Meditative Journaling

Here's a simple exercise for journaling along with your meditation time. If you feel you can not journal, this might be a good way to try something different. Sometimes recording what we feel and experience helps us connect with what we are seeking or trying to understand or just needing to connect with. This is a very simple exercise and you can adapt it to your meditation time or a moment of silent in your day. Let it work for you and be something that fits into your life.

Find a quiet place where you can be alone. Outside in nature is nice but even in a quiet room where you won't be disturbed is good. When you find that place, spend a couple of moments just centering yourself on your breath and feeling your body support and balance you as you sit there.

When you're ready, grab a piece of paper (on a clipboard or in a notebook can work great). Then begin to list every single word that comes to your mind, one right after another. No matter how silly or unimportant the word may seem, make a list of these words. How many you record is up to you.

Next, after you have listed the words - try writing a short sentence that comes to mind about the word. Why did it come into your mind? What were you thinking about? What prompted you to write it down. Let that sentence flow as you give life and meaning to the word.

When you are done writing your sentences, take a moment to read back through them and then just sit with what you have written. More than likely, you're going to see a pattern emerge and all of these words together will tell a story of what you need to hear in that moment. It is like an opening in to finding that which you want to connect to. Of course, you may realize that all the time, these things were just part of you. This was but a simple exercise to help you connect with them.

And now if you are one of the people who say writing is difficult and you struggle to journal or sit in meditation - well guess what - you've just done all those things!

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