Journaling as a mindfulness practice for thoughts and emotions

Journaling is the practice of self-discovery by writing to yourself.
– Chade Meng Tan (Google)

In today’s busy world, finding physical and mental space for peace and calm amidst the competing demands of work, family and friends can be a challenge. Mindfulness is a simple and powerful practice that can help you cut through the noise and reclaim tranquillity, wherever you are.

Mindfulness can also be described as “taking an active, mindful stance by paying moment-to-moment, non-judging attention to thoughts and emotions as they arise; and facilitate their flow by putting them on paper.”

Working with your hands is one of the best ways to soothe anxiety and eliminate stress. How can you do this?

• Mindfulness Journal – Exercises that help you find peace and calm wherever you are
• Colouring book (for adults) – The latest trend these days. For those who prefer the pen and paper version, there are many options available in stationery shops and at online shops like Amazon:

. For the electronic gadget boffins – there are apps available which you can download to your favourite device to work on the next time you’re waiting in a queue somewhere.

How to Journal or Blog:
• Choose an amount of time you can spare each day (3, 5, or 15 minutes)
• Choose a prompt (subject/topic) – see below for suggestions
• Play! For the amount of time you have chosen, write down whatever comes to mind relating to the prompt you have selected for the day.

The best approach is not to think about what you are going to write – just write it! If you run out of things to write about . . . write about the fact that you have run out of things to write about until you have something to write about again.

Suggested prompts:
• What I am feeling now is . . .
• I am aware that . . .
• What motivates me is . . .
• I am inspired by . . .
• Today, I aspire to . . .
• What hurts me is . . .
• I wish . . .
• Others are . . .
• I made a happy/sad mistake . . .
• Love is . . .

Self-inquiry prompts:
• Things that give me pleasure are . . .
• My strengths are . . .
• Things that annoy me are . . .
• My weaknesses are . . .
• My core values are . . .
• I stand for . . .
• Who are you and what are you doing?
• How I feel today . . .
• What people say about me is . . .

For more prompts check out this link:

Adult Journal Prompts
1. Childhood Aspirations
What did you want to become when you were a child? Are you pursuing that dream or have you chosen something different?

2. Regrets
What regrets do you have? What could you do to change them?

3. New Place
Describe a time when you were in a new place or situation. How did you feel and what did you do?

4. One Day
If you could live one day over, which day would it be and what would you change?

5. Child Influence
What was the most influential aspect of your childhood on the person you are today?

6. New Project
What is one project or activity you’d like to start? What’s been keeping you from doing it?

How to use technology (from cellular phones to social media) with mindfulness, meaning and wisdom.
Find out more here:

Warning: Emotional Volcano about to erupt!

To all my loyal readers I do apologise for the break in writing. To get me started again, I thought I would start with @WriteOnSA #WriteOnWednesday topic for today which is: “If you had to wear a warning label, what would yours say?”

My label today would say – Warning: Emotional Volcano about to erupt!

Those who regularly read my blog may have picked up that I recently lost my mother (mom died on 27 October 2014) after her fourteen month battle with Cancer.

Mom’s diagnosis came at a time when I was still in recovery from my own surgery (had just been back at work a few weeks when mom had her surgery) and being the primary caregiver, there was no time to deal with all the emotions that comes with hearing that your mom has Cancer. Immediately after recovering from her surgery, mom went on to having Chemotherapy in an effort to prolong her life as the type of Cancer she had was a very aggressive (rapid spreading) one. Again, my emotions had to be swept under the carpet.

When the emotions tried to overwhelm me and tears wanted to spurt out at the most inopportune times, I did the best I could to suppress my emotions (and tears). Throughout mom’s treatment, I’ve had to suppress my emotions. I’ve done this for the last fourteen months and even after mom’s death and funeral service, I’ve been shedding tears in “fits and starts” i.e. the tears stop as suddenly as they start. I’m still waiting for the one big cry to happen that’s been threatening for the last fourteen months.

So when is this volcano going to erupt?

Do you think my label for today is therefore a fitting one given how I’m feeling? I certainly think so because that is exactly how I feel right now – like an emotional volcano about to erupt.

When will it happen, I wonder?