Journalling is supposed to be really good for you and everyone does it, right?

All the famous and successful people do it, the people you follow on twitter, Instagrammers, and so on and so forth.

Have you given it a try?

You probably have in some way or other.

You may have tried speed writing or answering journal questions.

And surely something good came out of it, because that is why it is so popular.

Words are powerful and your own words express your own world and your feelings and your challenges, like no other words can, so they are beyond valuable.

But maybe you are a little like me and don’t get to do the journaling as much as you would like and the positive effects from your sporadic sessions begin to dwindle and evaporate as you don’t seem to find the time or the motivation to journal.

Or (also like me) you may have too many thoughts and feelings and experiences that you want to put down but you don’t quite know where to begin and your thoughts are tripping over one another, stepping on each other’s toes as you write because you can simply not write as fast as you think.

And then you lose a thought that seemed really valuable.

And before you know it, you give up on journaling.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

Expressing your world is still as valuable as ever, but the way you express it can be different from writing them neatly into a notebook.

Think it out loud

This is the first thing I do when I begin to explode from feelings, thoughts and emotions that I have the urge to give a voice to.

By thinking out loud, I literally mean to say things out loud. You and your thoughts, with no one watching / listening / eavesdropping.

I find this a very powerful thing to do and somehow, I am most likely to do this in my car while driving or as I arrive at my destination.

I stay put for a few more minutes to talk myself through whatever it is that needs expressing.

Once, I talked myself through quite a challenging and upsetting memory that had been rooted deep within and that I never ever put into words before. This was before I walked into work.

I was sitting in my car, talking and crying. Not in a bad way. Quite the opposite. It was so cleansing. I felt so much lighter afterwards!

This can be about your dreams and wishes, about your worries, childhood memories, or things that you are grateful for (if you also have no patience for a gratitude journal), and so on.

For this, all you need is a place where you feel comfortable to do this exercise, and a time.

Depending on the thing you want to talk yourself through, give yourself at least 3 minutes for this exercise.

Like journaling, this kind of self-talk often opens doors and pathways to different thoughts, other than those you planned to think through.

Or you may break into deeper levels of your own thought.

If you feel stuck within your self-talk, give yourself a break, wait a few seconds before your natural thinking begins to flow again.

You can also prompt your self-talk by asking the powerful question of “why?”.

Ask “why” several times to get one level deeper at a time.

After all, this is a type of self-discovery exercise.

As you talk through your thoughts you may no longer feel the need to write them down, but you could put down some bullet points, or any breakthroughs that you had during this exercise.

Do a voice recording

This is the next level to thinking out loud.

Any phone these days has some kind of recording app, the one on my phone is called Voice Memo. Otherwise, you can download one or you can purchase an affordable recording device.

Recording yourself is great

if you want to listen to it again later.
if you plan on talking yourself through something for a more extensive time period, you can listen to those parts you may otherwise forget
because you can put down bullet points of exactly what you said, or copy your thoughts into your diary.

Recording your own voice may be new to you and seem a little daunting, but this will change over time.

A while back I started re-listening to voice messages that I send to friends (for some unknown, mysterious reason) and now I am pretty much used to what my voice sounds like. It is really just a matter of getting used to.

There is one benefit. though, of not being used to hearing your own voice when you listen to the recording.

It will be like listening to someone else speak about their worries, past, or dreams.

In general, we are a lot more generous when it comes to expressing compassion and understanding for others than ourselves.

And so, showing compassion and love to yourself – as you listen to yourself speak – may come more natural to you.

Having this external tool of a recording device will change the dynamic a little bit from it being a simple talking-out-loud exercise because it seems like there is actually someone listening.

But don’t worry. Of course, you can simply delete your recording afterwards, when you no longer need or want it.

Or, you don’t need to listen to it at all, the simple act of recording may just work as an icebreaker for you to get started talking out loud in the first place.

Do a video recording / Mirror Talk

Have you ever watched Grace and Frankie? It is one of my favourite shows, I just love seeing how their life is still so exciting, invigorating, and youthful at that age.

Now, video-recording yourself is something I got inspired to do from Frankie in this show.

She uses it as a form of diary and also recommends Grace to do so when she needs to think through some important things in her life.

This goes even one more level up (or down?) from talking out loud and again you may not be used to seeing yourself in a video.

But this is really just another form of talking to yourself lovingly in front of a mirror.

We are so quick to judge ourselves and step back when our inner critique starts their monologue.

Most likely we listen to it and believe this voice even if it is not us, but an ancient safety mechanism.

Video-recording yourself or talking to yourself in front of the mirror teaches you to express your own love and to gift an open ear to yourself.

The recording can even consist exclusively of love messages to yourself.

“I love you”, “You are loved”, “You are beautiful”, “You are worthy”, …

Talk it through with someone

Sometimes it is best to talk things through with someone who can help us see the bigger picture or who just listens.

A close friend will be able to give you loving advice.

They know you, your strengths and weaknesses, and they want the best for you.

As mentioned above, it is often easier to be more generous to others and so it will may be easier for your friend to cheer you up and motivate you than it is for you to do so for yourself.

A coach, counsellor or therapist is also there to give you advice, although they will evidently represent a different perspective.

There are things you may not want to share with your friend or partner, or that you don’t want to burden with your story.

That is where a coach, counsellor or therapist comes in.

Suppressing feelings, thoughts and memories may work for the present moment, but in the long run, this can come round back to us.

Feelings get manifested in your body, and some tensions, pains or ailments will not be healed unless the feeling or thought is dealt with in an effective way.

Word-by-word thinking

This is a great activity and it is similar to what I describe in t his article as “verbalising your activity”.

It is about focussing on one single thought at a time without saying it aloud, so it can take some practice and time to get it right.

But this comes in practical when you are in a situation where you cannot film yourself or speak out loud or where you may be too shy to talk out loud although you are on your own.

At first, your mind may be cluttered with thoughts and impressions.

So, you can begin this practice by verbalising in your mind what you see in front of you.

What can I hear?

What can I smell?

What can I feel?

It is much like a mindfulness meditation in this regard, but in this case it is about getting your mind focused onto one focal point so that you can think one thought at a time.

Because sometimes this is more challenging than juggling with three bananas.

When you have your mind in the right state of concentration, you want to think your thought s.l.o.w.l.y.

Don’t rush the thought, don’t let it loose.

Think it one.word.at.a.time.

This takes some energy because your mind is wired to drift off into thinking, imagining, and so forth, with several thoughts meddled up at any single given moment.

Imagine word-by-word thinking like reading to your child.

You would use intonations, different voices, and read slowly overall so that the story is enjoyable.

That is what you want to do for word-by-word thinking.

Talk to your inner guidance

This also usually happens in silence, but you may choose to do it out loud.

It may seem a little strange at first, but it is really a powerful elaboration on any kind of self-talk.

First, let’s briefly talk about inner guidance.

All of us have it.

You may call it intuition or inner truth, your true self, your essence, your buddha, your knowing self, or other.

It is the part of us that is not swayed by emotions.

It is the part that lovingly asks you “why” and yet holds a mirror in front of you and calls for your honesty.

And because this inner guidance is essentially you (not your inner critic), you will appreciate their input.

And because this inner guidance is essentially your “higher” self, you look up to them and will pour out your heart, finding to the deeper levels of your questions.

How do you start talking to your inner guidance?

While you don’t need to do any type of ritual to call upon your guidance, it can help to take a few deep breaths and to set the intention to talk to this guidance.

However, the first time I did this practice, my inner guidance just showed up out of nowhere.

(I was angry with my partner and as I was taking the bus home, dwelling in my annoyance, this voice popped into my head, asking kind questions, backing up myself and also prompting me to put myself into my partner’s shoes. By the time I left the bus, I was no longer angry, but full of compassion.)

But these days, I actually make an appointment with my inner guidance (that’s right! I plan to go for a walk and to talk to my inner guidance, instead of listening to music or a podcast).

What does it look like to talk to your inner guidance?

It is very much like the word-by-word thinking, only that this is an actual conversation between yourself and, well, your inner guidance.

You may have a specific thing that you want to talk about and so, you think your general thought word by word. Hear every word.

It may take a few moments, don’t rush it, before you receive a response or question.

This inner voice will more or less act like journal prompts, only that the questions it asks and the comments it makes, are 1,000% tailored to you.

Your inner guidance may use a different voice, a much calmer version of your own, filled with genuine curiosity and compassion.

But since this is your inner guidance, it already knows the answers to the questions it asks, so there is no need to be dishonest and if you are, your inner guidance knows.

If you are not entirely honest or you are not sure about the response you gave, your inner guidance will keep asking you about it.

Where to do this exercise?

I recommend doing this exercise while walking, but not while running, cycling or driving.

The activity of moving physically can help you to move forward in your mental conversation but in my experience, this practice demands a lot of focus and the questions your inner guidance asks, the comments it makes, or the responses you give may surprise you.

When you walk, you can give this surprise a physical expression by stopping short, for instance, or doing a little jump, which in turn can give a lot more meaning to the discoveries you make.

Remember, your feelings get manifested in your body and vice versa, how you move your body can create and emphasise thoughts and feelings.

I have done this exercise a few times and each time it has rung such deep truths that I would not have discovered “on my own” (although, of course I was on my own).

If this seems a little strange to you, you can also try imagining having the conversation with a friend.

However, the effects will be a little different because your friend is an external person and does not have the same personal insight as your inner guidance. and brings along their own stories.

I hope these ideas help you to work through your thoughts and express them without having to journal if you don’t feel like it.

Let me know in the comments how you go!