Access Your Inner Whispers, Use A Self-Inquiry Process
In the majority of my workshops and one-on-one consulting, I use a self-inquiry, writing process. There’s something about sitting down and writing the answers to questions in long-hand that sparks the internal flame. Answers start to flare up as you unclutter your mind and make room for creative solutions. I think that this is because you are able to “hear” the intuition coming out of the right side of your brain. Then you capture it with the left brain’s language and analyzing ability.
Using a self-inquiry, writing process has always been my way. When I was a kid, I wrote to sort out my emotions and the events going on in my life. At 8 years old, I read Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl and was captivated not only by her story but also with the concept of recording thoughts into a diary. I was inspired, and, like Anne, even gave my diary a name and wrote in letter mode…. “Dear Delilah…”
This was the beginning of what has become, for me, a life-long technique of “journaling” my way through challenges. I hesitate to call it journaling though. Except for occasional pockets of months here and there over the years, I’ve never really been dedicated to it. I only sit down to write in a sort of journaling style when I need to find answers to why something is bothering me or when I want to organize my thoughts strategically (which is much more introspective than merely making a to-do list). I don’t “keep a journal.” I have 4 or 5 notebooks where I might write out my self-inquiry process when I feel the need – there’s no systematic order to when and where.
When I think of journaling as a practice, I think of Henry David Thoreau. He began keeping a journal on Ralph Waldo Emerson’s suggestion. He wrote of his philosophy on society, spirituality and life in general. Being an avid natural history lover, he recorded his observations about the flora and fauna he encountered on his walks through the countryside. Sometimes he wrote of the mundane events of his life, and sometimes he wrote poetically of sublime concepts. His entries were dated. He didn’t write every day, but almost.
In trying to define what I do, it might be more along the lines of what Ignatius Loyola required of his Jesuit brothers… what he called the “Examen of Conscience.” Loyola’s Examen isn’t a journaling process though. It’s the daily, self-reflective habit of refocusing on your priorities and extracting the lessons from your successes and your failures.
I like the term “expressive writing” that James W. Pennebaker, Ph.D. uses. He’s a pioneer in the research of the power of words and the effects of expressive writing on health – both mental and physical.
His conclusions tell us that no matter your cultural background or personality type, when you write about meaningful or traumatic events, your immune function, hormonal activity and other indicators of stress or disease improve. Apparently it’s not merely the venting or expressing of the strong emotions that induces such a change. When you write a coherent, reasoned story about the emotional event, you’ll attain closure and gain a new perspective and understanding about the situation. This gives you the ability to get past the negative emotions.
In her book, The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron prescribes a daily practice of what she calls “Morning Pages.” She believes that writing 3 pages every morning helps you to see the differences between your real feelings and your official feelings, the ones that you show the world. I love her reason for why it’s successful. And, even though I don’t do daily morning pages, this is exactly what happens when I sit down and delve in with my self-inquiry, writing process:
“The process of identifying a self inevitably involves loss as well as gain. We discover our boundaries, and those boundaries by definition separate us from our fellows. As we clarify our perceptions, we lose our misconceptions. As we eliminate ambiguity, we lose illusion as well. We arrive at clarity, and clarity creates change.”
I love helping people shift their boundaries and arrive at clarity so they create change. Especially since as they change their awareness, my purpose is fulfilled. And as they become more conscious, my own consciousness grows.
“Conscious people are aware of the influence and guidance available through these inner whispers. The directions for our quest most often come from within.” – Christina Baldwin, Life’s Companion: Journal Writing as a Spiritual Quest
___________________________________________________
Angela Loëb helps people rediscover and use their gifts so they can bring who they are to what they do. To learn more, please visit: www.insyncresources.com
___________________________________________________
