Journaling can be done at any time of the day to support reflective processing. Play around with finding the best time of day that works for you. I find it helpful to journal after or before daily practice.

Writing is a somatic practice, especially when you tune into the sensations felt in the body as you write. Ideally, these are meant to be free-flow writing prompts (continuous writing without thinking). Allow the pen to flow as an extension of whatever is bopping around the brain or remaining held in the body without judgment or perfectionism. This is not a practice in great writing. This is a practice of allowing the subconscious to be heard.

• Morning Release
  Exactly as it sounds. The process of dumping or releasing all contents onto the page first thing in the morning. This can help release something being held, while also opening up space for creative ideas and possibilities to come forward.

  • First thing in the morning, write down everything that’s on your mind. Flood the journal with fears, thoughts, worries, excitements, questions, hurts, dreams, etc. It doesn’t matter if it makes sense. The intention is to just keep writing.

  • Once this feels complete, pause and connect with your body (see quick body scan segment of daily practice) and ask yourself, “What do I need today?”

  • Wait for an answer. Be patient. If you notice your brain kick in, come back to the body and wait. Once a sensation or answer arises, write it down.

  • Connect with where and how you feel this need in the body. The sensations, colors, visuals, textures, smells, sounds, etc. Connect with how it would feel to give yourself that thing that you need or desire. Breathe into this feeling.

  • Write what you visualized, imagined, felt, etc. Then release and trust that you will give yourself what you need or take the steps needed to get closer.

• Connection

  • These are the places, people, and activities where I feel disconnected (list them)

  • These are the places, people, and activities where I tend to feel most connected: (list them)

  • How does (dis)connection with yourself relate to (dis)connection with others?

  • Is there anything that helps shift toward feelings of connection? How can you bring more of that into your day?

• Boundaries

  • Somatic Practice: Take a moment to pause and play with feeling where your energetic boundary. You can do this by slowly moving your hands with palms out, away from and back toward the body. See if you get a felt sense of where the energy begins to shift. Where is there a buffer or protective barrier from outside stimulus.

  • Reflect on a time when you felt like your unspoken boundaries were crossed. Write about this experience. What happened? What were your boundaries in the moment? How do you know that they were crossed? What cues or signals did your body give you to notify you of this? What was your impulse in the moment? How did it feel if you did/did not act on that impulse? What would you do differently in the future?

  • Somatic Practice: Imagine that you did things differently by expressing your boundary or changing course when someone crossed a stated boundary. What does that look like? Feel like in the body?

  • Write down what it feels like in the body to have this boundary. Write that into a mantra to remind yourself when you feel like you need to state or reinforce a boundary that you’ve set.

• Restoration

  • What are the things (yes, this can be people too) that physically or emotionally drain you?

  • What physically and/or emotionally restores you?

  • What would life look like if you felt restored? How would you feel? What would look different?