all your options, include the pros and cons for each one and rate each one out of 10. Then ‘feel’ into each decision. If you were looking back five years from now, would you regret it, be thankful, resentful?

SETTING UP YOUR JOURNAL

1. Invest in a good quality, dateless journal that is aesthetically pleasing but also not too big.

2. Carry your journal with you everywhere and keep an extra pen or two in your bag!

3. Is this a diary or a journal? Distinguishing between the two will then influence what you use it for.

4. Develop your own style. If you are averse to writing essays, keep to lists and dot points if that will help you to keep journalling.

5. If you intend to write for different purposes in your journal, set up different sections within it such as To Do Lists, Problem Solving, My Diary, Dreams Journal, Ideas for my Next Book, Meditations etc.

6. Make a time to journal each day, particularly if you have a hectic schedule, and stick with it.

7. Write honestly. Say all the things you would never say to anyone else, particularly if you are having relationship issues or problems speaking your mind. Even if you never read it again, at least it’s off your chest.

Happy Journalling!

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