It has been so long since I’ve written a blog post! Well, for my site at least…
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Anyway, today I wanted to discuss some of the best morning journal exercises. Morning journaling is a great way to prepare yourself for the day and to provide more clarity and self-reflection.
If you’re interested in getting into journaling and want to start your day on a peaceful note, then this is for you! In this article, I’ll cover a few ways you can go about morning journaling so you know where to start.
Disclaimer: All of the views and opinions in this post are solely my own and are not sponsored. This post may include affiliate links, meaning I earn a commission through links at no cost to you.
Perform a grounding exercise
Grounding exercises are perfect for morning journaling. These exercises are intended to put you in the present moment and help you gain clarity before you start your day. Often, after spending hours asleep, it can be difficult to wake ourselves up and feel fully present. While water and a healthy breakfast can certainly help us resolve this, so can morning journaling.
To perform a grounding exercise, first, you’ll want to close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. While this isn’t a meditation, exactly, grounding yourself with your breath is a good practice before you begin writing. Center yourself and focus on your inhale and exhale for a moment or two before moving on.
Below are the prompts I use to ground myself in the morning:
- What, if anything, is currently weighing on my mind?
- What did I dream of last night? What do I think it means?
- What do I notice about my immediate surroundings?
- How do I feel right now?
These are short, simple questions to help you center and ground yourself. Each question is focused on the present moment to help you gain clarity for your day.
Make a plan
Another morning journal exercise I do each day is make a plan. While this doesn’t necessarily feel like a journal exercise for some, it does for me! The reason probably stems from writing down my to-do list and day plans in my journal, but again, this one might be up to personal preference/opinion!
Making a plan helps you prepare for your day, and it gets all of your thoughts out of your head and organized into a journal. Additionally, I’ve found that listing out my to-do’s has helped me calm any anxiety and apprehension towards my day.
Here’s how I make my day plans:
- Write down everything I need to do for the day.
- Pick my top 3 priorities and write them at the top of a new list.
- List the rest (and know that’s OKAY if they don’t all get completed)
- If I have any meetings, important deadlines that day, I jot down those as well
I’ve also planned my day hour by hour (for jam-packed days). Sometimes this can help keep you organized and on track.
Write down affirmations
Another fun morning journal exercise is to write down your affirmations. Affirmations are a way to help manifest your goals and to remind yourself of your own greatness. Everyone is unique and has positive characteristics that help them stand out (in the best of ways!). By writing down these affirmations, you’re able to help bring more positivity into your morning routine and the rest of your day.
Examples of affirmations:
- I am happy and healthy.
- I can achieve my dreams.
- I am a divine soul in a loving universe.
- Wealth flows easily to me.
- I am surrounded by loving friends and family.
- My home is a haven and allows me to express myself.
- My pets love me, and I love them.
These are some minor examples, but there are tons of ways you can write affirmations. Whether you choose to focus on yourself or the space around you is up to you. Additionally, you can choose to be present-focused with these or future-focused.
As a person with big dreams, I tend to be future-focused. However, whenever I wake up sad or have a slow start to my mornings, I will write down present affirmations to help remind myself of what makes me unique.
Write what you’re grateful for
Affirmations and gratitude often go hand in hand, and I love to use them together in morning journal sessions.
I tend to write my affirmations first and follow up with a small gratitude list, so I don’t get too discovered on what I have or haven’t achieved.
With affirmations, you have the opportunity to project your desires to create manifestation statements like, “I am able to pay off my home and live in a beautiful house,” even if you haven’t yet achieved that goal.
With gratitude, you could write a present-focused statement like, “I am grateful to be able to save money for my dream home.”
This is why I often use these two things in tangent!
Here are some gratitude examples if you need inspiration. But really, you simply need to write “I am grateful for…” and then follow that with your list!
I am grateful for…
- A full fridge with lots of delicious fruits and veggies.
- My pet, who I love to play with
- A cozy home with a room to myself
- A job that provides me a stable income to support myself/family
- For my new sneakers, which are super comfy and stylish
- For being able to celebrate the holidays with my family
And, of course, this could go on!
I especially love to write three affirmations and three gratitude items in the mornings. This keeps things simple and brings more positivity into my life.
Start with big dreams
Another morning journal exercise that you can do is to write down your big dreams.
Ask yourself:
- What are my top three goals for this year? For the next 3 years?
You can change the timing or even leave it as “what are my top goals?” To create a more general question.
I enjoy doing this to remind myself who I am and what I stand for. Many of my goals align with my profession and passions, which make me feel aligned with my purpose.
I typically follow up this broad question with ONE the following questions during big dream journaling:
- What are 3 things I can do today to work towards my goals?
- What is my plan to reach x goal?
- What are five ways I can work toward x goal in the upcoming year?
- Where do I want to be professionally in one year?
- Where do I want to be in (love, friendships, passion projects, etc.) in one year?
- What are my five-year goals?
Goal setting and goal journaling is a great way to help keep yourself motivated and on track. They say that just by writing down your goals, you’re able to better remember them and will be more likely to work towards them. Personally, I’ve found a lot of merit in doing this exercise, so I highly encourage it from time to time.
If you like this post, check out some similar posts of mine below!
Feel free to leave a comment below and let me know how you journal.
You can also email me with questions or concerns you may have at info.amelia.wilson@gmail.com
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Disclaimer: All of the views and opinions in this post are solely my own and are not sponsored. This post includes affiliate links, meaning I earn a commission through links at no cost to you.
Thanks again