Journaling Tips

Journaling provides a wealth of expansion, growth, and wisdom. Some of my most significant lessons have come from journaling - it takes you a bit deeper to uncover beautiful treasures.

Dive In

It's easy to skip it altogether, but I can't stress enough the importance of doing this work. Journaling helps us journey through life. It helps us get clear and focused. When we choose not to journal, we're choosing not to do the work, and we're choosing not to work on ourselves (the opposite of love - the opposite of ahimsa!). Remember, you deserve to experience a life full of deep happiness, bliss, passion, and freedom.

I can only guide you; I can't do the work for you. But I do hope you choose yourself. And know that you choose yourself when you decide to dive right in and engage in journal practices!

Grab Your Pen + Paper

I recommend journaling the old-fashioned way with paper + a pen. We spend way too much time on our screens (you can look it up - I told you it's a lot!) and the connection between pen and paper slows us down, helping us process our thoughts. We are often 'on' and in our 'doing' energy when we use our phones, and it's way too easy to get distracted. When we journal, we want to slow things down, get quiet, so we can listen to where we're being directed. As Maya Angelou wisely said, "When we know better, we do better," and when we know where we are, we know where we're going. Yay!

Top Tips

I'm here to guide and support you, and I hope my top journaling tips help:

1. Make it easy. We often make journaling more complicated than it needs to be. If you don't know what to write about, I'll be providing you with different prompts. But when it comes to free-writing, we have 60-80,000 thoughts a day. Write about one of those!

2. Treat your journal as your safe space to fully release, learn, express, and let go.

3. Have boundaries around it. It's for your eyes only.

4. It can be neat. It can be messy. Your journal, your vibe.

5. Write in words, sentences, paragraphs, or pages. Let go of the pressure of 'how' much you need to write. I like to journal about a particular prompt, thought, or feeling until I can't write about it anymore. Then I know it's time to take the wisdom with me and leave the rest behind.

6. Draw pictures, make it colourful, or be like me and only write in the same pen - we're all unique!

The Journal Onwards

When you've finished with your journal, you can do what you wish with it. Some people keep them. Some people keep them and re-read them. Some people keep them and never read them. Some people, like myself, burn them. To me, it's in the past. I will always take the lessons with me but like to view the past as a place to learn from, not a place to live. Personally, I don't feel like I need to re-read or bring things back up again that don't need any more energy. I sometimes feel it can be triggering unnecessarily. But like I said - you do you. Give yourself that permission.

Journal daily. Journal weekly. Monthly. Seasonally. Do it in the morning. Do it in the evening. There's no such thing as the journal police. You find you, and then do you.

Be kind, supportive, forgiving, and compassionate toward yourself as you journal (ahimsa). No mean girl energy.

Be radically honest (satya). You'll only be doing yourself a huge disservice if you don't get honest. Feel into any shame, guilt, embarrassment (all valid human emotions) but then allow yourself to work through them and get honest. Since stepping into satya energy, I find it really empowering now to take responsibility and step into my truth.

When we journal, we're naturally practicing svadhyaya, which is all about self-discovery, self-exploration, self-awareness - basically where all the expansive energy is! Release your 'know-it-all ego' and step into the deep inner wisdom that's within.

Set the Space

Set the tone and vibe of the space you journal in. We want to get quiet, calm, and focused when we journal. Does your space reflect this?

Breathe. Before, during, or after meditation, take some long, deep, and calming breaths to soothe your nervous system, keep the energy flowing, and help you stay in a clear, focused, and expansive state.

Know that you're not alone. Often, journaling can bring up unhealed trauma, past experiences, and energy that you've suppressed for a long time. I encourage you to seek professional support to journey through it. No one can do this work for you, but you never have to journey alone.

Inspired Stories

I can’t write a blog post about journaling + not mention my favourite stationery brand - The Inspired Stories. I use their daily planner, journal, manifestation cards daily. Use the code ‘TISCAROLINE’ for a discount.

Learn More

For monthly themed journaling prompts and how to live a yoga-inspired life over on the Inspired Club.