(I was inspired to write about journaling by 2 recent articles in the OptiMindInsights newsletter. I will say more about this below.)
When I introduce myself to our new students during an orientation meeting, I share with them that from all the mindfulness modalities I have explored, MBSR is the one that has captured my heart. Nothing else emphasizes both the formal (meditation) and informal (daily life) practices in the same way. Those of you who have attended our classes know that I’m not an exception: many of you find solace in being able to support your developing mindfulness practice with these informal actions. While the team at Imagine continuously emphasizes the importance of establishing a daily meditation routine, we also acknowledge the benefit of intentional, nonjudgmental awareness through attention, right here right now in every little opportunity we can carve out of our busy lives. The two go hand in hand. Sometimes it’s hard to know where one starts and the other begins: mindful walking comes to mind as one of those crossovers, so does journaling!
Journaling is one of the more formal of the informal practices. While in meditation we observe our thoughts and feelings as they float by like clouds in the sky, journaling affords us an opportunity to capture some of them and spend a bit of time reflecting as we try to understand why they show up in our lives. Maybe we get a sense of clarity with regards to unhelpful patterns or gain some insight into a problem we’re struggling with. Writing things down is a key tool to diminish the intensity of emotions so we can move from reacting to responding. Then spending some time in introspection when we feel moved to. While the point can be made that journaling takes us away from the present because we are reflecting on the past or projecting into the future, when this is done with intention, we are firmly grounded in the present.
Journaling can help us create this Interior Shift we talk about in MBSR, this awareness of “Aha, something is going on here” and then taking a pause and creating a space to look at it in a different way. This then might allow for creative options to come to the foreground. We can also think about journaling as being part of the practice of “labeling”: acknowledging what has happened as we reflect on our day, just recording “This happened…” or “I have been thinking about…”. And when writing down physical sensations we experienced, how far removed is that really from another MBSR concept, “locating” a sensation in the body? Bringing attention to what we felt in our body: “Today I felt this…” or “This is what I noticed in my body…”.
Just as each of us has their own meditation preferences, we also journal in many different ways. Keeping a gratitude journal is one of the most popular exercises, yet just recording how our body feels each morning while we sit with our tea or coffee can equally generate important insights. Or we can follow prompts we set for ourselves such as “What made me smile today?”, “What beauty did I notice?”, “When did I feel brave?”, “What have I learned?”, “When was I mindful of my body?”, “What are my strengths”? “What has challenged me?” or “What have I resisted?”. We can set a timer to journal for 3 minutes per day or write for however long we want to. And let’s not limit ourselves to writing, journaling can include doodling, drawing, and other creative expressions. There is no one size that fits all.
Just like meditating, journaling is a solitary activity: exploring and finding out what works for us, finding a place within where we can get in touch with ourselves. And just like meditating, we do not have to be an expert at it, journaling does not require us to be so-called good writers. We already are the one and only authors of our lives, we are the one and only perfect person to journal about our own experiences! All we have to do is to get started - with curiosity and compassion!
- Summer Meyer
(Executive Director and MBSR Instructor)
