Journaling in the morning by Jowana Marshall
I used to think "Why should I journal in the morning ?" What do I have to write about besides my dreams? But when I got clear on exactly what I wanted for my life, journaling in the morning just made sense. So that's what I did. After outlining my life I was able to break down a roadmap to get there into steps. From those steps, I came up with 4 sections to journal about in the mornings.
First thing first, I write out what I can remember of my dreams the night before, and that makes up the first section. I used to have a separate dream journal from my regular journal but I had to ask myself
Why? I want to live an integrated life, bringing my trinity (mind, body, soul) in harmony, and in order to do that I need to reflect that behavior in the physical acts that I do.
When writing about my dreams, I try to be as detailed as possible, from colors to emotions. I've learned the more I do this the easier it is for me to remember my night travels (dreams), and pinpoint the synchronizations in my waking life.
The Second section is How am I feeling? In this section I :
Paint or draw an outline of my body and I draw a shape or color around a body part that I have tension in. From this information, I am able to work on releasing that tension in my yoga flow.
After mentally going through my chakras, I write out a body affirmation to nurture any tender parts of my subtle body. For example, if my root chakra is off then I write out the affirmation "I am whole, safe, and supported, I have everything I need.
I then write in 3 words or less how I want to feel and mentally remind myself of how that is supposed to feel in my body.
In the third section, I write out My to-do list. Being sure to cover my trinity in order to support my goal of intentional living.
Within the fourth section, I cover any residual thoughts and feelings that weren't fully processed or digested from the day before. Sometimes I'm able to write this out right after my dreams. Other times it takes a while to put tangible words to leftover energy.
Remember you do not have to write out everything as soon as you wake up. Doing the sections in stages before the end of the morning is helpful. Have fun with your journal! It doesn't have to be pretty, it just has to be you. Make silly designs throughout it, write sideways! add stickers and do whatever else you can to allow for your journal to be a living testament of your life.
Do you have any special tips for journaling? Please leave them in the comments below and stay tuned for the journaling before bed blog post.
In gratitude always, Jo