Day 27 Most Helpful Journalling Techniques

I've used a number of different journalling techniques, but so far I find two most helpful.

The first one I like is the "unsent letter", and I often base these off the model created by John Gray (author of 'Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus'). I think his model helps give me direction and to name a number of different emotions.

The second one I have found really helpful is writing about specific events from my childhood, teenage and even recent years. It gave me deeper insight into some traumatic or difficult experiences, and each time I try to end the journalling with a prayer - usually a prayer of forgiveness, or something similar.

As well as that, I have found it helpful to do some "spider" journalling - in the brainstorming, visual style. Writing about my TMS personality traits has been quite useful as well.

 

Those are great journaling techniques, Laudisco. You're getting to know yourself better
and getting better at forgiving. I've written some unsent letters and they do help me to lighten up on anger
against some people, especially my book publisher boss who just seems to hate to communicate with me
unless he wants me to do something RIGHT NOW AND PERFECT.

 

I have found that writing all my journal work, letters, etc using my non-dominant hand very effective @ connecting to my right brain & freeing up emotions, events, etc in a way that doesn't happen using my dominant hand. now trying to read what looks like the scrawl of a 5 yr old is another story but most of these emotions have been stuffed since I was that age anyway.
free your mind (abandon the normal neural pathways to create new ones) & free your soul

ba

 

I doubt I could write one word with my nondominant (left) hand. But your idea to journal that way sounds good.
It will take longer, but you might retain it longer, too.

 

Thanks for sharing Walt and PainfreeB! I usually prefer to type my journalling as I can type a lot quicker than I can write. This helps me to get my thoughts out quickly without thinking or analysing too much. But it's a clever idea to write with the non-dominant hand!

 

I've tried journaling with my non-dominant hand and it looks like my doctor wrote it. Or Annie, my dog.

 

Haha, that's pretty amusing Walt! I think I would be the same…

 

ya, I don't expect to decipher much at all in the future either... it's not about what it looks like for me, but about the subconscious emotion that comes up through accessing right brain stuff. when I write w/ dominant hand it's normal status quo linear left brain thinking & not as much connection to feeling - which is what this process is about for me. maybe a choice of head vs. heart for me I guess