Journaling | How to Heal Part Four

Morning Pages is a concept shared by Julia Cameron in her book The Artist’s Way, and I’m convinced it’s one of the most effective healing tools in existence.

The idea of morning pages is that when you first wake up, you sit down and journal three full pages every single day. It’s not always fun. Some days not easy to get three full pages. Some days I write a full seven pages without blinking.

But it’s always helpful. Even if I don’t realize how for days or weeks.

Journaling is scientifically proven to help minimize stress, reveal connections, and heal trauma, both physically and emotionally. The key is to let your mind wander, to not require the time to be productive, and to let yourself just word vomit on the page.

In her book, Julia Cameron talks about how, especially in seasons of stress, our left brain is in charge from the moment we wake up. We have this sensor in our left brain that is helpful for keeping us alive, but is also a voice of criticism and distrust disguised as truth and logic. Our sensor will say things like, “you can’t do that. You’ll fail!” or “You shouldn’t explore that passion; there are already so many people doing that who are better than you’ll ever be.” Cameron encourages thinking about this sensor like a cartoon snake. That snake uses judgement words like good, bad, right, wrong, instead of experiencing things as truth or not truth.

And while that slithering snake might be whispering limiting messages in our ear from the moment we wake up…

We do not have to believe that voice.

We don’t!

And the way we can block the serpent’s noise is by journaling. Seriously. Which is why morning pages are so important. Our serpent left brain starts talking as soon as our eyes open, so our morning pages need to happen just as quickly. We won’t give the serpent time to get the upper hand.

Writing occupies the left side of your brain so your right side of your brain can step up and step forward. While the left side of your brain is distracted, the right side of your brain, where your ideas, intuition, and truth live, can breathe.

If the left side of your brain is logic, the right side of your brain is knowing.

By intentionally giving the right side of your brain room to breathe, you can ignore the self-criticism and turn instead to your deep, internal knowing.

You can acknowledge your sensor, but it shouldn't let it run your life. In fact, by acknowledging the lies your sensor tells you, you can identify your fears more clearly and respond to them with truth.

Journaling is taking the fast track to your deep knowing. And after a while, your journaling practice will train your left brain to step aside and tuning into your knowing will become more natural. You won’t have to wonder what you truly want from life, you’ll know. You won’t have to question if something is a lie you’re telling yourself, because you’ll be tuned in to the truth.

That’s why journaling is a core part of my morning routine.

Here are some helpful tools for making journaling part of your morning routine:

A journal that looks as pretty as a coffee table book so you can leave it within easy access.
Journal refills. I love that I can just put my old journal on the shelf before cracking open a new one.
The perfect black pen. Don’t give yourself more reasons to put down your writing. When you have a good pen, sometimes you’ll just keep writing because you love how smooth the pen is!

Stop telling yourself you don’t have time to journal. It’ll change your life.

If you want to hear more about the book The Artist’s Way, check out my series with my friend Katie Selvidge on the topic!

Find all of the How to Heal series blog posts here.