Guided Journaling - Rewrite Your Inner Story

A guided writing practice to reframe the story of who you are, and what you can and cannot do. Through simple prompts, you will reconnect with your inner voice, fictionalise new endings to old memories, and rewrite your story in a way that better serves you.

Join me in discovering how the narratives we believe about ourselves shape the way we live our lives.

Transcript

Welcome to this safe space where you will rewrite a story you have told yourself about who you are or what you can and cannot do. It might come as a relief to know that you do not have to believe all your thoughts. Though they come from inside you, Only you decide how long they stay. Today, You will take the methods that storytellers use and apply them to your own narratives. Beginning with one memory, Or what writers call a scene, You will reshape the story in a way that better serves you. As you go through your daily life, You are surrounded by the noise of other people's words. Deep writing, However, Comes from your inner voice, Which speaks the language truest to you. Let's begin by awakening the inner voice and tuning in to what it is saying, Honoring the voice for the stories it tells and acknowledging that you have the ability to retell them and speak differently to yourself. Sink into a comfortable position if you haven't already and gently close your eyes. Focus your attention inward and follow my words as I address the inner voice. I know you are inside me. Your words matter to me. You are allowed to change. I welcome what you have to say. I hear you. Take a moment to notice how you feel after beginning a conversation with yourself. I will now guide you to access ideas or beliefs that are blocking you, Limiting you, Or no longer serve a purpose. I will say an unfinished sentence, Which you can complete in the silence of your mind. There are five sentences and I will repeat each sentence two times to give you time to mentally complete it. Try not to overthink your response and simply notice how you finish the sentences. Let's begin. Number one. As a child, I used to love to. As a child, I used to love to. Number two. With infinite time, I would. With infinite time, I would. Number three. I can never seem to. I can never seem to. Number four. I wish I could take a break from. I wish I could take a break from. Number five. What I often say to myself but wish I didn't is. What I often say to myself but wish I didn't is. Pause now to consider what came up for you. Noticing how you finish the sentences is a way to reach what repeats within you or rests heavy on your mind and body. A memory, A belief, An idea of yourself. Is there an inner critic saying something to you, Telling you that you can't, That you shouldn't or that you are not enough? Be patient. It takes time to uncover and release the tension around narratives that may be embedded deep within you. Is there something your inner voice is saying that you are resisting or don't want to hear? Now let's move to writing. If you haven't already, Gather your notebook or paper and something to write with and place it beside you. Before writing, Envision a memory from your life when your inner critic's voice was loud. A moment when you heard it clearly, Maybe painfully. Think of a real life scene, A memory that you can remember with clarity. A time when you felt you criticized yourself or felt inadequate. Take a minute to think of and select one specific memory. Now, Close your eyes and place yourself back in the memory you've chosen. What sensations arise? What words or images come up? Where were you? Who else was there? When you evoke the memory, Try to think of all the senses. Not only what happened, But what you felt. What type of mood were you in? Was there a sound or a scent you remember? Did you touch or fiddle with anything? Let yourself enter the memory as though it is happening now. What emotions rose or are rising now to the surface as you recall it? Feel this fully. Now gently open your eyes. For the next three minutes, Write this memory down as vividly as possible, In full detail and evoking all the senses, The sights, The sounds, The emotions, The words you told yourself. You may begin. When you're ready, Let your writing come to an end. If you need more time, Pause the audio and continue when you are ready. For the next part of your writing practice, Consider this memory of your life, This scene you have just written out in detail, And write a fictional account of what happens immediately after. Do not write the truth of what followed in real life, But an imagined version of what you would have liked to happen after. Take three minutes to write. You may begin now. When you're ready, Let your writing come to an end. If you need more time, Pause the audio and continue when you are ready. Though what you have written down is fiction, The voice is still yours. There are as many selves as there are the stories they tell. Writing an alternate account of what happened after your memory is an opening to imagine a new way of holding that memory and the feelings or beliefs it evoked in you. How might your fictional account help you carry the real memory forward in a new way? For the final part of your writing practice, Take two minutes to go back to the original memory you had written down, Not the fictional account. Write one new sentence after your current last sentence. As you write, Consider how new context or new emotions that have come up today might change the way your memory is perceived. What could you mention that you didn't before? Would you like to shift the perspective a little with new words? Write one new sentence after your current last sentence. You may begin writing now. When you're ready, Let your writing come to an end. If you need more time, Pause the audio and continue when you are ready. As we draw our time here to a close, I will leave you with the idea that stories begin where pages end. You have done the work today to begin to excavate your narratives and to reshape them in the way writers edit scenes. As you take these reframed perspectives to change what you do off the page, Remember that when it comes to yourself, You are the most influential storyteller. Over the course of your life, Day after day, The person whose voice you hear the most will be your own. Tune into that inner voice to hear what it truly says. I will now leave you with a parting prompt for your final writing practice. Give your inner critic a name. Then give your inner cheerleader a name. Put them in a room. Make them fight. Write their fight out as a piece of dialogue or a WhatsApp conversation. What do they say to each other? How does it conclude? Let them freely battle it out. You may write for as long as you like. Thank you for being here, For giving yourself time, Attention, And intention.