Hello, friends!
Last week, we started working on learning to build your intuition by talking more in depth about meditation.
Today, I want to cover the last two processes for building intuition – journaling and mindfulness.
So, buckle up, Buttercup, ‘cause this wild ride is about to take off!
Journaling
Like meditation, journaling has lots of benefits.
- It reduces anxiety and depression
- It improves our physical health
- It improves our memory
- It literally makes us happier people
- It even helps us heal trauma, for crying out loud!
With such bang for your buck, journaling can add a surprising amount of value.
There are lots of different ways to approach journaling, so my suggestion is to make it into a practice that works for you.
If you find journal prompts helpful, you can Google them. That’s a great place to start.
If you want to write about your day, you can do that, too.
My preferred method is to meditate first and then immediately jump into free-thought journaling for about 10 minutes.
I love to put a meditation playlist on (you can find lots of them on Spotify) and just go for it.
You can put pen to paper or type your thoughts.
There really are no rules when it comes to this one. Making it work for you and approaching it in a way that feels comfortable is crucial.
Your body is holding onto so much you probably don’t even realize.
By journaling whatever comes up for you (even if it doesn’t make sense at first), you’re literally releasing it from your body.
What’s left is clarity and peace.
BOOYA!!!
Journaling is special because it brings all the scattered pieces of us together on one page.
So, if you find yourself overwhelmed by thoughts and/or emotion, give this puppy a try.
Mindfulness
Let’s jump into the benefits here:
- It decreases how much time we spend overthinking
- It improves our relationships
- It makes us more thankful for the things we already have
- It reduces stress
- It increases focus
- It makes us less emotionally reactive
Mindfulness is such a ginormous topic and it can look like many things.
There’s a difference between WHAT we do and HOW we do it.
Mindfulness is all about the “how” part.
A mindful approach can be described as alert, aware, focused, and most importantly, present.
Our brains are actually in one of five different places at any given moment:
- Worrying about the future. Example: Feeling stressed about a deadline.
- Anticipating the future. Example: Thinking about how you get to see a good friend tonight.
- The present moment. Example: Having curious awareness of the things around and within you.
- Remembering the past. Example: Thinking about a vacation you took a few years ago.
- Stressing out about/regretting the past. Example: Thinking about an embarrassing moment from middle school.
Now, there’s a wide range there.
It’s okay to get excited about the future and there’s no harm in fond memories.
And the best place for us to spend the majority of our time is in the present moment.
Why?
Because we only ever have resources in the present moment.
We NEVER have resources for the future.
We NEVER have resources for a past moment.
We ALWAYS have enough resources for the present moment.
I found that to be incredibly frustrating at first, and then extremely empowering.
If I find myself lacking resources and feeling depleted, it’s almost always because I’ve been giving my resources to the past or future instead of giving them to the present moment.
Practicing mindfulness is a MUCH broader spectrum than meditation or journaling.
If you’re in the present moment, you’re being mindful.
Every time you catch yourself thinking about the past or future, you’ve brought yourself back to a mindful state.
If you’re feeling like you don’t know where exactly to start, here are some ideas:
- Take a color walk. Walk around the block or even around your home and count how many times you see your favorite color.
- Try to listen to someone with your whole body. Notice how many times your mind tries to drag you back into your own thoughts.
- Pay attention to the sensations in your body.
- Make a list of things you’re thankful for
- Think of something each of your senses is experiencing. Something you can touch, taste, see, hear, and smell.
Every time you notice you’re NOT in the present moment is a huge win.
When you do that, you’re bringing yourself back to the present moment where all your resources are!
Implementing all or any of the practices we’ve talked about will help to build that beautiful intuition of yours and increase your happiness, peace, and clarity.
Thank you for spending some time with me today!
As always, if there’s anything I can encourage you in or questions I can answer, feel free to send me a message!
See you next time!
