Heart Journaling Workshops

A short shiur on why Sukkot is an ideal time to journal, vision and dream...

A Time to Dream & Recreate Self: Sukkot & Sacred Space | Rav Pinson's Podcast | Sukkot Q&A (Part 1) Q: Is it a coincidence that Sukkot - a time of joy, falls out right after Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah, which are days of awe? How does one flow into the oth...

Women in Tsfat and the North: mark your calendars. Starting October 20th, six sessions, weekly, at 10:30am-11:30am, at the Tzfat English Library. Please RSVP for more info and/ or to reserve your space.

From an article "The Time of Your Life" in Real Simple Magazine Jan/Feb 2022, Elaine Kiziah, PhD, a life coach in Richmond, Virginia shares that one of her favorite journaling exercises is to pause at the end of the day and ask:

"What is today teaching me about how to live tomorrow?"

She notes that even a five-minute writing session can make a big difference, and that part of the power of journaling lies in the pause itself.

Photo by Christopher Sardegna on Unsplash

A lot of people find that journal writing flows better with relaxing background music...
You may like this mix (but fast forward a few minutes):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCHDGlnH2vc

Music for Journaling | Relaxing Journaling Playlist Here's calming piano music for journaling, writing, and reflection. Use this journaling playlist to write down your thoughts and feelings, or while you're wr...

"Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare." Japanese proverb.

“Journal writing is a voyage to the interior.”
— Christina Baldwin

Photo by Raimond Klavins on Unsplash.com

"In Pirkei Avos (1:6) it says “K’neh lecha chaver – buy for yourself a friend”. The Arizal says that k’neh can also be read as kaneh, a quill – Let your quill be your friend. Our pen can be our best friend. It is available whenever we want it; it will never judge us or misunderstand us, and it allows us to see the truth.”

- From Write Your Way Home
A Torah guide to Therapeutic Writing by Yocheved Rottenberg

"To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don't grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float.“ — Alan Watts

Journaling Question of the Day

Is there an area in your life where you are grabbing hold tight?

Could there be benefit in surrendering, and trusting that even if we may not see it from our limited perspective things are for the ultimate best?

What would it feel like to stop resisting the current and instead choose to flow with what is - whilst still living in alignment with your values, working toward the change you seek and helping to play your unique part in creating a more beautiful and just world?

Thanks to Roaman for the inspiration.

Photo by Michael Baldovinos on Unsplash.

Could it be that the answer is always baby steps? And claiming those baby steps in the optimal direction as a victory. That was the essence of what I heard myself saying to a woman I bumped into recently who spoke about the current unraveling of her life.

Unraveling can be a positive thing for as hard as it may feel, it is movement and sometimes necessary in order to then create something new and in more alignment, but perhaps the danger is that when unraveling we may find ourselves slipping on a downward spiral, nothing to grab hold of, and that’s when our notorious inner enemy can try to drag us all the way down with all-or nothing thinking.

But we can take control at any step of the way, at any moment. We don’t necessarily have to unravel completely. Yes, we may have noticed our fangs flaring (had we any) as we bellow at loved ones repeatedly instead of responding in patience, but we can take a really deep breath, and start again. Yes, we may have abandoned our commitment do something every day this past month, but that does not stop us from starting where we are now, and doing that thing in this moment and turning things around.

The gap between our ideal and the current reality may be vast, but I say that sometimes simply not giving up in despair and even the tiniest step is a true triumph. And the gift is that the next step follows from there, and sometimes it only takes one step to change the momentum and direction entirely.

Lately, I have felt my head swimming with all the good content out there to learn and absorb and integrate, and although I want to know everything there is to know about sovereignty on every level – right now – and I want to have the tools to live more sustainably - right now – it is a process.

So I have a choice. I can either give up because it’s too big and too overwhelming and I can instead distract myself with the noisy fear-provoking propaganda of the day or with mundane day-to-day tasks and just about everything in-between or I can break this goal into tiny doable steps and begin. Not look up too much on the uphill climb as we were told in marathon running, but keep my eyes focused just in front of me. As Lao Tzu said: “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”

Anyway, just arriving at the destination instantly would rob us of the journey. So wherever you are – whether you’ve given up any or all of your “unrealistic and unattainable” dreams and goals in whole or in part or whether you are already well on your way, may you never give up on the power of a step, one foot in front of the other. May the next be with poise, presence and peace. And may you celebrate it. And then the next.

Photo by Jake Hills on Unsplash

Journaling Prompt of the Day (From Debbie Ford's "The Best Year of Your Life")

"Write down a description of the fantasy life you are hoping and wishing you will "one day" lead. Dissect your fantasy to determine how you hope you will feel once that fantasy comes true. Then identify one action you can take each day to generate within yourself the feelings you are chasing. Commit to being 100 percent responsible for creating the feelings you desire."

Sharing something here I a wrote just over a month ago, for anyone who may relate:

There’s something about bedtime. The other night I was so utterly depleted after putting my children to bed that I could barely croak out "Shema" before hobbling off and diving onto my bed where my phone lay. “I’ll just check one thing,” I pretended to myself as the wise and savvy part of me kind of watched on mouth agape whilst fumbling around quickly trying to find words to warn against what I was poised to do. But I deftly shoved aside and shushed what that part of me was trying to say. After all I am well versed in doing that, and instead sank into the all too comforting familiarity of excuses and justifications: “I’ll go to bed soon”. “Maybe I could use the time in an enriching way.” “I must get back to so and so.” Maybe I should just check my Telegram messages in case I missed something”. “Just one more thing” “Really just one more thing”.

So predictable. And as that early night that I had so needed and wanted slipped further and further from my grasp, and I became wired instead of tired, I found myself doing this thing that I do when I have done something “bad”, which is to do more of it. If I am going to eat all those things that don’t make me feel good, I may as well eat a lot. Or, if I have already missed the window of an early night, I might as well stay up really late and make it worthwhile, somehow. But it never works and never satisfies.

So I woke up the next morning, not fully rested, too much blue light in the system, not in the mood for doing what needed to be done that day. But more than that, criticizing and attacking myself for not looking after and caring for myself the night before. Since self-care is something that I value highly, and I believe in its benefits, I kind of felt like I’d let myself down on that front, and messed up. And that I hadn’t upheld, let’s face it, my somewhat half-hearted commitment to a digital sunset, as idyllic as it sounds.
But then I had this thought that if self-care is really such a high value, wouldn’t it be more of an act of self-care to love myself unconditionally and to accept myself and my bedtime struggle, rather than judging and condemning myself with harsh, critical words. A bit ironic to be uncaring to myself about my care for myself. And isn’t self-care anyway the ability to constantly meet ourselves exactly where we are at and be there for ourselves in a nurturing way, even when we didn’t get to tick off the self-care check box?

Which reminded me of when I wanted to work on the traits of accepting and letting go. And a wise woman shared with me this back-door way to arrive at acceptance and letting go, namely, to accept that I don’t accept. Or, to let go that I don’t let go. Voila, a form of acceptance and surrendering.

And so too, the same here: re-framing self-care as more than just doing the things I need to do to feel optimal, but about really trying to foster true caring about myself: no matter the self-care I managed to do - or lack thereof.

Tonight begins the Jewish month of Kislev, and the tikun (rectification) of this month is sleep. I heard someone share that sleep is about letting go and surrendering. And to do those things one needs to trust. So although good sleep can be enhanced by self-care habits, like for real getting off technology at night, keeping lights low, warm herbal teas and a hot Epsom salt bath for those who can, when and where those things (or other practices that work for you) just don’t happen, what perhaps may be most comforting and calming to our nervous systems is to have faith and trust that we (and G-d) truly have our own backs, no matter what. And to love our whole self – the victorious part and the failure, the well-rested, and less rested version.

I want to bless you all with nurturing nights, ruthlessness when it comes to upholding boundaries around technology or anything else that trips you up, and restorative and healing deep and peaceful sleeps in the month to come – and beyond.
Photo by Simeon Birkenstock on Unsplash.

An abundance of journaling techniques!

Passing the question forward: what are some of your favorite journaling techniques?

What are your best journaling techniques?

Three upcoming 6 week Journaling workshops for women starting next week (beginning June 20th 2021)

- Sunday afternoon 16:30 - online/ zoom
- Tuesday morning 10:30am in Amirim
- Wednesday morning in Tsfat

Please be in touch for more details.

Loren: 0549461245 or [email protected]

Thank you to Dr Kelly Brogan for the inspiration for this journaling prompt/ exercise:

"Toxic Journaling/ Truth Serum"

Where in your life do you feel right about being wronged?

Using pen to paper, give victim consciousness the mic.

Write for 15 minutes.

When you're done, burn, flush or cut up this writing.

"The way we do anything is the way we do everything" Zen Proverb (though I've seen this quote and similar ones attributed to others)

Exercise of the Day: Review your day so far and select one thing that stands out for you that you did today. Then, with compassion and non-judgment, write down qualities of yours that shaped the way that you did this thing: identifying the positive aspects followed by areas where there is room for improvement.

Then look at five unrelated areas of your life (eg: work, relationship, driving, food, money) and consider how those same qualities play out in these other areas.

Spend ten minutes exploring in your journal.

When it comes to the positive qualities. own and embrace them - and yourself.

With regards to the areas that need working on, own and embrace them - and yourself. And then jot down a simple doable way you can commit to shifting.

"When you're in a place of inspiration, fear cannot exist." Henna Maria, activist and writer

Exercise of the Day

Try to recall a time in your life when you were really inspired; a time that you felt alive, present, on purpose and excited.

With this image in mind, open up your journal and consider:

- Where were you?
- What was happening?
- How did it feel in your body?

Then answer this question:
- What small and doable action can you take TODAY to ignite that spark of inspiration?
- What inspiration can you seek our for yourself today?
- How can you pass that inspiration forward?

Some wise words to contemplate:

"This moment that humanity is going through can be seen as a portal or a hole.

The decision to fall into the hole or to go through the portal is up to you. If you worry about the problem and consume news 24 hours a day, with little energy, always nervous, with pessimism, you will fall into the hole. But if you take the opportunity to look at yourself, rethink life and death, take care of yourself and others, you will cross the portal.

Take care of your home, your body, do not lose the spiritual dimension of this crisis, become like the eagle that sees everything from above and sees more widely.

There is a social question in this crisis, but also a spiritual one. Through joy you resist. Have faith, you have been prepared to overcome this crisis. When the storm passes, you will be very important in rebuilding this new world, you have to be well and be strong. Therefore try to keep a high, happy and bright vibration.

In shamanism there is a rite of passage called the search for vision, spend a few days alone in the forest, without water, without food, without protection. When through this portal you get a new view of the world, because you have faced your fears, your difficulties. Take advantage of this time to exercise your vision and seek your rituals. This is what you can do, serenity in the storm.

Establish a routine to encounter the sacred every day, good things emanate what you emanate, now that's the most important thing. Sing, dance, resist through art, joy, faith and love ".

- White Eagle

Happy to have participated in A Return To Festival. Check out my short half hour session on journaling (with a short into on what journaling is, the different types as I see it and some current journaling prompts to play with).

nettlesandpins.com/areturntofestival

And while you're at it, don't miss the other enriching, practical and inspiring videos.

"But more and more, I’m realizing that really part of what makes journaling so potentially healing, insightful and grounding is the act of putting pen to paper. And as we move in an increasingly digital direction, I’d say now more than ever it is vital to reclaim, preserve and celebrate simple yet powerful acts like these..."

A Return To Festival | Nettles and Pins Let's bring a little light and love into our lives during this crazy time. Tools, motivation, health, interviews, alternatives, herbs and more. Sign up for updates and registration. Coming soon!!

"Be the change you want to see in the world." Mahatma Gandhi

Journaling Prompt of the Day (with this quote in mind)

Take a moment and bring up in your mind's eye the change you long for in the broader world. Then, imagine what it would look like to live, embody and express this change in your daily life.

Vividly describe a scene where you are living the change you wish to see in the world. Write it out in the present tense (affirmation style) as if it is happening now.

"When you have a big enough dream, you don't need a crisis." Greg Schmaus citing Paul Chek

“You can't wake a person who is pretending to be asleep” - Navajo Proverb

“We're not on our journey to save the world but to save ourselves. But in doing that you save the world. The influence of a vital person vitalizes.” ―Joseph Campbell

"It's no measure of health to be well adjusted to a sick society."
Jiddu Krishnamurti

Journaling prompt of the day:

“If success or failure of this planet and of human beings depended on how I am and what I do... HOW WOULD I BE? WHAT WOULD I DO?”

― R. Buckminister Fuller

Mark Twain once said: "Use the right word, not its second cousin."

I really like what Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz has to say about words in his book "Simple Words":

"When it comes to jargon, this kind of violation is very common. We use first or second cousins because we do not know the real meaning of the word. People who get caught by the jargon find themselves saying things that are quite different from what they really mean, or even worse, they cease to know what they mean altogether."

"In his famous book 1984 George Orwell writes about the subject of forming people's thinking by creating a special language. A language in which certain words do not exist, and other words have only a stipulated, jargon meaning, creates people who can talk, but are unable to think - at least not about certain things. When there is no words for something, either one has to invent a word, or - more commonly - one is stuck, because of the inability to think of an idea. People are even more stuck when they are given substitute words, especially ones that catch on easily. For then, instead of saying what they really want to say, people settle for something that is close enough, but not quite the same..."

Who's in for learning a new word daily?

The aim being: to increase our vocabularies (think nuances and subtleties), thus expanding our potential to think.

If you're keen, let me know, and I will share one word per day, with the challenge to us all to use that one word somehow that day!

"It's never too late to be what you might have been." George Elliot

Why the Name Heart Journaling?



I decided to call the workshop Heart Journaling specifically because I believe journaling has the power to connect us to our heart; to our dreams and our self.

On a personal note, about five/ six years ago, I started noticing heart shapes everywhere: in graffiti, in rocks on the ground, flowers, and even till today wherever I look I see heart shapes - from a piece of old food on the floor to some twigs smushed together in the shape of a heart to clay that's been stood on, all in the shape of a heart. I feel like they're personal little love letters from G-d reminding me that no matter what, everything is going to be okay; everything is okay. Kind of like a reminder that there is love in the world, no matter what’s going on or what it may feel like.

“Sometimes the smallest step in the right direction ends up being the biggest step of your life. Tiptoe if you must, but take a step.” Naeem Callaway

Aristotle: “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

Online 6 Week Workshop for women starting tomorrow: Wednesday May 13th. Be in touch for more details.

Look forward to journaling together.

"Each time you make an entry into your journal, you open another door into yourself." Lucia Capacchione

Wednesday class only starting this week May 13th.

Suitable for all ages, all writing experience.