Journaling for Self-Discovery with a meditation

When we apply for a job, go on a date or meet a new friend, it’s expected that we’ll be asked a series of questions to give the other party some insight into who we are and what we value. What’s less standard is asking the same series of questions to ourselves.

Through the practice of yoga, meditation and journaling we have a valuable set of tools to help us get to know what our souls truly crave. This practice of getting to know oneself is called  Svadhaya, or self-study. We can use it to find out the motivation behind our behaviors and use our findings to shift and shape our lifestyles to best suit our authentic selves.

Journaling is a great practice to get to know yourself better. Consider using a few of the prompts below to conduct a sort of interview with yourself. Before you begin it might be beneficial to set a sankalpa, or intention, for your journaling practice. This could be a feeling or an energy you’d like to generate after putting pen to paper.

If you are newer to guided journaling it may also be useful to set a 10-15 minute timer to encourage yourself to continue writing. In the first few minutes you may find yourself short on words, but sticking with it for a bit longer will give your creativity a chance to come through and help you get past your inhibitions.

• How do you show love to others?
• How do you show love to yourself?
• What makes you feel truly at ease?
• What are the key traits you admire in others?
• What changes could you make in your own life to reflect those traits?
• What type of impact do you hope to make on the people around you?
• List three traits you love about yourself and three you’d like to improve upon.
• When do you trust yourself most? When is your intuition strongest?
• What would your perfect day look and feel like?