Dig deep.  As the Open Grove continues explore the topic of awakening in the next few newsletters and audio magazine, spend time with your journal exploring what each topic means to you.  Take the time to apply each of the above questions to awakening your body, mind and spirit.

Remember, there is no perfect journal.

Your journal is a safe place where you can explore your inner life.  Write as much or as little as feels good to you.  Your journal is always there waiting to help you explore your inner life

 Spend some time exploring the question, "What does it mean to be awake?"

• Do you remember a time when you felt really awake?
• Is it enough to simply open your eyes in the morning? or does awake mean something more?
• How can you become more awake to the positive blessings that surround you?

 Journal is about your relationship with yourself.   As we look at relating this month, our journal club exercise will focus on helping you develop and
improve your relationship with yourself.

When you get home tonight, create a space for you to journal. It doesn’t have to be anything special.  Make sure you have a pen, some paper and a watch or an egg timer.  It’s nice to create a comfortable place with good lighting. If you can’t get to it tonight, make an effort to spend some time this weekend creating a space for yourself.

Tomorrow morning, get up with your journal.  Set your timer for 5 minutes and begin writing.  Write without reading until the timer goes off.  When you are done, close your book and continue with your day. 

5 minutes in the morning.  This is where we begin to deepen our relationship with our journals. Try this for at least 7 consecutive days, then read what you have written.

Don’t have time at home?  Some organizational consultants encourage people to write in their journal for 5 minutes when they sit down at work and just prior to
leaving.  It’s a way of focusing in on your life for the day.

Answer the question is an excellent technique to use to uncover an unconscious or otherwise hidden motivation, feeling or issue.  While free flow journaling which is an excellent way to document our day or express feelings, there are times when you are simply unsure of what is going on underneath particular issue or situation.

 Answer the question is exactly what it sounds like.  You simply ask yourself a question over and over again writing down each subsequent answer.  The key to answer the question journaling is to answer the question multiple times thus deepening your answers each time.  Here are a few example questions
based around our topic of risking.

• “What are you afraid of?”
• “What conflicts can I avoid?”
• “How am I afraid to express myself?”
• “Where do I need to take risks?”
• “Where am I stuck?”
• “What am I drawn to?”
• "How does this serve me?”
• or even a simple “Why?

Work quickly without much editing.  Try to cycle through the question at least 3 times. This will help you uncover unconscious or unknown aspects currently at play in your life.

 This month’s we look at a variety of ways to use your journal.  Most people write in their journal to express a specific idea or emotion in a stream of
consciousness manner.  Here are three different suggestions from some of our favorite authors:

Morning Pages:  Julia Cameron, in the Artists Way, encourages people to
begin their morning by writing (long hand) 3 pages in their journal.  She believes this awakens our creativity.  People who make a practice of morning pages speak of them as cleansing the mind, body and soul.  Authors frequently use morning pages to get
their writing started for the day.  Morning pages don’t take too long and are a delicious addition to your morning routine.

Scanners Day Book:  Barbara Sher, in Refuse to Choose! discusses the use of a
Scanners Day Book which she defines as “the place to capture your best ideas and also the tangents that pull you off those ideas”.    This is not a book for general journaling but a large, free form “what if” book capturing all your gems of ideas.  You will want to carry this book around with you so that you have it when inspiration strikes.  (Barbara Sher is a guest on our upcoming Impression Audio Magazine.) 

Dream Journal:  A dream journal is exactly what it sounds like – a place where you write about your dreams.  Your dreams are messages from  your unconscious mind and can provide useful information about your inner life.  The key to working with your dreams is creating a record of the dream itself.  Most people keep their dream journal by the side of their bed with a mini-light or a pen with a light so that they can write down the dream upon waking.

• Keeping a daily gratitude list is the best way to begin to incorporate abundance into your life.  End each day with a list of at least 5 things you are grateful for.  This simple exercise can dramatically change your life.
• What does abundance look like? Everyone has their own idea of what an abundant life looks like.  Spend some time developing a vision of abundance for your life.  Write it down in your journal.  No detail is too big or too small.  Work on your description until it completely details your abundant life.
• Many people block abundance. When you imagine living an abundant life, what comes to mind?  Some people feel anxious, while other people feel as if they don’t deserve abundance.  How do you feel?  Write about it in your journal.  Where did this feeling or belief come from?  Detail the origin of these feelings.  How did your parents talk about abundance? Dig deep.
  
  Once you have determined how you feel about abundance, and where these feelings come from, you can decide what you would like to feel.  If these feelings are deeply entrenched, you might want to work through Simple Abundance this year.  If you feel like you are ready to embrace abundance, create a mantra about abundance.  It might be: “I am ready
  and willing to receive and enjoy abundance” or “I deserve to live an abundant life”.  Write it in your journal.  Then write anything that comes up around this mantra – positive or negative.  Repeat your mantra frequently and you will soon change your beliefs about abundance

This month, we take a look at a specific type of journal – the Accomplishment journal. 

The summer can be such a full time.  Children are out of school.  Vacations are planned.  The yard needs weekly attention.  It’s hard to feel like you are getting anything done!

Your Accomplishment journal is a place where you write down what you were able to accomplish in any given day.  Write it all down. Even the smallest item, “driving to work with out an accident”, is a huge accomplishment.  Make sure to include everything not just the big things.  It’s important to see on paper exactly what you are accomplishing. 

You’ll be surprised at how good you will feel when you realize exactly how much you get done in any given day!  It’s a real confidence booster.

Julia Mortgensen, in Making Work Work, also encourages us to keep track of what didn’t get done.  In a world where you might be doing two or more people’s jobs, it’s important to keep a record of what you accomplished and what you were unable to
get to.  She suggests that you keep the journal for 6 months, then show it to your boss.  It allows your boss to see in black and white exactly what you have accomplished.  The journal can be very helpful when asking for a raise either by showing your accomplishments or by helping your boss rearrange your priorities so that you are working toward a raise.

If you are a stay at home mom or you work at home, an accomplishment journal
can help you negotiate with your spouse and children.  By listing all that you do for 6 months, it allows the people around you to see how much of your time is spent working on household projects.  It gives them an opportunity to help out with out resentment.  Your accomplishment journal also gives you a chance to see the huge list of things you accomplish in any given day.

You might want to buy a separate journal.  Remember, you can use this to advance your career, so you don’t want to your accomplishment list with your personal thoughts and feelings.  You can create a list in your calendar program or in a database program.  These computerized versions can stay open during the day allowing you to post your accomplishments as they occur.

You are more productive than you know.  Spend some time this month finding out!

This month we take a look at our Hot Issues.  Hot issues are anything that you worry over, complain to your friends about or situations which make you feel hot!

What are the hot issues in your life?  Have you written in your journal about it?  It’s not uncommon to have a hot issue in our lives and forget to include it in your journal practice.  Something we might talk to everyone in our life about never makes it to the one place you can really resolve issues – your journal. 

Set aside some time this month to write about your hot topics.  Here’s a few suggestions to get you started:

• Write your topic at the top of the page, then write everything and anything that relates to your topic.
• Draw a time line of your issue.  When did it start?  What has made it so difficult?  Write a unmailed letter to everyone involved in this issue.  You don’t have to send it. Just let it all out.  When you are ready, write an unmailed letter forgiving each of them.
• Feel stuck?  Google your issue.  You’ll be amazed how many people struggle with the same feelings and issues as you do.
• “If I resolve this issue” Every hot issue in our lives has some purpose. What would it be like if you actually resolved this issue? What would you lose?
• What’s it going to take to resolve your hot issue? Make a list.