Journaling - How to Start?

Easy steps:

1. Buy a journal, pick up a notebook or any paper you have at home, and a pen;

2. Take five deep breathes, feeling the air entering and coming out of your body, expanding your lungs;

3. Take the first thing you have in mind and start writing about that.

If you don’t feel ready yet to start digging into the depths of your mind, just make a list of “things to do” for the day and write one to three things for which you feel grateful.

You can also try writing on your computer and see if it works for you. I’m a “pen on paper” lover, and I explained why in my last post (you can read more on that, and the amazing benefits of journaling here).

But before deciding how to start, let’s review the types of journals most commonly used. You can start by choosing a specific one or mixing parts of each of those that are more appealing to you and create a daily practice that suits you best.

At the end of this page I tell my personal journey with this practice.

So, these are some of the most popular types of journaling:

Free Writing – Morning Pages

Personally, the most powerful and the type of writing from which I get most benefits.

Writing freely.

That means you write anything you feel like writing at that moment, with as little judgment as possible.

It can be a sad thought, a preoccupation, how you sense your body, or what do you think about the weather that day.

This practice was explored by Julia Cameron, the author of “The Artist’s Way”. She created the well-known Morning Pages for the purpose of helping blocked artists to get back on the path of creativity and away from the fears holding them back. 

The Morning Pages consist on three pages of longhand writing, allowing the flow of your consciousness, ideally done first thing in the morning. 

As Cameron says, "There is no wrong way to do Morning Pages," you should write about whatever comes to mind, without overthinking it too much. It’s just putting three pages of anything on the paper.

Well, it's not like there is someone behind you to see if you write the three pages or the time you decide to do it. Although, if you choose this practice with the goal of artistic development, you should know that scientific evidence suggests that the creative activity of the brain is highest during and immediately after sleep, while the analytical part of the brain become more active as the day goes by. Accordingly, the Ego seems to have a tendency do wake up a little bit later then our highest intuitive self, being easier to get in touch with the second one when we wake up.

Of course, this might not be true to everyone.

Try different approaches, like beginning with a page every morning for a week. Then, you can do some changes and try to write before going to bed for another week.

Keep with what feels most right for you. This is a personal exploration, an inner adventure where only you get to decide. You can adapt whenever you want.

Dream Journal

As a different level of consciousness, dreams can be a great source of wisdom and creativity.

As the name suggests, it is writing about your dreams. And yes, this is better you do in the morning, or you might forget what you dreamed. You can start by simply writing what you remember and gradually try analyzing the content and identifying patterns. Rather than describing the dream itself, you should explore the sensations and emotions you felt.

“Dreams are impartial, spontaneous products of the unconscious psyche, outside the control of the will. They are pure nature; they show us the unvarnished, natural truth, and are therefore fitted, as nothing else is, to give us back an attitude that accords with our basic human nature when our consciousness has strayed too far from its foundations and run into an impasse.”

(Carl Jung – Collected Works of C.G. Jung)

Jung was one of the pioneers of Western dream psychology and suggested that keeping a dream record can be an extremely useful tool for exploring an individual's life and a huge help to find solutions to problems of the conscious mind.

I never practice this consistently, despite once or twice when I dreamt about a particular image. I saw this scene in my dream and woke up feeling I should give it a try at drawing it. That was the result:

Bullet Journal

The bullet journal is most known as an organizational method. It was developed by a digital product designer - Ryder Carroll, who explains it as a "practice of mindfulness disguised as a productivity system".

Carroll created this organizational system constituted by notes, scheduling, reminders, to-do lists, and tasks. Everything logically categorized and visually perceptive, allowing you to mindfully put together the myriad of things you want to do every day, week, or month. This system facilitates the process of signaling the things that don't matter so much and help you to set priorities in your life.

It is much more effective than the usual schedule because while your write down all the components (dates, times, future plans, categories, and sub-categories), you are already modeling and organizing your brain.

Basically, you just need, again, a pen and paper (the pointed notebooks are better once they already have the points printed) and learn the signage of the system.

Basically, you just need, again, a pen and paper (the pointed notebooks are better once they already have the points printed) and learn the signage of the system.

You can write it minimalistic with just points and words. If you prefer, you can decorate it with windows, doodles, page marks, or any other drawing.

You can find more information about it on the official website or youtube (there are lots of videos about bullet journal with easy tutorials).

Art Journal

It is a space where you can explore your creativity in any way you want. If there are any rules, are those you made. It is fun, relaxing, and enhances self-esteem. You can try to do it in a more mindful approach and express your mental state or feelings through your creations or just follow a temporary theme. You can also explore different materials and techniques.

This kind of journal is used by many professional artists but it can be useful for everyone who likes to draw, paint or do some kind of papercraft, even those who think they might not be good at it.

This Instagram page have some beautiful examples of art journals I like and from where I get inspiration - @inspiringjournals.

Gratitude Journal

You probably have already noticed our natural tendency to super value the things that go wrong in our lives, the things we don’t have, the things we lost. To such an extent that we almost forget to appreciate all the marvelous things, we experience every day.

When writing gratitude phrases, we force our conscious mind to focus on the things that make our lives meaningful and to remember the things we are so blessed with. With the repetition of this practice, our perspective on life slowly changes to more positivity and serenity.

More than having just a journal for expressing gratitude, you can incorporate your gratitude affirmations into your writing routine.

As I suggested on top, start by writing down every day 3 to 5 things you are grateful for. Again, anything is allowed.

Sometimes I feel grateful for the warm sun, other times for the coffee I'm drinking, or simply for the silence, after a busy shift at the hospital. The important is that you recognize what is going on inside you and direct your mind to the good things you experience.

You can also journal during a specific time of your life. For example, if you go on vacation, you can write about the places you are exploring, the people you meet, and the feelings you feel during the trip. During wedding preparation or pregnancy, you can practice expressive writing to help you integrate emotions, deal with anxiety, and learn to hear your inner voice.

The possibilities are endless, and I just touched on those I have already experienced. Don't get lost, and if it resonates with you in any way, please do your future self a favor and start today with the materials you have at home.

You are free to customize your journaling habit, but keep in mind that, of the type you choose, consistency is the most important to obtain the benefits of any practice.

My journaling journey

I first started with the bullet journal. I used to have my mind full of so many things every day that finding a method to organize and categorize all the stuff I wanted to do, sounded amazing.

I kept with that for a few months, personalizing my journal, and creating different categories like:

• Daily tasks;

• The future log (plans for the next six months to one year);

• Movies I wanted to watch;

• Books I wanted to read;

• Good memories;

• Important phrases I wanted to reread, and so on.

After a while, I realized that some things worked better for me than others.

One thing that I maintained for a considerable amount of time was a monthly tracker, of my everyday mood, sleep, sports activity, binge eating, and menstrual changes. That raised my self-awareness tremendously and allowed me to understand some patterns and connections between some behaviors and my well-being. These days I only keep a “formal” track of my menstrual cycle but I intuitively write often about the relationships between my routines and how my body feels.

One thing that I maintained for a considerable amount of time was a monthly tracker, of my everyday mood, sleep, sports activity, binge eating, and menstrual changes. That raised my self-awareness tremendously and allowed me to understand some patterns and connections between some behaviors and my well-being. These days I only keep a “formal” track of my menstrual cycle but I intuitively write often about the relationships between my routines and how my body feels.

After a year and a half, my journal was not an organizational and practical tool anymore. With all the experiments I’ve done, I was already using it as a form of self-expression and starting to write a lot about my emotions, feelings, and mental ramblings.

But then, I felt I needed to deepen my practice. I was not writing every day and feeling a little lost. That push appeared in the studio where I used to practice yoga. They announced this journaling workshop as a preparation for the new year. I decided to attend and I absolutely loved it. I got so connected with my writing while responding to the prompts that I never felt that way before. It completely transformed the way I do this practice. It was also very inspiring to hear the experiences and doubts of other people.

Following the workshop, I bought the My Life Journal and committed to that practice every day for three months. After that, it became part of my self-care habits, and now I do it almost every day. Sometimes I skip a day for whatever reason, and I'm ok with that. It's not like I feel bad for not doing it. I just feel so much better when I do it.

Nowadays, I write more intuitively and don't worry too much about following this or that structure. I do a lot of freewriting (my favorite), not always in the morning, and I often include gratitude affirmations.

From time to time, I also do a review of “magical moments”, where I emphasize the beauty of some transformational moments of past weeks.

It’s still productivity tool. Every month I make a plan with my work schedule and all the commitments I have, and I also write my intentions for that month. I like to draw and make some decorations just for fun and relaxation.

And as I tend to forget a lot of things, I like to keep the final pages for stuff I may find it useful to check later - like movies, books, brands, etc.

That's it! I hope you are now inspired, curious, and willing to give this magical practice a try.

I am always happy to hear your feedback.

Love *