Gratitude journals seem to be in great abundance lately. While these are great (and yes I keep one), I would like to step away from this for a moment and discuss and different type of journal. This one is great because you do not have to worry about anyone stumbling upon it accidentally or on purpose, and it will never take up any space in your home for a significant amount of time. I am going to talk about release journaling in this post.
Release journaling is my own name for writing down the things that you wish to release from your life. These can be emotions, habits, attitudes, ex’s, an old pair of socks….anything that you want to release from your life once and for all. It is just as easy as a gratitude journal with one exception: it involves fire.
As with a gratitude journal, you write down five things each day that you want to release. Once you write these down, tear off the paper from the notepad, fold into a square, and burn it (safety first please). Burning your daily list means that you are not only giving these items conscious attention to be rid of them, but you are sending the energy out via the burning that these things REALLY do not serve you anymore.
I tried this here and there on occasion and have found that the more I do it the more effective it is. You can get results if you do it once in a while, but they will be spotty and not as concrete as if you stay the course and do it regularly. Do you need to burn this every day? No, you don’t. I do a burning every week or two depending on how affected I am by whatever it is I am trying to release. How often you burn is a person preference that you will need to determine on your own.
Keeping a release journal is a freeing and empowering experience. Combined with a gratitude journal you will see before too long the road blocks and baggage that you wish to be rid of start to disappear, giving you more possibilities for your gratitude journal. Enjoy!
Cary Kostka 