You are in front of your journal, ready to go. You decided that you have something you want to say today. Maybe you decided you're not doing much right now and you haven't journaled in a while.

You go get your journal. Open it up. And you're stuck. You don't know what to write. You don't know where to begin. All you know is that you wanted to produce an entry today. What's going on?

Self-discovery, emotional embrace, trust in yourself, trusting the process, overcoming journaling hurdles, shared revelations, and more...  

Whether you keep a journal or not, there is a lot of insight to be gained from two individuals who are in love with inward exploration and full self-embrace. This episode can be best summed up as nuggets of wisdom with a wonderful guest, Hayley Curtis.

Hayley is a woman devoted to seeing other women come to truly know, love, and understand themselves. She is a qualified teacher and journaling coach who runs the Instagram page @Soulfull.Journaling and the monthly membership, The Journey Home. Listen in and be inspired. 

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This episode is a discussion between Journal Heaux, Tiffy,  and Pamela Sackett, author, language artist, and founder of Emotion Literacy Advocates. The language we use to describe our feelings has weight and in this episode, the value of emotion literacy (distinct from emotionAL literacy) is highlighted and expressed. Pamela guides us through the importance of understanding our "internal infrastructure" and being mindful of the language we use in connection with our relationship to our emotions and feelings.  Pamela describes how our childhood experiences affect our relationship to our emotions, as does our current society and culture. Journaling is an opportunity to discover language toward yourself and your emotions that is unconditionally authentic.

Links, Mentions, & Show Notes

Season 2, Episode 1. The episode features an insightful phone call between Journal Heaux and India Celeste, The founder of Create and Pace Total Body and Madam Uplift LLC.

India specializes in stress management through mental health advocacy and fitness. She shares a bit of her personal story and speaks about her relationship between journaling and stress management with a focus on spirituality, self-esteem, and anger. India is a free-writer, meaning she does not follow a particular structure in her journal, allowing herself to explore and sit with her emotions. Internal exploration is an important part of navigating through stress by asking powerful questions that lead to powerful realizations. Join the discussion and be introduced to the value of journaling for stress through the story of a NASM Certified Personal Trainer & Behavior Change Specialist.

You can find more of India Celeste Here:

What changes can you expect from Journal Heaux Season 2? 

There's so much that you can learn from others' journaling practices and their stories. I've invited other journalers and wellness enthusiasts onto the podcast for some insightful conversation. 

Thank you for listening to my story. 

My goal is to inspire you to start gratitude journaling or to pick up that old gratitude journal that you haven't touched in a while. In my story, you'll see what the benefits of gratitude journaling are. It helps you see the glass half full, it makes you more optimistic, it trains your mind to be open for goodness, and it can keep you from sinking into an internal low, all while leaving space for you to feel your other feelings. 

This is not toxic positivity, it's creating additional space for goodness... And you might just be motivated by your own resilience...

Are you a freestyle writer? Do you like prompts? Do you use your prompts effectively? Are you asking yourself the right questions in your journaling practice? Have you tried a guided journal?

If you're curious about guided journals give this episode a listen. Shawnti Refuge aka JournalBae is a mental health advocate, writer, and speaker who created 26 guided journals, each designed to help you with a different mission. She joined me today for us to have some journal-talk around guided journaling, prompts, freestyle writing, wellness, and to help me resolve my curiosities around guided journaling. Press play, join the discussion, and remember to follow her @shawntirefugejournals  and check out her growing collection of guided journals at ShawntiRefugeJournals.Com. 

You've heard that gratitude journaling is a good practice for your mental health. (Mainly because it helps to lift your mood). But there's more to it than that. In this episode, you'll get to hear my story and the unexpected benefits I received from gratitude journaling. If you needed a sign to start gratitude journaling (or start again), this is it. 

If you can't seem to stick with journaling, this is the episode for you.

The secret is simple - you have to love it. In this episode, I give you some things you can do to make journaling enjoyable so you can keep up with your practice — you don't need any convincing to do something you love.