A trusted teacher once invited me to journal a letter from my future self to the woman I was then.

I was in a difficult place in my life and had no idea what to write. But I picked up my pen and allowed the words to flow.

That piece of writing inspired a whole collection of love letters from a wiser me — and turned out to be one of the foundational steps in a powerful period of personal change.

Since then, I have journaled many hundreds, possibly thousands, of times. Sometimes writing beautiful things. Sometimes writing nonsensical things. Sometimes writing about deeply challenging things. Sometimes writing about the most uplifting things.

The practice remains the same.
What I write changes every time.

For me, that is part of the incredible power of this beautiful work.

We are all of us ever-changing. Even when we feel most stuck, our thoughts and feelings shift endlessly as we respond to our inner and outer worlds. Finding ways to understand, process, clarify — and crucially, be with — what we’re thinking, feeling and experiencing is an essential component of personal growth.

Journaling gives us a way of disentangling what binds us; a way of moving forward.

Beginning with compassion

Before writing that very first piece, I thought I understood what journaling was all about. But my belief was based on rules I’d learned at school, things I’d read about how journaling should be, and fears of getting it wrong.

Starting with a blank sheet of paper and a set of fixed ideas can feel daunting — and can be the very things that stop us starting at all.

So, we begin with compassion.

That’s really what being in the flow is about — accessing your wisest, kindest voice and deepening your self-awareness with profound self-compassion as you go.

I have been through periods in my life where I’ve journaled every day, and other times when I’ve barely written at all. Both are okay. I’ve come to see my journal as a place of sanctuary. A place of no judgement and no rules, safe in the knowledge that the whole of me is always welcome and I can always return, just as I am.

What is Flow Journaling?

There are many approaches to journaling — from diary writing to drawing to recording yourself speaking out loud. They’re all useful. There is no ‘right’ way to journal. It simply comes down to what you prefer.

The approach I recommend, and my favourite route, is what I’ve come to call Flow Journaling — where you tap into your stream of consciousness.

At its heart, Flow Journaling gives us an opportunity for free-flow expression. Letting go of grammar, spelling, paragraphs, sense-making. Just putting pen to paper and seeing what spills onto the page.

It can include images as well as words, poetry and prose, questions and answers — everything is allowed.

One of the keys is to resist the urge to edit. Allow the words and meaning to fall onto the page in their raw form. This may mean broken grammar, jumping thoughts, nonsensical phrasing and moments of astonishing clarity.

For me, that’s the true spirit of Flow Journaling — allowing what is.

For me, the act of writing is a form of meditation. A time when everything else falls away, leaving just me, my pen, my journal — and whatever happens to fall onto the page.

Why it helps

A simple truth is this: we can’t write as fast as we think.

When we Flow Journal, our brain slows down. We sink beneath the layers of chattering thoughts, familiar patterns and long-held beliefs, revealing fresh insights and previously unseen wisdom.

Or not.

Which is fine, of course. We’re not journaling for something. We’re simply journaling — always without judgement, always with compassion for whatever arises.

When something feels complex or hard or impossible to overcome, journaling is always there as a tool to support us in working through what we’re noticing.

It can help bring order to chaos, support us when we’re feeling anxious or stressed, and expand our thinking when we’re feeling stuck or limited. It enables us to understand our heart’s desires and gives us a way to keep coming home to our deepest, wisest self.

An invitation to try

So where do we begin?

We pick up our pen.
And let the words flow.