Self-Inquiry & Journalling as Tools for Healing

You are your strongest healer. Our conscious mind can trick us into thinking otherwise, but the subconscious always knows the way. It holds our trauma, our limitations and our shadows. Through giving ourselves the space to explore these, we can start to transform them.

When we start to tune in and inquire into this hidden realm, deep healing and growth can occur.

Journalling is the perfect tool for this self-inquiry. Your pen is the self-inquiry magic wand and your notebook is the container.

It’s the most consistent healing tool I’ve used. It has allowed me to forge and stay on my path, to reflect on past insights and experiences, to stay accountable, and to get real honest with myself.

What is self-inquiry?

Self-inquiry is tapping into our inner world and asking what wants to be expressed. It can start with the things that are top of mind as you slowly progress to the more subtle and hidden layers.

Some people define it as ‘asking yourself questions to find answers’. Personally, I think sometimes we don’t know what we’re seeking and it can be more effective to open up the floor to what wants to come out naturally. The answers can sometimes come without questions.

Equally, prompts can help. Especially if we feel stuck and we’re struggling to express anything, asking questions creates a framework and a structure, which the mind works well with. (You can find ideas online, or work with a professional for find the questions and prompts that can help you.)

Whether you choose to simply let yourself express or use specific prompts, self-inquiry is - in a nutshell - an internal dialogue with yourself. You turn inward, voice your thoughts and emotions, and learn from your own experiences, wisdom and truth.

It can take many forms, with journalling being the one that I’ll touch on mostly here.

Creating a safe space

For many, most of our time is spent rushing back and forth between people, places and thoughts. Even when we think we’re ‘safe’, we’re not always - we are still wearing a mask or being restrained with our words.

That big ‘haaaaaaaa’ exhale when you relax on your sofa, bed or yoga mat at the end of a long, tiring day is true safety - no pretending, no controlling, just letting go.

We need a safe space for self-inquiry to take place. By making our nervous system feel safe, we unravel the layers of protection and begin tuning into our truth. Our journal can be that safe container. No-one needs to see it, we can tuck it away and we can trust this conversation with ourselves.

Now, we can begin to reveal what we’ve suppressed, to feel our feelings and to become present and conscious of it all. We let go of the masks, and start to see and hear everything that has been waiting for our attention.

Expressing freely

Healing and growth can only happen when we fully surrender into our current place in life, without resisting it. We need to settle into the now in order to transform and create a different future. We do this by embracing our truest desires, struggles and inner knowing.

Through self-inquiry, we acknowledge our trauma, pains and blocks, as well as the inner child who wants to create, play and be free.

We start with the most upper layer, with what’s top of mind. You can begin by writing about your day - the fun, the mundane, that person who said that annoying thing. Then, move on to reflect on your feelings - how you felt in the morning, how these changed through the course of the day, and what things heightened or calmed your emotions.

Stay curious and non-judgmental through it all. Express what your pen is guided to delineate, and release expectations of having a big breakthrough every time you sit down to journal. Our daily thoughts and experiences can be the most direct portal into the subconscious and self-inquiry can sometimes just answer the question ‘Hi, how was your day?’

It doesn’t always have to resolve the deepest traumas; it just needs to meet us where we are each day.

Through this free expression, we start to be guided by our subconscious and most inner self. The more we release judgement of the process, the more free and light it becomes. Paradoxically, the deeper we start to go. This is the portal to being our most authentic selves.

Allow your journey through self-inquiry to be and go where it takes you. Trust the process.

Ring out your thoughts

The thing I find the most healing about journalling is the ability to organise my thoughts a little. By giving them material life, they’re released from my mind and I can more clearly understand and reflect on them.

This process of putting thoughts on paper lightens us, and leads us to conclusions we may not be able to reach by circling them in silent mental contemplation. Self-awareness and presence start to grow, and the truths beyond the thoughts arise. The conscious mind is ringed out, and the subconscious starts to reveal herself to us.

I’ve been journalling long enough to know the moments when something big is a bout to come out. It’s like my thoughts can’t wait to be made into letters and, once I let them, a gift will await.

What we practise grows stronger, so consistency is key.

You already have the answers…

… you just need a mindful practice and a safe space to get to them.

Journalling is a way to ground yourself into yourself, to remember the depths of you and to get to know the real you. Any practice of tuning in is a practice of self-love and seeing ourselves in their most honest, raw form.

You need to see the real you, before she can show herself to the rest of the world. Self-inquiry through journalling is a powerful way to reach this.