Mindful diary
Writing as a companion that brings clarity
Recording your inner atmosphere and internal comments is a useful step in becoming aware of the beliefs from which we act. Keeping a Mindful journal has a few clear guidelines, when we follow them, we know what we are doing and the journal becomes an integrated part of our daily meditative practice.
Regular instructions for keeping a Mindful journal are integrated into the yogic practice in my online yoga program.
By writing, especially by hand, we put thoughts into the form of words, and emotions into the form of lines, textures, sketches, icons and also words. We can play with concepts and be creative. In this way, we see them from a different perspective and give them another dimension. They descend from the vague, foggy world of thoughts and energies into the rational sphere because saying what we feel activates the prefrontal cortex. In doing so, we place ourselves at a point in time and space where we know where we are, and that is already a great start. For example, knowing “I don’t know what I feel” sets a clear stance in relation to what is happening, and writing it down further clarifies the starting point.
The purpose of a mindful journal is to clarify what we are feeling, to have a healthy relationship with it, and to have a clear picture of where we are and where we are going on our meditative, spiritual journey.
As we write with this intention, we follow the steps of the Buddha’s Eightfold Path.
- Right Speech: I write words that do not harm myself or others. Words that are truthful, constructive, offer solutions rather than judgmental, and have a noble goal.
- Right Intention: I write from thoughts of love, compassion, and renunciation.
- Right Effort: I make an effort not to allow myself to describe events from unhealthy states such as aversion, I make an effort to create and maintain healthy states and release aversion.
- Right Mindfulness: I pay attention to the present moment and how I feel without judgment.
- Right Concentration: While writing, I maintain mental focus and concentration on what I am doing, the writing itself is a meditation.
- Right View: Through everything I contemplate in my journal, I see the true nature of reality: I understand the impermanence, dissatisfaction, and impersonality of experiences.
Read these steps as a vow to keep your Mindful journal this way.
Guidelines for writing a Mindful journal
I will walk through the guidelines for writing a Mindful journal through the example of the feeling of shame. Shame is the voice that whispers “you are not just someone who failed, you are a failure”. It often arises when an educator tells a child “you are stupid for doing that” instead of “what you are doing is stupid”. The child explores the situation or tries to solve it in his own way, but the adult reacts to this behavior by reducing his value, instead of pointing out what he is doing wrong. The educator transmits a feeling of rejection and failure that the child takes as his own personality and loses self-confidence.
1. CLARIFY THE CAUSES OF MY FEELINGS
“We often don’t remember everything someone said to us, but we remember how we felt.”1 I describe the moment and feeling in a specific relationship when I felt shame, thereby helping to demystify the emotion. It is a reflection on cause and effect and an effort to shed light on the trigger. We are invited to describe multiple instances when we felt the same emotion and identify what caused it.
2. BECOME AWARE
The first step in any meditation, including keeping a Mindful journal, is to recognize it. I became aware of shame in the form of thoughts such as “I am not good enough, I will definitely not succeed, I do not deserve…” and shame in the form of feelings in the body such as tightness, nervousness, sadness. Now I can take a notebook, write down what I feel and try to list as clearly as possible what thoughts arose, what feelings are in the body and what emotions are.
3. RE-EXPERIENCE
“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.”1
By writing about my feelings, I re-experience them, but this time I can experience them less personally, as if I were looking from a third person. Now I am no longer immersed in the situation, I have the space to feel what I am feeling and not let my identity get mixed up with the emotion. I have a new opportunity to experience the situation with the Right View from the Buddha’s Eightfold Path: to notice the transience, the pain, for which I awaken compassion, and not the personality of the experience.
4. EXPERIENCE NON-JUDGMENTALLY
By writing about the experience in a way that does not judge myself or the other, I can reduce the identification and the spasm with which I hold that belief. I can notice that the person who shamed me was in a state of aversion and self-hatred at that moment, and that I did nothing wrong. When I notice this, I will find it easier to let go of the painful belief about myself, but more importantly, I will have compassion for the pain in the other that caused the shaming.
Writing introduces abstract thinking, freshness, and spaciousness.
Shame becomes something I have experienced, not my personality.
5. AM AWARE OF THE KEY CONCEPT AND ITS OPPOSITE
Contemplating what I am running away from – the fear of experiencing shame again, is an invitation to contemplate what I am striving for – a sense of success and worth. I already know that shame is accompanied by fear of failure, a sense of inferiority, and the like, but becoming aware of the opposite means turning the focus from what is painful to what is beneficial, and was present in the same situation. This is the right effort from the Buddha’s eightfold path. For example, I can write about how I had a good intention to succeed in something, that I tried, that I was authentic in my approach…
6. FORGIVE
Forgiving does not mean admitting that someone’s behavior was okay, but rather letting go of the hurt from my heart. I forgive because I no longer want to carry the burden of hatred and the desire for revenge. In all the steps as I write about shame, I can easily see how someone else’s vulnerability and conditioning led to that feeling in me. Through everything I have become aware of through writing, I grow in forgiveness towards the person who hurt me and in compassion for the pain they carry within themselves.
7. SET AN INTENT AND AFFIRMATION
I round off my journal with an affirmation and/or an intention that summarizes what I contemplated and that resonates throughout the rest of the day. For example, I will say to myself: “May I become aware of thoughts and feelings of shame and not believe them the moment they appear”, “May I have love for myself, compassion for little Tena who was hurt and the one who hurt her”. The affirmation – an optimistic autosuggestion, will be “Everything I do is worth it”, “I see the effort and effort I put in”, “I can happily show who I am and what I do”…
8. GRATEFUL AND HUMILE
The practice of writing in the name of liberation awakens gratitude. Such a reflection on myself gives additional value and meaning to life. I am grateful that I have a way to free myself from the burden and that there is a path that many have already trodden with the knowledge they selflessly pass on. I am grateful for the practice, my effort and the effort of others.
Humility is a joyful feeling of belonging to something greater than myself that I respect with a pure heart.
I am humble because by refining the qualities of my inner monologue, I am investing in a benefit that can be immediately applied in my relationships, and it builds an image of humane humanity.
Journaling as an important part of yoga practice
Mindful journaling is part of my regular guided online yoga program. Through monthly themes, I motivate you to write a journal and to refer to what we do and contemplate:
- we ask questions,
- we reflect on thoughts, emotions and bodily sensations,
- we have small challenges to contemplate,
- we awaken the joy of expression,
- we maintain the continuity of the monthly theme,
- we set intentions and affirmations…
The mindful journaling as part of the online yoga program is an additional motivation for practice and, once again, a companion that brings us clarity about where we are on our spiritual journey of body and mind health.
Join me…
Inspirations and references:
