A guided journal is a creative way to way to jump start your journaling practice.  As I have mentioned in my post, 5 reasons why journaling needs to be on the top of your to-do list, I have been journaling since freshman year in college.  Some years have been filled with numerous journals while others have just a few. 

So, here’s the interesting part.  When I journaled sporadically, I wasn’t as effective in many areas of my life as I know I could be.  In fact, I felt like I was holding my breath and couldn’t breathe. And, these beautiful words of William Wordsworth would haunt me when I slacked off, “Fill your paper with the breathing of your heart.”  Isn’t that a beautiful quote?

“Fill your paper with the breathing of your heart.”

William Wordsworth

Recently, I’ve fallen in love with using a guided journal.  If you’re new to journaling you may not know where to start.  And, if you’ve been journaling for a while, you may want to take to dig deeper to find your areas of resistance, find deeper purpose and meaning, or focus your goals.  Fortunately, this is where a guided journal comes into play.  Unlike a regular blank journal, a guided journal is a collection of journal prompts, activities, and blank pages that help you go deeper.  And, that also means that you’re not left staring at a blank page trying to find a way to start. 

Publishing My First Guided Journal

So, guess what? I love guided journal so much that I did a thing last summer—I published my first guided journal.  Isn’t that cool?

I published a few blog posts on using journal prompts that became very popular, and then I decided to create guided journals.  It’s My Time: A Guided Journal to Deeper Self-Love helps women to pause, reflect, and celebrate each step of their self-love journey.  So, why did I focus this guided journal on self-love?

Well, self-love does not come easy for everyone.  Yes, we say that we “love ourselves.” However, the self-sabotage and drive for perfection speak volumes.  In fact, I think that loving ourselves unconditionally is one of the hardest things to do.  And, self-love gets even more difficult in a society where it seems that we often take care of others at the expense of our mental and physical self. 

At its core, self-love means having a high regard for your health and well-being.  It’s not a selfish “me first all day and every day.”  Instead, it is more of a “healthy, whole me is my best gift to myself, family, and the world.”   

It is also available in Spanish, Es Mi Turno: Un Diario Guiado Para Un Amor Propio Más Profundo.

How to Use This Guided Journal for Deeper Self Love

Do you start your day feeling tired or overwhelmed? Or, maybe your day starts off well but your stressed by the evening.  Well, maybe you need to show yourself some self-love and feed your soul.  You may not think about it often, but your soul is living and breathing and it needs to be nourished daily.  When we ignore our spiritual health, we end up feeling stressed, burnt out, and underappreciated.

Most women use It’s My Time: A Guided Journal to Deeper Self-Love for 15 to 20 minutes at the end of the day to reflect, reconnect, and refresh their souls.  Others spend a little more time journaling on the weekends.   

Guided Journal with Prompts, Inspirational Quotes, Activities, and Coloring Pages

I let my imagination run wild when creating It’s My Time: A Guided Journal to Deeper Self-Love.  I knew that many women needed help to get started so I used inspirational quotes, affirmations, and journal prompts to guide them.  And on the days when you don’t feel like writing, there are spaces to brain dump, doodle, and color.  Yes, color.  Adult coloring books are a very popular way to manage stress.  So, you can color mandalas and other pictures with a variety of pens or colored pencils on beautiful acid-free paper.

The guided journal was a big hit with a fellow blogger, Chandra Lynn, that she featured it on her post, Coping with the Madness . . . Journal!

Now, It’s Your Turn

There are many great guided journals out there to help you in different areas of your life.  I hope that you will use It’s My Time: A Guided Journal to Deeper Self-Love in your journal practice. The most important thing that you need to get started is a desire to go deeper and a few minutes a day.  So, set aside 15 to 20 minutes each day to use this guided journal.   Or, you can break the time up between the morning and evening.  Just get started!

1. Invite a friend to go through the guided journal with you  
2. Journal consistently every day or every week 
3. Draw or doodle to express your feelings
4. Write a short poem or haiku
5. Find an inspirational quote, affirmation, or Bible text to express your feelings

I think you will also enjoy the posts on using journal prompts for deeper insights and 10 simple ways to practice self-love. We look forward to hearing about your experience with using a guided journal.  And, you can join the conversation on the Keep It Tight Sisters Facebook Page.

We also have more than 70 self-care boards for you to follow on Pinterest.

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