Guided Meditation and Journaling

 Of all the practices I bring to my life on a regular basis, journaling is the one I have been doing the longest. I vividly remember receiving my first journal for my seventh birthday.  As I slowly unwrapped this small gift, my face broke out in a huge smile when I saw on the front was Holly Hobby, with the words atop ‘Happy Days Diary,’ and the lock and key just made it all the more magical!  I couldn’t wait to get home and write!

Throughout my school years, including occasionally in my college years, I journaled.  However, It wasn’t until my mid 20’s, living in Boston, and doing a job I loved but could be emotionally quite challenging, that I found my way back to my old friend journaling.  It soon became a consistent part of my daily life, and if you asked my husband after our 33 years of being together, he would tell you I have been journaling as long as he has known me. Depending on time availability and how I was feeling, some entries were just a few short sentences and others pages long. I am certain I could fill a small trunk with years of journals. I rarely reread them, but they are like dear old friends, so I have not opted to burn them or throw them away.

There are two books that greatly deepened my practice of journaling, and I happened to read them around the same time, about 25 years ago. One was by author Julia Cameron ‘The Artist’s Way,’ and the other by Sarah Ban Breathnach ‘Simple Abundance.’ Interestingly, long before I had read about the health benefits of journaling. 

Sometimes called guided imagery or visualization, with this method of meditation, one uses their imagination to form pleasant, supportive mental images of places or situations. This technique helps to engage the parasympathetic nervous system (aka the rest and digest system), enabling one to go to a place of relaxation. During this activity, one engages all the senses - smell, sight, sound, taste, and touch to bring depth and a sense of aliveness to the visualization.

A guide or teacher may lead this type of meditation, and once the technique is taught, many people lead their own Guided Imagery. One of the wonderful things about guided visual imagery is that the benefits can ripple out long after your meditation session has ended; helping to carry you through your day feeling more balanced, calm, and able to better respond to the daily stressors of life.

Over the years, there has been extensive research that has confirmed the benefits of guided imagery. Some of these advantages include the following:

• Increasing self-awareness
• Focusing on the present moment
• Increasing imagination and creativity
• Increasing patience and tolerance
• Normalizing blood pressure and lowering heart rate
• Reducing negative emotions and increasing positive ones
• Reducing insomnia
• Building lifelong skills to manage daily stressors