One of the best things I ever did for myself was start keeping a meditation journal. It has been a real gift to my Personality-self from my Soul-self.
You see, the Soul-self speaks in the languages of emotions, sensations imagery and sensing. The Soul-self will often use these languages during your meditation time to give you messages and information. During meditation you quiet your mind enough that your Soul-self can get your attention. Notice I said enough. I used to believe that I had to have a completely blank mind in order to be meditating. I thought that was the goal. What I have found is that a blank mind is not the ultimate goal. For me connecting with my Soul-self and All-That-Is is way more important to me than a blank mind. When I allow my personality-thoughts to roam around in my mind without clinging to them or following their lead is when I can access the Soul-self part of me. So, the mind may stay slightly active and that’s okay as long as you don’t focus on those thoughts. Despite the personality-thoughts, the Soul-self can use this quiet time as an entry point into your world.
Initially your Soul-self will communicate in gentle soft ways that will you will notice if you are paying attention. Those gentle nudges show up in a variety of ways. Maybe a tingly feeling like champagne bubbles on the inside. Maybe a feeling of love, bliss, sadness, or joy. Maybe a visual image in your mind’s eye. Possibly you will smell a scent without an origin. You might feel a physical sensation like your foot hurts when it didn’t hurt before.
When you receive these messages allow your attention to turn towards them. Your personality-mind will want to make it mean something right away, but if you will just watch the message it will expand into something that is understandable to you. Maybe not right away but soon so don’t give up.
This is where your meditation journal comes in handy!
Buy yourself a beautiful notebook. Personally, I like something pretty but not too precious because I want to use my journal with abandon. I don’t want to be afraid to mess it up.
This notebook is only for your meditations. If your journal, visualize, or do self-help work find another notebook for those activities. Your meditation journal is only for the conversations your Soul-self is having with you.
How to begin? I keep my meditation journal next to my chair where I like to meditate so I don’t have to look for it when I come out of meditation. After I finish my meditation I open my journal to the next clean page, date the entry, note the time and then I jot down notes of what came up during my meditation. I like to take my notes while I am still coming out of that mediative state where I can access the energy of what I sensed. I don’t write paragraphs of information just a few cursory notes so that I can remember later on what I gleaned. Sometimes my meditations don’t make sense to my personality-mind right away. Sometimes it takes a few meditations or many meditations to get the full essence of what my Soul-self is trying to communicate. Don’t give up. Just keep noting what you experience and then let it go. About once a month I look back at my notes and see patterns or messages emerge. These messages feel like finding love notes in bottle washed ashore on a deserted beach.
My meditation journal is my favorite tool for understanding what the All-That-Is wants me to realize. I hope that you will find it useful too. If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to me.