Journaling is another possibility for introspection, and consists of taking a moment to dialogue with yourself and reflect, through writing, about your experience. You can do this in different ways:
Automatic Writing: This is a form of rapid writing (no more than 5 minutes) about a theme or experience. This form of writing activates the subconscious, intuition, and the emotional world. It is writing without thinking, without judging, to do what is possible in a determined length of time.
Personal Logs: This is a type of daily writing exercise which consists of personal, intimate, and written dialogue. It can also be undertaken collectively. This exercise is not reduced to writing, but also includes drawing, relating images, photos, objects, textures, questions, interpellations, group conversations.
As you address self-nurturance, these are some reflective questions to ask yourself:
- What do you say to yourself, about yourself in the privacy of your own mind?
- How much are you even aware of your self-talk?
- How often do you praise yourself and how often do you criticize yourself?
- What do you typically criticize yourself for?
- How often do you do so?
- How nasty or ruthless are you in your self criticism?
- How accurate are your self- critical thoughts?
- What are the five things that expand your power and that you need to amplify and reinforce?
- What are the things that you would like to do one day, even if they seem absurd or unattainable? [keep this list for reference as your basic right to dream]