This post may contain affiliate links, which means we'll receive a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure here.
If someone asked me how to start a healing journey in the most efficient way possible, this is the one thing I recommend starting with. ASAP.
That thing is talking yourself through things using journaling.
Wait before you close this page… I know you heard about this so many times but I want you to stick around for just a few minutes.
In this post, I’m sharing the simplest but most effective journaling techniques that I’ve been using for a few years now. They have helped to bring me so far in my emotional healing journey.
From my lifelong experience, taking time to self-talk and write things down is the answer to 99% of our problems. And I’m convinced you’ll join the club once you try it.
Without further due, let’s get into it!
This post is all about how to start a healing journey.
📽️ YouTube Video: How to journal to heal your inner creator
💫 What is a healing journey?
A healing journey is a process of recovery from emotional wounds and trauma received in the past during which you learn to acknowledge it, accept it, and stop it from holding you back in any way possible.
Now, what is a self-healing journey?
A self-healing journey suggests using various tools to look deeper within yourself to find answers and ways to thrive with what you’ve been given including emotional pain, trauma, and so on.
There are hundreds of wonderful things you can implement during your healing journey stages. But if you’re relatively new to this and wondering how to start a self-healing journey — I’m so happy you are here (can you sense my excitement??).
Now, embarking on a self-healing journey can be a daunting task. It’s not easy.
These days you can hear everyone talking about things like childhood trauma, healing journey, mental health… The focus on personal growth and mental well-being is a positive trend but so many of us are not ready to dive deep into our issues.
And I get it. It can be scary.
Sometimes it requires a hefty load of courage. Sometimes you’ll need to be willing to get vulnerable. Sometimes you’ll feel like it’s getting even worse than before you started.
It’s important to understand that healing is not a linear process and that setbacks or challenges may arise along the way.
But with the right mindset and approach — we got this! Viewing obstacles as opportunities for growth and learning can help shift the perspective and ultimately lead to a more fulfilling journey.
Alright, don’t chicken out. Let’s try something instead 🙂
RELATED POST: How to Hug Yourself to Feel Better + Guided Meditation
🗝️ The key to all doors
You only need a journal (or a piece of paper) and a pen.
This is your sign to start journaling and try the techniques I’m sharing below:
If you…
- Struggle to have honest, vulnerable conversations with yourself;
- Need to dissociate and look at a situation from the outside perspective;
- Go through a lot and just need to vent (check out my guided meditation here!).
If you feel…
- A lot of things at the same time and it’s a total mess in your head;
- Angry or sad and want to process these emotions in the most advantageous way possible;
- Lost and want to find answers of any kind;
- Amazing and want to document it and express gratitude.
If you want to…
- Understand what you want better;
- Understand what’s stopping you from reaching your goals and learn how to deal with it;
- Learn how to get support and validation from yourself to not depend on other people.
If you have journaled before but…
- Fell out of the habit;
- Didn’t like it or it didn’t work for you.
Before we get to the crème de la crème of the journaling, check out my other prompts selections that have been very popular:
Self-Love Journaling Challenge
41 Amazing Journaling Prompts Any Creative Should Try Right Now
And let’s begin!
🌱 How to start a healing journey — the easiest way
So how to start a healing journey?
Below are the simplest (ever) but most effective prompts to start unraveling the tangle of your previous experiences to be able to process them and heal.
These are great for when you need answers — no matter what kind of situation you’re in.
Want a major breakthrough? Use these as steps — pick a problem and then run it through each prompt, one after another.
I can almost guarantee that if you don’t have the answer by the time you’re done, you’ll get it the next day in the shower or something. 🙂
🫀 Prompt #1 — “What am I feeling?”
It’s in the name. The very first thing to do is to ask yourself — what am I feeling?
What am I feeling when they say that? What am I feeling when I procrastinate? What am I feeling about the things happening in my life right now?
With this prompt, you can quickly identify how certain things make you feel and start seeing patterns and tendencies. Then, you can explore it. It’s very helpful to learn your triggers to be able to then figure out the best ways to coexist with them.
The reason it’s so powerful is that all our emotions and reactions are heavily based on our past experiences. So by getting to know that part of ourselves, we are getting closer to the roots of our happiness… or suffering.
I often start off my journaling entry with this prompt because it opens so many doors. When you reflect on how you’re feeling you’re revealing more and more details with every statement you write down.
Your mind is like “Wow I can finally spit out all I’ve been holding back!” and starts throwing some pretty surprising things at you from its’ deepest corners.
I usually end up making a few curious discoveries — and often times they are not even related to the initial thing I was journaling about.
This prompt is all about diving deep and getting to know your inner self.
🙇🏼♀️ Prompt #2 — The “Why” game
I have mentioned this prompt in one of my previous posts — 5 Advanced Journaling Prompts for Healing (+ Free Printable!). Check it out for some other deep journaling prompts!
I also put them together in a cute printable that you can download at the link: Free access to our printables, Notion templates, and more!
So my whole life I’ve been doing this one intuitively — just following my curious nature — until I learned that it’s an actual practice that is used to find answers and work through things.
All you have to do is keep asking WHY until you get to the root cause of the problem.
Why did I lose interest in all my hobbies? Why do I feel stuck? Why am I always late? Why do I want to snack on something every time I am supposed to sit down and start working?
Whatever seems confusing in your life — ask yourself why it’s happening.
After answering the first ‘why’, ask again. And then again, and again.
Why do I feel stuck? Because I stopped working on my art and I feel unfulfilled. Why did I stop working on my art? Because I’ve been feeling more self-conscious lately and all my inner critics activated all at once so I don’t feel good enough to be creating. Why am I feeling self-conscious? Because I stopped taking care of myself… And so on, and so on.
I’m giving an example of this from my own journal in the post — 5 Advanced Journaling Prompts for Healing.
The best part is that you don’t have to know the answer because it will come to you in the process of dumping it all on paper. You’ll be amazed how many answers can actually be found within… if we learn to be attentive to the little voice in our head and the little signals our bodies are transmitting.
If you are feeling lost, this prompt can be especially helpful. Perhaps there is a specific event or circumstance that is causing you to feel lost, or maybe it is a more general sense of dissatisfaction or confusion. Whatever the case may be, taking the time to explore the reasons for things in your life can be a powerful tool for gaining clarity and finding your way.
And again, you may be shocked at the insights and revelations that emerge.
📝 Prompt #3 — “So this is what’s going on…”
I’ve started using this prompt just recently and it’s brilliant.
Use this whenever:
- You are in a confusing situation;
- You need to dissociate and look at a situation as if you’re not involved in it directly;
- Things feel fine but something is off (and you can’t figure out what);
- A lot is going on at the same time and you want to sort through things.
What to do:
Start your entry with So this is what’s going on… and then tell what’s happening in your life as if it was happening to someone else — talk about yourself in the third person. Then read it.
If you heard this story from a close friend, what would your advice be? Nothing helps better than stepping away from the thick of things and sitting back for a moment.
Already at the point of writing it down, you might see new perspectives…
You might realize that the situation you’re in is completely wrong and you were just acting oblivious (happens often when we, for example, catch feelings for someone toxic and then look for excuses for them instead of admitting what’s actually going on).
You might notice some patterns and connections you couldn’t see before due to the complexity of the problem… but that were revealed once you turned it into a consistent “story”.
You might notice little red flags that you missed because you failed to hear your intuition while trying to solve all the problems at once.
Nothing wrong with any of the above. We all get overwhelmed sometimes. And it’s important to know our way back to the truth.
✉️ Prompt #4 — “Dear universe, I need some guidance”
I’d say this is one of the most desperate journaling prompts that I use (desperate is a strong word but let’s keep it here for the context). That is also one of the reasons it’s so powerful.
There are times when I use all the above prompts, get some insights, and then… don’t know what to start with.
I quite literally get stuck because I’ve never been in this place before. I’ve just learned some things that I never had an idea about and I am now supposed to act on them. How the hell do I do that?
In that situation, I find the most powerful to write a letter to the higher power asking for guidance.
Start with Dear Universe (God, Source, Brahma, etc. — pick whichever suits your religion and ideology), I need some guidance, then describe your situation, and ask questions.
How do I…? What should I do? What should I start with?
Write down your assumptions and best ideas. Say Maybe I should…? Or is it better to…? Observe yourself and document whatever comes to your head.
You’ll notice that your mind is generating answers out of nowhere, AND you are also calculating your next steps along the way — through little sensations in your body and barely noticeable emotional responses.
It’s just like magic, apart from it’s not. We are just pulling out what’s already in there — inner wisdom.
By the way, if this prompt didn’t work for you right away — let it go. Close your journal, thank yourself for dedicating time to your mental health, and go about your day.
I bet a few hours later, or within the next few days, you’ll get some insights out of the blue. It works for me 10 times out of 10, it’s just sometimes we need to give it some time…
Processing is an important part of the healing journey. Don’t sabotage it. We all have our own pace. 😉
This post was all about how to start a healing journey.
OTHER POSTS YOU MAY LIKE:
How to Stop Worrying About Others and Focus on Yourself
How to Overcome Fear Spiritually: 10-Minute Guided Meditation
