The importance of journaling

Journaling is an old tradition. When there were no computers, no smart phones, e-books, blogs or kindles, people wrote down their thoughts, ideas, feelings, hunches, intuitions, insights, dreams and daily musings on paper, where their own handwriting carried the essence of their soul. Journaling used to be a sacred journey with oneself, to reflect, ponder, wander, muse and meander in the privacy of one’s own space.

Your sacred space is where you can find yourself again and again. ~Joseph Campbell

Oh those bygone days, can they be revived? In today’s fast paced modern lifestyle, people rarely take the time to jot down their reflections or examine their inner world of feelings and emotions. But reflections are important, for they communicate with us in a language buried deep within our souls.

Benefits of journaling

Journaling is not just about writing down our daily experiences in a diary. It is more than that. It is about exploring the magic of our inner worlds with which our outer worlds are carved. To understand life and the depths of its interior workings, we must be willing to have one foot in the visible world and another in the invisible world. Journaling projects the invisible out onto the visible, thus aligning the two worlds leaving little room for self-conflict. It brings our awareness to the present moment by liberating the past and painting our future with the brushes of our wishes, dreams and desires stemming from our present consciousness. Besides nourishing our souls, it offers numerous practical benefits and healing in our physical lives.

Unraveling the subconscious mind: the subconscious mind holds all memory, programming, belief system, conditioning, trauma, hurt, fear, anxiety; it cannot reason, logic or question. Its only job is to protect us and often does so in a counterproductive manner, even causing diseases and other distressing symptoms. It is like a little child holding us hostage to our unresolved past. The subconscious is 30,000 times more powerful than the conscious mind and it is what usually runs our lives. All our ideologies, philosophies, religious indoctrination, societal dictates, familial upbringing, ancestral dysfunction that we have been carrying within since birth are deep-rooted in the subconscious mind that ruin our present experiences of reality. Our conscious mind is awake but not present. It cannot be, when the subconscious is running the show. It is like our minds are imprisoned by the programming and the program controls us. Journaling, automatic writing, channeling, musing on paper are ways to bring out these subconscious issues to light, process and gently release them so they cannot dictate our adult waking lives anymore. Hence the present can be created from a field of limitless possibilities rather than past conditioning.

Exploring the emotional body: most life experiences are navigated through emotions; our happiness, sadness, disappointments, heartbreaks, failures, successes, romantic encounters, love involvements, relationships are all felt in the emotional body, which commands our thoughts, feelings, actions and perceptions of reality. There is a brain in the gut and it makes us immature adults. Emotions are strong and have a powerful energetic hold on us. Emotions are not to be bypassed, surpassed, superimposed or taken lightly. They should definitely not be avoided or escaped as doing so does not make them go away, rather fester, burying deeper into the subconscious and remain there unresolved to haunt our present life at inopportune moments as blind spots. Rather, they need to be processed. Journaling is a wonderful way to channel our difficult emotions, stay present with ourselves and find out what our emotions are telling us. Emotions are our internal compass informing us about our truths, creating our states of being at any given moment. E-motion is energy in motion and energies create our physical reality, literally! Energy creates matter. Emotions cause feelings. And feelings are the language of our soul. Emotions can however be stubborn, not wanting to leave, especially the negative ones! When something goes wrong, it is because our emotions are out of balance. Journaling can bring our deep-seated fears to light and release them consciously, so they can have no hold over our psyche anymore.

Renewing consciousness: Journaling renews the mind and rejuvenates the spirit. Regular writing is a good habit. It is like saying hello to your soul, being willing to be fully present with yourself sans judgement, if at all for a few minutes only. Your soul will be grateful you did so. So go ahead, write away all your problems, anxieties, fears, traumas, and bask in self-glory!

Fall in love with you: Journaling helps you get in touch with yourself, fall in love with yourself, know yourself, explore yourself, spend time with yourself, learn about yourself, experience yourself in your own magnificence, glorify yourself in your own musings. It is a great booster of self-esteem as you learn to honor and acknowledge all that you are and come closer to self-acceptance. It is a form of shadow work, where we bring out the deep hidden, buried aspects of ourselves and shine the light of our consciousness to those darker aspects of our being so they can be illuminated and liberated. It is liberating to write in the secrecy and privacy of our own space.

The spark of creativity: Journaling ignites creativity as it lets you visit those aspects of your being that you normally overlook or even belittle; the into-me-see kind of intimacy with oneself. The parts of you that you judge or doubt the most are often the key to your originality and ingenuity. Exploring self-imposed taboos and limitations through writing can help you get in touch with yourself and discover your authentic voice. It is a wonderful tool to co-create your life with imagination, focusing on the heart-center where source consciousness is accessible. Our imaginative faculties are powerful and create our physical reality, literally. Thoughts are things. Energy creates matter. Imagination is creation. Everything is vibration. A wish, a dream, a desire, a fear, a worry, are painting our reality all the time. Being aware of this helps us craft the reality we wish to partake in during our time here on earth.

Unexpected solutions: when we let our thoughts go wild and just wander, writing down whatever comes to mind, sometimes the most creative solutions to our present problems may pop up in the process, or after writing down all possible solutions that can’t be, the one that can be, surfaces on paper! It is musing without putting a rein on our reflections; meandering, wandering, wondering, pondering our way to the answers we seek in life!

Impacting the future: writing without editing gives us the permission to be, with no self-judgement. It liberates our inner world thus directly impacting our outer reality, as past hurt, trauma, disappointments melt away through the writings. We stop performing all the time and feel free to be authentic, transparent, sincere, honest and genuine, first and foremost with ourselves then with others. We live more in the present engaging in wishful thinking, dreaming, desiring, imagining whence birth the creative juices of life, inducing the same state as being in love. We step out of the programmings that control us and as we learn to be fully present with ourselves we can now manifest that beautiful future of our dreams. It is wonderful medicine for the disheartened spirit.

The world of dreams: you can craft your dreams, draft your reality, edit, whitewash, delete, change, paint your thoughts to whatever you want, playfully in the imaginings of your own magnificence, in the musings of your own essence and re-create the next best version of yourself. It is like magic. You only need to pick up the pen and start writing. Really just start. Don’t edit yourself. Write whatever comes to mind. Later you can always come back and read them to better understand yourself and your desires. Nobody is judging you, questioning you, doubting you, criticizing you here. You are your own master, creator of your own reality, inventor of your own creativity. It is in this sacred space that you can carve yourself into whatever you want to be, visualize and dream your ideal life, feel it and live it in your mind. For it is in the mind all reality is created first thence does it take birth into the physical.

Varied forms of journaling

Writing daily is a good practice for sure, and there are many forms of journaling. Some people like to keep a diary to write down what occurred in their lives every day, more like a log of their daily activities. Others write for entirely different purposes. Below are some forms of journaling that one may feel called to explore, or a combination of all:

Dream journaling: penning down our dreams is a great way to know what is in our subconscious minds, bring to light the unconscious, hidden programming that is blocking our forward motion in life, then gently process and release them. Oftentimes we carry a lot of trauma or dysfunctional beliefs from childhood that impede our progress in the present. But we have no way to know what that is until we can learn to heed our dreams. Maybe there is a feeling of unworthiness, insufficiency, unlovable, not being good enough, poor self-esteem… dreams are symbolic and often bring our dysfunctional beliefs to consciousness in the sleep state. Cultivating the habit of writing down our dreams can not only explore the hidden depths of our subconscious but also bring solution to present problems. Dreams can also be precognitive in nature, showing us a future possibility and sometimes when that happens in reality we experience déjà vu. Writing down these events can help us come back later to proof our experiences.

I once had a dream that I was traveling somewhere. I had a huge backpack and it was so heavy that I was lagging behind. The guy walking in front of me offered to carry my bag for me so I could walk faster. A month later I had no idea I was living this exact dream as I traveled to Malaysia and the tall American guy carried my bag. You see, I was co-organizing an entrepreneurial summit at my University in Singapore where we had students from all over the world as delegates. At the end of the summit some of us traveled to Malaysia. So it was a precognitive dream showing a future possibility! My first trip outside of Asia, when I won an all-expense paid trip to Europe, was also inspired through a dream. Then once I lost my wallet and found out in a dream where it was; the following day I went there and got it, with all my credit cards and money intact! Another time, someone had stolen my money, of about US $800 and in a dream I saw who took it then validated it. Yet another instance was when I had a dream where my boss fired me. I was so perturbed by it that I even went and asked him if all was well and he said ‘yes’. Well, two days later he did fire me, but the best part was that I found a better job with a higher salary that very same day, as I was stagnating in the old job anyway. You see, all happens for good! We only need to honor our dreams to understand how they speak to us.

Intuitive journaling: writing down our intuitions, hunches, hints and snippets of wisdom flashing our consciousness is a great way to strengthen our sixth sense, third eye or intuitive capacities. Sometimes in hindsight we can see how our intuitions about a past event were right, if we had written them down that is. Else it is easy to forget. Intuitive journaling is a great tool for channeling higher wisdom and divine guidance on our life paths, especially when we feel stuck or lost in life there is a message our soul is trying to convey. But are we willing to heed that message?

Creative writing: our lives are made beautiful through art, creativity, emotions, feelings and imaginations. Storytelling, creative writing, a book in the making, can all start with a mere thought, an idea in motion, through the simple process of writing down our creative flashes on paper. We don’t always get those inspirational sparks, but when we do, it is of utmost importance to jot them down somewhere so they won’t be lost. This way we train our minds to honor our ideas, inspirations and creativity. Who knows which idea becomes the next bestseller or an ingenious masterpiece? If we don’t have the habit of noting down the bursts of creativity crossing our minds anytime, then we will never know what genius we are capable of, will we? This is what distinguishes an ordinary person from an extraordinary one. A genius honors his every inspiration and finds gold in them, by dint of which he actually goes on to manifesting gold in his life too.

Everyday venting: writing is a great way to vent! Yes take out our frustrations, disappointments, challenges, unmet needs, expectations and difficult emotions. You see, our emotions are not always nice to us and they can’t be crafted the way we want. Yes, we can think our way out of a feeling or choose to bypass a difficult emotion with a positive blanket, but such methods can be more detrimental than beneficial in the long run because instead of processing and releasing them from our minds, by resisting them we keep them intact, which can haunt us later or become blind spots. What we resist persists! Writing down our frustrations, feelings of anger, disapproval, betrayal, blame, shame, guilt, abandonment, disappointment, disillusion, is a way to process them without judgement, allowing them to pass through our mental faculties without blocking them, like water flows, and suddenly we have channeled them in a healthy manner instead of venting our frustration on someone else. This actually helps release those difficult emotions from our subconscious faster instead of letting them fester. It is a form of radical self-acceptance, total self-love without edits, cuts or retakes!

Midnight meandering: sometimes at night when we are ready to go to sleep or just about falling asleep, in that hypnagogic state between sleeping and wakefulness, our minds are the most fertile and as we relax and release resistance, thought slows down and we drift to sleep, we may suddenly get a great idea or encounter solution to a difficult situation in life. It is often a good practice to just get up and write down what’s on our minds because there may be creative resolutions to present problems, hidden thoughts coming to the surface of our conscious minds. Usually in our waking states, we discount our hunches with logic or reasoning, but in that hypnagogic state the most brilliant ideas can come to light. Thomas Edison, the guy who invented the light bulb, had the habit of forcing himself to wake up just when he was about to fall asleep, by holding metal ball bearings in his hands that would fall to the ground as he drifted to sleep thus awake him with the sound, because he knew the power of midnight meandering! 

Journaling has helped me a lot to shape my life as an author, speaker, performer, globetrotter, a far cry from a software major at University. It has helped me craft a life of passion & purpose, given me creative insights to challenging life situations, confirmed precognitive dreams, helped me understand the workings of my subconscious mind, the secrets of my emotions and what they are trying to tell me about me. It is liberating to be able to connect with your own inner world without the need to judge or question yourself. Just being present with myself has helped release many deep-seated fears that had held me hostage to past traumas for years.

Hence I decided to create an Inspirational journal that can help you do exactly this. It is not an ordinary journal with inspirational quotes. The quotes are evolutionary in nature. It is creatively designed with dance posters that can spark creativity in you too. If you are also looking for a deeper journey with yourself and life itself, you may like to get hold of a copy of my journal and start writing today!

THE WORLD OF DREAMS IS RIGHT HERE
Do you have a dream, an impelling vision, a hunch, an idea or a random thought that you just can’t let go? Perhaps you want to take note of the signs & synchronicities strewn on your daily path, those meaningful coincidences, midnight meanderings, snippets of insights flashing your consciousness, or jot down your everyday experiences in a personal diary… and let it lure you to create the next best version of yourself!

Introducing the Inspirational Journal “magicNine” based on the book by author Baisakhi Saha. This 200+ page writing journal comes with 24 inspirational posters, each with a beautiful dance expression and an empowering quote from magicNine, exquisitely designed by evolutionary artist Esther Gieringer.

Be it intuitive journaling, dream journaling, creative writing, channeling, wandering, pondering or everyday meandering, this journal provides a sacred space to explore your inner world! Put it by your bedside, take it to work, carry it with you wherever you go, and unravel the magic of your musings…

SALIENT FEATURES: world map, motivational posters, dance photography, empowering quotes, timeless diary, custom date & time, paperback/hardcase, lightweight, portable, matte-finish, watermarked nature or dreamcatcher theme.

There are two themes, one nature and the other dreamcatcher. Both versions have the same inspirational posters, but one has butterflies and lilies as watermark and the other has a variety of dreamcatchers in the background. Please find the product descriptions and variations below and order your desired version. There are 3 options to choose from Internationally and 2 options in India only.

For all International choices visit the amazon author site or select from the options below:

1. Nature theme, Paperback with color+b/w interior: Inspirational posters in color with nature inspired watermarks on writing sheets in black & white; Price US $36.00, Size 5.5”x8.5”. Watch trailer. Buy here.
2. Nature theme, Paperback with color interior: Inspirational posters in color with nature inspired watermarks on writing sheets in color; Price US $36.00, Size 5.5”x8.5”. Watch trailer. Buy here.
3. Dreamcatcher theme, Paperback with color interior: Inspirational posters in color with dreamcatcher inspired watermarks on writing sheets in grey and colored rules; Price US $36.00, Size 6”x9”. Watch trailer. Buy here.

For all Indian choices visit the amazon author site in India, buy directly from the publisher store in local currency, Rupees or select from the options below:

1. Nature theme, Hardcover with color+b/w interior: Inspirational posters in color with nature inspired watermarks on writing sheets in black & white plus ribbon bookmark; Price Rs. 567, Size 5.5”x8.5”. Watch trailer. Buy here.
2. Nature theme, Paperback with color interior: Inspirational posters in color with nature inspired watermarks on writing sheets in color; Price Rs. 999, Size 5.5”x8.5”. Watch trailer. Buy here.

NOTE: The above versions are also available on other stores like Barnes & Noble, Flipkart, Infibeam, Amazon Prime and more Amazon international sites besides amazon.com, like amazon.de, amazon.ca, amazon.fr, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.nl, amazon.in, amazon.com.br, amazon.com.mx, amazon.co.uk, amazon.co.jp, amazon.com.au, etc. The journal may be availed through libraries and bookstore catalogues worldwide as well.