Personal Journal Blog - WriteON!

How to Combine Reflective Writing with Meditation & Yoga

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Journaling is ultimately a meditative exercise, something we use to center ourselves and get to know who we are at our core. It makes perfect sense then that reflective writing is an ideal companion to other activities with similar goals, such as meditation, yoga or reiki. By adding a journaling element to your meditative practice, you can:

• Enhance your awareness and mindfulness by recording your experiences
• Become more in tune with your strengths and weaknesses
• Track your progress regularly over time to see how you have changed
• Make necessary adjustments to your practice based on your observations 
• Set goals for yourself

Reflective Writing Exercises for Yoga, Meditation or Reiki

Try to incorporate this into your regular routine after you practice yoga, meditation or reiki (you could also write a little bit before and a little bit after). Think of it as a way of stretching your mental muscles after exercising. To prevent it from becoming just another item on your to-do list, you can keep it short and sweet.

1. In your journal, write down the date, time and location of your practice.

2. Answer the following reflective writing questions:

• What was your intention for yoga, meditation or reiki today?

• What poses, movements or other exercises did you practice? How was your breathing? How was your energy level?

• Did you have an easy or difficult staying focused? If your attention was wandering more than usual, can you think of a reason why?

• How did your body feel? What were your challenges? What were your successes?

• If you had to describe today’s practice in one word, what would it be?

• What do you want to concentrate on more next time? What is your goal for the next week?

3. Be diligent about writing in your journal every time you practice, and soon it will become a habit. After a few weeks or months have gone by, look back to your first entries. How have you changed in that time? What have you learned about yourself by incorporating reflective writing into your practice?

Do you ever use journaling to complement your yoga, meditation, reiki or other similar practice? Please tell us about your experiences.

You can find information about Meditation in this blog post by Paul Schlosberg.