My Morning Practice
Written by Marcia Hodges: previous President of Balanced Rock's Board of Directors and a participant on our first course ever (WildWomen Workshops, 1999).
My most consistent morning practice is journaling. It’s how I debrief my prior day and record what’s going on in my life. It’s how I get irritations or worries out of my spinning brain. It’s also how I often receive inspiration that is clearly not from my brain.
I’ve been journaling for almost 20 years now. I go through a journal every 4-6 weeks. The amount of time I spend on it is probably about an hour every morning. Yes, I’m an early bird. I love mornings! Sipping on that cup of tea. Having a candle burning. Slowly warming up the brain to both let go and receive.I’m highly selective when purchasing journals. The outer cover has to feel right to me physically, visually and emotionally. The whole process is one of the ways I connect with myself. It helps to ground me.One of the best benefits for me is it helps my brain to stop spinning (as much) about irritations or worries. I record what’s happening, how I’m reacting and how I feel about it. Or if it’s a worry, what my options or actions might be. And as I write, I pay attention to how I feel. Are tears coming up that need to be released? Is a possible action feeling good, like if I go in that direction, I’ll relax into it? Or does it feel bad, like I’ll be trudging up a mountain with a 100 lb. pack on my body? I pay close attention to those feelings, because I believe that’s my inner guidance system telling me what’s the next best step to take.
When I’m journaling, I often feel like it’s a form of meditation; that I’m receiving Divine guidance for how to live my life or what action to take.
Some might call it intuition. Others might call it “God shots”. It doesn’t matter to me what it’s called. I just know it when I feel it. And I don’t try to make anything happen while writing. I don’t try to be inspired or intuit. It’s the consistent morning practice of writing when I’m letting go of what’s twirling around in my brain that then allows for those moments of clarity and understanding to unfold and be revealed.I love water analogies. One of my most favorite things to do in life is to be in a river or lake and just be lifted up with the buoyancy. I’ve always felt a magical freedom while floating, ever since I was a little girl learning to swim in the community pool. So for me, journaling helps me experience a little of that magic. If I’m feeling like I’m struggling with trying to swim upstream against the current, then I know I’m headed in the wrong direction. But if I flip over, put my feet up, let go and relax into the flow, then I know I’m headed in the right direction. There may still be rocks that bump my arse, but I’m generally headed the right way.For a couple years now, my favorite affirmation has been, “If it’s easy, it’s meant to be.” Journaling helps me recognize when I get there…when I can feel I’m floating down stream with the current. Then I have confidence I’m headed in the right direction. That’s why it’s my most consistent morning practice. And since it’s easy for me, it must be meant to be.Marcia Hodges