11 journaling prompts for inner nourishment and true fulfillment

Let's find the path to your heart

This article also appeared in Middle Pause Magazine on Medium

I don’t know if you are like me or not, but I am always on a quest to find what truly fulfills me and keep me satisfied in life. I am not talking about food, not even about deep connection with others. What I am looking for is a stronger INNER connection that is unshakeable and so fulfilling for my heart, that I no longer need to look outside for validation, love or unsolicited support.

So here are some questions and prompts I’ve been playing with, in writing as well as in art or movement. I tend to do this because sometimes my mind has no out of the box answers, no fresh visions to share, and so, I have to explore these prompts through other mediums, where words are not needed.

Let’s start:

What is truly nourishing you? Something that when you do it, it leaves you fully satisfied, and all your senses are well fed, they are alive but serene, full of savoring the moment?

When did you notice this happening during the last week or day? What were you doing? And how often did you do it? Was it ENOUGH to make you feel truly satisfied and nourished?

What drains you, what takes your energy, what angers you or saddens you? Are there any moments when you feel rushed or pushed? Notice when these states appear - if you were in a certain environment, doing something specific, or maybe you were around certain people. Make a list of all these things and notice the correlations between events and emotions.

Looking back at your last week (or even month, year or just yesterday), and reading this draining list of things you just wrote, what could you do to bring a bit of positive change so that you will experience less of these negative states in the future? If this requires a big step to take, break it into small manageable ones. What is the next EASY step you could take from now on to change your life for the better and never experience these draining states again?

What is your NOT TO DO list? This should contain all the things that you noticed they are draining or abusing your energy field, things that need to go, because your lifestyle must change in order to feel truly nourished. What is one little thing that you could to let go of this week? And what is one big thing (it could be a relationship or a habit, job or home) that you could take small steps toward, to leave behind you because it doesn’t support you anymore?

How can you bring more of the positive habits, hobbies and pleasures into your life now? You can take small steps, or big ones, or you may need to first release any guilt around enjoying yourself. No matter what, keep moving forward by allowing more ease, more joy, more pleasure and relaxation, comfort, nurturing and self love daily, as best as you can. Make a list of these activities and give yourself the grace to let them nourish you.

A very strong pillar for inner connection and self love is practicing meditative or contemplative activities. This doesn’t have to be meditation per se, but anything that takes your mind away, and lets your body enjoy the moment. The awareness and presence will build a sensory bridge between your two brain hemispheres (logic and intuition), as well as between head and heart, grounding your inside. What kind of activities could be on this list for you? And how can you insert them easily in your daily lifestyle? They can be done randomly, for no more than 5 minutes a day, here and there, but they will always give you immense mental health rewards.

How can you bring more creativity into your life? If you didn’t know, creativity has an amazing positive effect on the brain and the body. Studies show that people who find a creative hobby are less depressed, less anxious and more serene, mainly because of the serotonin neurotransmitter that is produced while we are creating something. What are your most preferred creative activities you could try on? Is it cooking, is it painting, is it writing, sewing, decorating, what is it?

How would you like to FEEL when you are truly nourished and connected inside? Can you bring this feeling in the present moment on a daily basis to feed your heart? If you don’t know how to do that, simply think of an old memory where you previously experienced this feeling and then indulge for a minute or so in it, using all of your senses to captivate it fully. This is a very embodied way to experiment your future most nourished self, in the now.

What books, poems, artists, movies, vlogs, nature areas, foods, experiences, etc, would resonate deeply with this desired feeling? Can you choose some of these that truly make your heart sing with gratitude, and bring them into your life now? Start small and pay attention to what is also NOT resonating with your desired feeling and vibe. Make sure you detox your life areas of everything that doesn’t fit with your sense of nourishment anymore.

If the unconditional love of God would be witnessing you in this process of detoxing and discovering the most nourishing path to your heart, what would it say to you? Let is speak and take notes. Whenever you feel in doubt, you feel guilt, etc, always come back to these notes or reconnect yourself with this loving vibration.

Every evening, or at least, every week, take a look at what worked for you and what didn’t, what nourished you and what drained you. Notice also what made you feel proud, loved and supported and what was the key lesson you learned from your experiences. Reflect and decide how you would like your life to look like and feel from now on, and then plan your next small (and easiest) step forward.

Plan your life around your needs, aim for adding BEAUTY in it and to anchor and regulate your nervous system in the healthiest and most pleasurable ways possible. If you have already chosen a word for this year (I recently sent to all my subscribers a post where I described how to do that on a sensory level), imagine it as your guiding compass and readjust your course according to it. You may notice that when you start journaling often for self nourishment, sometimes the word may change, and that’s ok. Just let the energy of your desired feeling guide you.

Also, check my RESOURCES page for the book recommendations list I created to help you navigate difficult times, while healing and growing.

And if you didn’t subscribe to my newsletter yet, when you do that you will receive two beautiful free guides in pdf format. “How to manifest your desired feeling at a sensory level” and “How to access your intuition”.

Photo source - Pinterest

I hope these prompts will serve you well and thank you so much for reading.

Writing these posts takes time and even though I love doing it, it requires a lot of energy to put thoughts on paper and choose images that speak to me. What keeps me going though is knowing how much it means to so many of you to read these essays.

If you enjoyed this post or the previous ones, I would love you to help me get them out into the world. If you have any friends who you think might enjoy them, please do feel free to share these with them. It would mean a lot to me. Thank you again for your support.