If you bring forth what is within you, it will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, it will destroy you.
–The Gnostic Gospels, Elaine Pagels
Modern day life can often feel fast-paced and overwhelming. Brene Brown commented in her book Daring Greatly that many of us wake up and start the day feeling inadequate from the moment we open our eyes. We feel as if there’s not enough time to accomplish everything on our schedules, there’s not enough of us to go around. Over activity, feeling like we are in constant perpetual motion and can’t slow down, addictive avoidance behaviors including watching too much TV, overeating, drinking, even reading compulsively, are all ways we dissociate from the overwhelming feelings we experience when life moves too fast and we don’t create regular time to be instead of do.
It’s crucial that we find healthy and constructive ways to process and release our emotions so we are not trapped or paralyzed by them. The danger in holding onto unacknowledged truths and unprocessed emotions is that they eventually “pop up” as illnesses, addictions, dysfunctional relationships, financial problems, etc.
Journaling is an easy and inexpensive way to release old toxic energy stored in our energy field and physical body. It moves out pieces of our past and present that we have not yet processed. When we give authentic expression to our experiences and our feelings about them we free ourselves.
Tips for Effective Journaling:
- Do it daily. It clears the channels. Much like yoga clears the cell tissue through deep breathing and physical movement, and like brushing your teeth removes the plaque, writing releases the energy that’s been stored up for perhaps decades and keeps new toxic energy from accumulating.
- Choose a time commitment or a page commitment. You can make it as simple as writing 10 minutes a day, or use Julia Cameron’s suggestion in The Artists’ Way and set a page limit of perhaps 3 pages per day.
- If possible, set aside the same time to write each day, in the same place. This trains your brain to expect to show up and write at that particular time and place. You might wish to begin each session in the same way, perhaps by ringing a bell or lighting a candle, saying a short prayer or affirmation, or sitting in quiet meditation for a few moments before you begin writing.
- Write stream-of consciousness. Remove expectations about what you should write and allow what wants to be written to flow out onto the page. You might wish to begin by asking, “What wants to make itself known to me today?” Or you might pose a question about an issue that has been bothering you or that you’re wondering about now. It can help to write the question at the top of your page, then sit and breathe for a few moments, “inspiring” yourself through your breathing. Then set the pen on the page or your fingers on the keyboard and watch the answers appear on your page or screen. Be as honest and authentic as possible. This is a safe place to let all your feelings surface – the positive ones and the “ugly” ones such as anger, resentment, envy, etc.
- Don’t judge the quality of your writing. You’re not writing a bestselling novel here, you’re expressing your deepest thoughts and feelings. They may come out in full, exquisitely written sentences, and they may jump out as fragments, words and phrases. Don’t edit. Let the information spill out as it needs to onto the page.
- This writing is for you, a tool for your personal healing and self-growth. You are not obligated to share it with anyone else. Some people prefer not to go back and read what they’ve written after it’s on the page. Others choose to close their writing sessions by burning or tearing up the pages they’ve completed that day as a final cleansing step. If you choose not to dispose of your pages, keep your journal or files somewhere safe, where there’s no danger of someone else reading them, so that you can be uninhibited when you write.
- If you choose to share your writings, do so with a friend, therapist or loved one who you trust to listen with unconditional acceptance. This can be a powerful way to further the process of moving out unwanted or toxic energy.
Resources:
Be Your Own Shaman, Deborah King
Daring Greatly, Brene Brown
Journey from the Center to the Page, Jeff Davis
The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron
Writing Begins with the Breath, Laraine Herring