When you consider how good both meditation and journaling are for your emotional health, it isn’t a surprise that many people choose to do both of these activities together.
Meditating before journalling is a great way to clear your mind, focus and to relax before you sit to write. It is a great option if your mind is busy with thoughts. Journalling before meditating can be a great option to get down anything that is on your mind to make it easier to mediate. Both options are great.
This article will explore the benefits meditating before or after journaling so you can find out which option is right for you.
Benefits of meditating before journaling
Check out the top benefits of meditating before journalling.
Thought analysis
One of the biggest advantages of meditating before you write in your journal is that you can analyze the thoughts that come into your mind when you meditate and then elaborate on them in your journal.
When you meditate things will pop into your head throughout the session. If you meditate before journaling you can then write down things that you discovered through the meditation session, and maybe even elaborate on those things.
This will give you an opportunity to reflect on your deeper thoughts and even get solutions to problems.
Cohesive writing
Meditating before journalling will help you to be more cohesive in your writing. Meditation helps to calm your mind, calm your thoughts and can help you to think clearer afterwards.
Journalling after meditating can make it easier for your creativity to flow and for your thoughts to make sense on paper. Clarity from meditation will flow onto your page when you meditate before journalling.
Helps you to record your meditative thoughts
When you meditate, you need a way to collect your thoughts so you can determine what to do with them. Think of it like keeping a dream journal. You dream first, then write about it – not the other way around, and it’s the same with meditation and journaling.
If you are used to coming up with ideas you’d like to elaborate on once the meditation session is over, it’s a good idea to meditate first and then write in your journal afterwards.
If you use meditation only as a way to relax and keep your mind clear, it really doesn’t matter in what order you do these things. If you have all sorts of ideas and thoughts in your head every time you meditate, if this activity is an active activity for you, then you’ll want to write in your journal as the last step.
Benefits of journalling before meditating
Journalling has so many benefits to your life and can also help out your meditation practice. Check out the top benefits of journalling before meditating.
Prepare your mind for meditation
Writing in your journal is a very relaxing experience for most people, so if you do this before you meditate, your mind will be much more prepared for your meditation session. Y
our mind is much more open and receptive to the results of your meditation session if you write in your journal first. Journaling allows you to relax and remain calm enough to get the most out of your session, which is why so many meditation enthusiasts do it in this order.
Clear your mind
Journaling also helps to clear your mind, which further prepares you for meditation. Once you start to meditate, you’re automatically in a great state of mind and therefore the session should be much more productive.
When people meditate, it sometimes takes them a while to get in the right mode beforehand, but when you write in your journal first, you’ll already be there by the time you start to meditate, so it saves you a lot of time in the end.
Reflect on your journalling
You may notice that some of the things you write about in your journal will appear in your mind as you meditate, but that shouldn’t alarm you. These thoughts shouldn’t be given any more or any less attention than they would otherwise.
If your written thoughts do pop up in your mind as you meditate, it’s likely going to result in a better focus and concentration on the meditation itself, which means you’ll be able to get a lot more out of the session.
Journaling before and after meditation
Both journaling and meditation are great activities for people who want to grow spiritually and emotionally, so you’ll be doing yourself a favor if you journal both before and after you meditate.
This gives you an opportunity to become focussed and to clear your mind before getting into a meditative state. Follow this up with a 5-10 minute journalling session after can help to capture ideas, solutions and thoughts that come up during your session.
Summary
Meditation and journaling go great together, and the order you do them is a personal decision. If you are not sure, try both and see which one works for you. Take the time to record your thoughts before and after the session to see if you can capture a new idea or find a solution for something you have been working on.
Happy meditating.