Journaling: A Mindful Approach to Capture Daily Life

(Based on the live discourse of Param Dwij)
(परम द्विज के प्रवचन पर आधारित)

Journaling is a great way to incorporate mindfulness practices into your daily meditation routine. As in meditation, people observe their thoughts as a child observes flowing water in a river while sitting on its bank without judging. Journaling is a method of capturing thoughts and reflecting on events that occur throughout the day.

It is a truly beautiful experience to pick up a pen and write down memories and revolving thoughts in one’s head on the pen without arbitrary, judging, or any particular agenda. It has been observed that keeping or carrying a diary with oneself for journaling practice helps people to be more composed and have better mental and physical health.

In today’s fast-paced and chaotic world, the practice of mindfulness has become an all-encompassing term that can be easily implemented anywhere and at any time; however, it requires time and consistency for practice.

Although it is widely available, it can be confusing for beginners as to where to begin and how frequently they should practice daily meditation, mindful eating, mindful exercise, or walking. Journaling is a way of practising mindfulness that is so easily accessible without any detailed tutoring in this journey of becoming aware.

People can begin journaling by scribbling their mood every day as they drink their morning coffee, or they can set aside a specific time to sit down and reflect on days or even an entire week. It may take a few minutes to scribble a ‘couple of sentences’, or it may take up to half an hour to record what happened in a day, or it may be an outlet to go deeper and place our innermost thoughts on the page as there is no perfect form of writing that can define the right or wrong way to journal — it is necessary to begin journaling.

Journaling allows you to connect with yourself and observe your thoughts, emotions, and experiences as an audience in a contemplative and non-judgmental way. It is a purely meditational practice that cultivates self-awareness, self-reflection, personal growth, and mindful life.

Its practice can be broken down into steps.

Establish a Daily Schedule: Scanning the day from morning to night, you can find some part of the day when you are in a composed mood and mind – absolute meditative mode, so it would be feasible if you set a schedule – no matter if it is in the morning or before going to bed to maintain consistency. It is good to find a corner of the house where you can ruminate your time without interrupting the practise of journaling.  

Start with Basic: Before you start putting your thoughts on paper, you should take a few minutes to close your eyes, taking a few long breathings bringing the whole attention to the present moment, to make yourself ground. Let no disturbing thoughts or distractions trespass your mind without arbitrary judging, making you focus on creating a calm and centred mindset. 

Find Your Own of Journaling: Although writing a journal does not follow any rules, it still has several techniques that you can follow for better expression and exploring your meditative experience. There is a list of such a technique mentioned here. 

i. Free Journaling: Free writing lets your thought process smoothly flow as a river without letting it disrupt by judgement or censorship. A person needs to pen whatever it is in mind – allow it comes out without worrying about grammar, sentence structure or coherence, which helps unearth insights and understandings and releases any mental clutter that strikes life. 

ii. Gratefulness Journaling: The mind is a brutal enemy, and the mind is also a guiding fellow – what makes the difference is how to approach it. Rather than focusing on complaints about what you have or haven’t, switching your focus to feeling gratitude helps shift the mindset to a more positive and optimistic perspective. People can start reflecting on positive experiences, relationships, or personal qualities they have in their life which they appreciate. So, they should begin penning down what they are grateful for. 

iii. Reflection and Self-inquiry Journaling: Journal is a kind of room in your house where you find yourself alone and reflect on your daily life, which offers you space for the practice of self-reflection. You can ask some poignant and thought-provoking questions related to your everyday life, exploring your emotions and thoughts that rest deep down in your subconscious mind that you are carrying with you all day wherever you go. It equips you with clarity of thought, a deep understanding of yourself and self-awareness. 

iv. Stream of consciousness: It will help to access thoughts and emotions in your subconscious mind, revealing insights and understanding and patterns of life that may happen. Stream of consciousness journaling is writing continuously, allowing your overwhelming thoughts and emotion to overflow without interruption with judging and arbitrary logic and reasons. 

Embrace Mindfulness: Journaling demands freedom of thought with a mindful approach with a non-judgemental attitude, paying attention to your hovering thoughts and emotions inside you as they arise as the ebb and flow of waves in the ocean. What you, as a writer of the journal, can do is watch them without being attached to those thoughts and let yourself fully present with the process while writing the thoughts, focusing on the sensation of the inside as the pen runs on the paper or tapping of the keys on the keyboard. 

Let It Go – Release Thoughts: Writing a journal is a cathartic practice that lets you express yourself and release the stuck emotions or anxieties that have been triggering your traumatic emotions and disturbing you. After putting it on paper, it is in your hand to let it go, which fills you with a sense of release and relief. Journaling is a process of unloading your unwanted thoughts and emotion and making free spaces where you can fill healthy emotions.   Periodical Analysis: To celebrate progress and recognise areas of growth where you want to reach a certain period of time and what growth you are looking for – it is essential to review the journal entries periodically to gain insights into recurring patterns of actions, self-development, and areas of focus you require to do. Reviewing periodically will let you be watchful of your experiences and observant of any changes that may occur in your outlook and attitude it may take over time. 

After the scanning method and practice mentioned above, remember there is no specific pattern of journals. It is beyond any rules and regulations and form of writing. It is purely a personal practice of expressing your own thought and conversing with them, tailoring them to your likings and requirements. The motive behind journaling is exploring your experiences and yourself as a person, developing a mindfulness practice, and deepening your insights and understanding of experiences and incidents that have been happening in your life.

 

Leave a comment