November 11, 2025 • 21 mins
Ever pour your heart onto the page, feel lighter, and then find yourself stuck in the same loop a week later? We get it and we built this conversation to help you turn journaling from a quick reset into a reliable engine for transformation, clarity, and faith-centered growth.
We start by separating regulation from resolution. Venting can calm the nervous system, and that matters, but lasting change asks for more: noticing the thought-emotion link, testing whether a belief serves your aims, and choosing language that creates movement. You’ll hear a simple litmus test to spot when journaling becomes a pressure valve, plus a practical way to reframe without bypassing your experience. We walk through healthy detachment... caring without being consumed...so you can release ego drama without losing your drive, your goals, or your full emotional range.
Emotions are created by thoughts but live as sensations; if writing stays in the head, you miss vital data. We use somatic awareness to metabolize anger, anxiety, and confusion safely and fully.
To leave a review on Apple Podcasts, open the app and go to the show's page by searching for it or finding it in your library. Scroll down to the "Ratings & Reviews" section, tap "Write a Review," then give it a star rating, write your title and review, and tap "Send"
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:04):
Welcome to Islamic Life Home Tool Podcast.
How many tools that you learn inthis podcast and your life will
be unrecognizably successful?
Now your host, Dr.
Gamal Usler.
Hello, hello, hello, everyone.
Peace and blessings be upon allof you.
The idea of today's podcast camefrom the fact that many of my
clients love to journal.
And there are so many Instagramposts about which journaling
(00:28):
technique is the best, whichjournal to buy, and how many
influencers out there sharingtheir journals and asking you to
apply this technique or that.
All of that is great, and I havenothing against it.
Having choices while buildingthe skill of journaling is
amazing.
I personally love journaling.
(00:48):
I love to write things down.
It helps me remember things, ithelps me anchor myself in the
reality that I want to create,especially if there's a reality
that I want to continue tobelieve.
And it helps me recognize thethings that I want to release
and that are unhelpful.
So why do I call this podcastjournaling correctly?
And how are you going to journalcorrectly?
(01:11):
Because really, there's nocorrect way to journal.
The way you journal, especiallyif it helps you, is the correct
way to journal.
But there are women out therewho want to journal and don't
find the benefit in it, or theydon't find this practice
sustainable.
So I want to tell you that thereare so many benefits of this
that you can utilize and how youcan make it sustainable.
(01:32):
Most women, when they sit downto journal, they're
subconsciously sitting down tofind out what's wrong with them.
I mean, that's overall not agood idea.
First of all, when you look forsomething, the brain gives you
answers for exactly that.
If you sit down to look to findout what's wrong with you, the
brain will tell you exactlythat.
(01:54):
So first you have to have abeneficial reason to journal,
and the answers you're trying tofind will somehow help you.
And I'm gonna give you plenty ofthose reasons here.
With the current social mediaand the work environments, it's
very natural to start developinginattention because that's what
you've been practicing all day.
(02:15):
And nothing wrong with that,that's what current culture
demands.
And at some point, if you comeacross a realization that's gone
out of hand and your thoughtsare bouncing around, and it's
hard to pinpoint the problem,and you somehow in the
background keep feeling yuckyduring the day, but you can't
figure out why.
In all of this scenario,journaling is an excellent
(02:36):
avenue to slow down your mindand find out what's going on.
This is an excellent way to slowdown your attention to figure
out where the thought errors arecreating an emotional burden in
your day.
Since your thoughts cause youremotions, journaling is an
excellent way to reveal yourthoughts to yourself in a world
(02:57):
of inattention.
The next reason you might wantto journal is to create a
difference between regulation orresolution.
Journaling helps you feel calm,but that does not mean that
you're necessarily changingsomething deeper that's a
thought pattern in you.
You might have experienced thefeeling where you feel lighter
(03:20):
after journaling, after lettingyour heart out and just writing
it on paper.
Your brain feels quieter, andyou may even be proud of
yourself for doing the work.
But the real question is, doesthat peace last?
And a lot of times for women whodon't find the habit of
journaling sustainable, themistake they're making is that
(03:42):
when they journal, they feellighter immediately, but they
don't slow down to examine whatneeds to change.
If journaling only feels good inthe moment, it's probably
helping you regulate yournervous system, not resolving
the root thoughts.
And don't get me wrong, aregulated nervous system is a
(04:02):
huge win.
I will opt for journaling justto regulate my nervous system
any day of the week.
If that is all journaling did, Iwould take that every day.
But journaling can do so muchmore.
It does serve as a quick resetwhile it's helping you regulate
yourself like anything else,like exercise, time with
(04:23):
friends, going for a swim,having a quick wrestling match
with your child, anything toreset.
But all of this is not rewiring.
Weird journaling surpasses inits benefits, and in my opinion,
surpasses all of these otheractivities by a long shot, is
that it gives you theopportunity for rewriting the
(04:44):
thought patterns that youdiscover, especially if they're
unhelpful or limiting thoughtpatterns.
And the litmus test that the wayto figure out if you're just
resetting or rewiring usingjournaling is if the same
thought keeps reoccurring, thenyou're most likely journaling
just to reset.
This practice is not yettransforming you, it's just
(05:06):
soothing you.
Again, because I say it's justsoothing you, I'm not saying it
to minimize the effect of asoothed nervous system.
I'm saying it because if that'sall you do, you're probably not
going to be able to keep up withthe journaling practice.
And it's not the full benefit ofit.
So what you're going to askyourself instead is, am I
(05:27):
repeating my thoughts over andover again, or are they changing
at some level?
If you keep looping back to thesame story every few days, then
journaling is serving as apressure valve, not necessarily
a shift in perspective.
It's comfortable, but it's notchanging.
And that change itself is anamazing gift that journaling can
(05:50):
give you.
Next benefit is detachment, notnecessarily avoidance.
And I've talked previously aboutwhat detachment is.
Becoming detached with yourunhelpful thoughts, with your
limiting belief patterns is thefirst step towards trying to
rewire them.
And detaching in this way doesnot mean you're numbing or
(06:12):
escaping them or pretending thatthey don't exist.
What journaling does in helpingyou detach from your negative
thought patterns is that it letsyou see them clearly without
getting entangled with them.
This detachment is not like Idon't care.
It's more like I care, but I'mnot consumed by these thoughts.
(06:32):
If during journaling you see athought like he should have
treated me better, instead offeeling bad about having that
thought, instead of wrestlingwith it, instead of numbing the
feelings that arise, you say, Ohlook, that's that thought
visiting again.
You're not pushing it away,you're recognizing it, and
(06:53):
you're not letting it move inpermanently.
And no matter how much youpractice detachment, it does
have its limits.
You're not gonna float away fromthe difficult experiences of
life, but it's going to get muchbetter.
You don't necessarily need todetach from everything.
Some parts of your life, likegoals, discomfort, ambition,
(07:15):
require a certain attachment,and they require your strong
associations, and this calls foryour full emotional presence in
order for you to live a lifewith its full spectrum.
And this is where I split frompure quote-unquote detachment
philosophy.
I don't want to detach fromlife.
I want to detach from my ego'sdrama.
(07:37):
I don't want to detach from thedreams.
I want to detach from thelimiting beliefs that my ego
feeds me about these dreams.
Ego, like I said, how my friendtaught me, is a tool you pick up
when you need it, and you dropit when you don't need it.
I still want to set goals, Istill want to journal my way
(07:58):
towards them.
I want to build and create, andI want to collect failures on my
way towards these goals.
I want to feel the whole rangeof spectrum of emotions while
doing it.
I don't want to necessarilydetach from it.
And this is the exact kind ofdistinction that journaling will
help you create.
You're not using journaling tonumb and completely detach.
(08:21):
You're using things to pick upthe things that you want to
attach to and inquire willingly.
You don't want to journal yourway out of life.
You want to be awake in it,consciously choosing what to
attach to and what to give yourattention to.
You don't journal to fix yourlife or avoid negative emotions.
(08:42):
If you reach for your journal,every time you feel a strong
emotion, especially anger, youmight be using it to escape the
feeling instead of allowing it.
And you can very easily fix forthis issue by asking: are there
emotions that you were trying tojournal away?
Or you're moving towards themand listening to the message
behind them.
(09:03):
For me, this most common emotionthat I tried to journal away was
anger.
When I felt that spark, thattightness, that heat, I would
immediately start coachingmyself out of it, rationalizing,
trying to reframe, trying toexplain every point of view.
But at some point I realized Iwasn't feeling anger, I was
(09:25):
managing it.
Journaling does not have to bethe immediate fire extinguisher
to the emotion.
It needs to be the container tofeel it safely, fully, and all
the way through.
And for this process to occur,you have to have a body
awareness.
Your body must be a part of thisprocess.
Real emotional integrationrequires somatic awareness,
(09:48):
noticing sensations, tension,your breath, warmth, movement,
where these sensations lie.
Emotions don't live in yourthoughts.
They are created by them.
They live in your body, and yourhead happens to be a part of
your body.
So if your journaling happensonly through the language, only
(10:08):
through the rational part, onlythrough the brain, you're
missing half of the experience.
Try writing and noticing wherethe feeling is sitting in your
body.
Where do I feel it mostintensely in my body?
When your thoughts meetsensation, that's where healing
starts to happen.
Then the next benefit ofjournaling is evolution.
(10:31):
Journaling and coaching.
There's an overlap withdifferences.
Journaling and coaching bothhelp you observe thoughts, but
coaching adds structure andintentional redirection.
Journaling and coaching overlapin self-awareness.
And coaching adds the nextquestion of okay, what now?
(10:53):
I figured all of this out.
Where do I need to go next?
Where do I want to go next?
Journaling helps you see thethought, separate from it.
Coaching helps you shift.
Journaling helps you witness anemotion.
Coaching helps you reframe itinto movement, into progress,
into evolution.
(11:14):
That includes both you coachingyourself or getting coached by
somebody else.
All of these steps matter.
Journaling for relief andregulation, for awareness, and
then detachment, and thenjournaling for transformation
and evolution.
Here, not only are you steppinginto thinking and then out of
(11:37):
your thinking, you're no longerthe person doing the thinking.
You're becoming the person who'swatching yourself think, and
being the watcher of thethinking immediately provides
relief.
And at that point, you can askyourself, why am I thinking
this?
Is this helping me or hurtingme?
You just need to know which oneyou're doing and why.
(12:00):
And also continue to notice whenjournaling soothes you or takes
you away from transformation.
Staying at any of these stagesis not wrong.
They're all part and benefits ofjournaling, but you might want
to explore further and furtherstages for your ongoing
evolution and growth.
And the takeaway here is to payattention to your intention
(12:22):
behind journaling.
The real question isn't isjournaling good or bad?
It's why am I journaling rightnow?
Am I running away from somethingthat I don't want to feel?
Or am I sitting down to meet it?
So if I am to break it down intosteps, the very first step is
going to be step zero.
What journaling is not for?
(12:43):
It's not for finding out what'swrong with you or your life.
When you sit down looking forwhat's wrong, the brain will
gladly provide a list.
It will give you the evidence.
And while you might be thinkingyou're journaling for
reflection, it's just more andmore of self-criticism.
Then there's no way journalingis going to be sustainable or
beneficial.
(13:04):
Instead of asking what's wrongwith me, just ask what's going
on here?
What am I witnessing?
Step two is journaling forregulation.
And the purpose here is to staycalm within your nervous system
and bring order to your racingthoughts.
At this stage, journaling willhelp you slow down enough to
(13:24):
hear your mind clearly.
It's like the equivalent oftaking rest in your mind.
And when you're writing at thisstage, you might be emotionally
venting, dumping, or listing,and all of that is okay,
especially if your nervoussystem resets from chaos to
coherence.
Step two is journaling forawareness.
(13:45):
And here the purpose is toreveal the thought and the
emotion connection.
Here you're gonna start to seepatterns.
What thoughts are creating youremotions and what stories are on
repeat?
What inner dialogue is drivingyour day-to-day activities?
You might begin to notice I'mfeeling anxious when I think
(14:05):
about that conversation.
This is the sentence that showsup in my mind every time I feel
small.
At this level, you're learningyour emotional alphabet
language.
Step three is journaling fordetachment.
Here the purpose is to separateyourself from your thoughts.
Here you start to evolve intothinking he should have treated
(14:27):
me better, to telling yourself,I'm having a thought that he
should have treated me better.
And then you can decide if thisthought helps you or not.
You're no longer fusing with thestory, you're observing it.
There is this healthy detachmenthere, or what otherwise also is
called non-attachment, which ismore like I care but I'm not
(14:48):
consumed, while unhealthydetachment is I don't care
anymore and I'm trying tosuppress this thought.
Through this stage ofjournaling, you will figure out
what helps you and what doesn'tand what thought to release.
Step four is journaling forembodiment.
And this is a very highlyevolved skill.
(15:08):
This is to integrate youremotions throughout your body,
not just the sentences in yourmind.
You start noticing sensationswith your awareness.
And the sensations might be heatin your chest or clenching of
the jaw with tension.
Or for me, when I'm confused, mybrain feels like it's physically
twisting when it's actually not.
(15:30):
Emotions live in the body.
When you are at this level ofawareness of physical
sensations, you're letting thebody join the conversation,
you're opting into receiving alot more input.
And this is extremely helpfulinformation.
Then the next step, step five,is journaling for
transformation.
(15:51):
To move from witnessing torewiring.
Now your journaling becomes veryintentional.
You're not just recording ordiscovering what's happening,
you're shaping into how you wantto be, what you want to become.
Asking questions like, what canI reframe this into that doesn't
bypass my experience, but alsogets me into growth and
(16:13):
movement.
All of this collectively putsyou from reactivity to creation,
from being a thinker to becomingthe observer of your mind to
eventually becoming the creatorof your life.
All of this is to see if yourjournaling is making you a deep
thinker or a ruminative thinker.
(16:34):
Meaning, are you coming back tothe same topic and thinking
about it over and over again indifferent ways?
Or are you thinking about whatneeds to be changed and
distancing yourself from yourlimiting patterns and allowing
yourself room to change?
A deep thinker comes up with adifferent result when a
ruminative thinker comes up withthe same result of a truncated
(16:57):
life, of a difficult life, whileit might even look like they're
thinking about thingsdifferently.
Ruminative thinkers circle aboutthe same thing in different
thoughts over and over again,but there's no good outcome.
A deep thinker uses journalingto expand, where each session of
journaling ends in a new insightand clarity.
(17:20):
And as per usual, while I havegiven you very neat and clean
categories, nothing in lifeexists like that, just like
separate levels.
When you start journaling basedon the ideas of this podcast,
you will see that there is a lotof overlap.
You might think that that's notsupposed to happen, but that's
not the case.
I always simplify things inorder to create a deeper impact,
(17:44):
but things don't exist as cleancategories when you put them
into practice.
And all of that is okay.
If you find yourself overlappingor jumping from one stage to the
other, everything is fine.
When you integrate any or all ofthese categories, you're going
to be living the highest levelof purpose, especially using the
journaling technique, how it'ssupposed to be used.
(18:07):
And that is for the reasons ofintegration and evolution.
The purpose here is to blendeverything: regulation,
awareness, detachment,embodiment, transformation, and
practice it into daily lifewhere you actually start to feel
better and see results in yourlife.
You can, and I welcome tojournal when you're in a crisis,
(18:28):
but you eventually journal togrow.
You journal to maintain clarity,gratitude, and creative flow.
And it becomes a practice of youaligning with your highest self.
To be able to live what I write,I absolutely love living at that
level of journaling.
This is where the practice istruly sustainable and
(18:51):
transformative in the real senseof the word.
This is where journaling hasbecome the source of thezkiyah,
an act of self-purification.
In the Quran, the Qalb, theheart, is the true center of
perception.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,they have hearts with which they
do not understand, meaning yourheart is the instrument of
(19:15):
knowledge.
When you're journaling only fromyour head, you're in the
superficial stages.
When you're journaling fromheart, you're purifying and
you're improving andtransforming.
This difference might feelnuanced for somebody who's new
at this, but it is so important.
Education in Islam is not justabout collecting information and
(19:38):
regurgitating it, it's about thezkiyah, purification through
understanding, implementation,practical application.
True learning transformscharacter.
It brings your soul closer toAllah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
When your journaling evolvesthrough these stages and you're
not just sitting there trying tofind out what's wrong, you will
(19:59):
uncover what's absolutely trueabout you.
You will uncover more and moreof your pure self, the original
primordial self, your fitra.
God-given nature underneath allof the noise.
So this way journaling hasbecome a spiritual act.
It is self-help, but mostly itis the act of self-return.
(20:21):
With that, I pray to AllahSubhanahu wa Ta'ala, Ya Allah,
let my words on paper be amirror of the truth, not a
recycling of pain.
Guide my thoughts from confusionto clarity.
Take me away from ruminationinto reflection and
self-compassion.
Guide me towards the skiyah andrecognizing my true self.
(20:43):
And help me release what nolonger serves my soul.
Make my journaling a bridgebetween my heart and your true
wisdom.
Amin Ya Rabul Amin.
Please keep me in your du'as.
I will talk to you guys nexttime.
Welcome to Islamic Life Home Tool Podcast.
How many tools that you learn inthis podcast and your life will
be unrecognizably successful?
Now your host, Dr.
Gamal Usler.
Hello, hello, hello, everyone.
Peace and blessings be upon allof you.
The idea of today's podcast camefrom the fact that many of my
clients love to journal.
And there are so many Instagramposts about which journaling
(00:28):
technique is the best, whichjournal to buy, and how many
influencers out there sharingtheir journals and asking you to
apply this technique or that.
All of that is great, and I havenothing against it.
Having choices while buildingthe skill of journaling is
amazing.
I personally love journaling.
(00:48):
I love to write things down.
It helps me remember things, ithelps me anchor myself in the
reality that I want to create,especially if there's a reality
that I want to continue tobelieve.
And it helps me recognize thethings that I want to release
and that are unhelpful.
So why do I call this podcastjournaling correctly?
And how are you going to journalcorrectly?
(01:11):
Because really, there's nocorrect way to journal.
The way you journal, especiallyif it helps you, is the correct
way to journal.
But there are women out therewho want to journal and don't
find the benefit in it, or theydon't find this practice
sustainable.
So I want to tell you that thereare so many benefits of this
that you can utilize and how youcan make it sustainable.
(01:32):
Most women, when they sit downto journal, they're
subconsciously sitting down tofind out what's wrong with them.
I mean, that's overall not agood idea.
First of all, when you look forsomething, the brain gives you
answers for exactly that.
If you sit down to look to findout what's wrong with you, the
brain will tell you exactlythat.
(01:54):
So first you have to have abeneficial reason to journal,
and the answers you're trying tofind will somehow help you.
And I'm gonna give you plenty ofthose reasons here.
With the current social mediaand the work environments, it's
very natural to start developinginattention because that's what
you've been practicing all day.
(02:15):
And nothing wrong with that,that's what current culture
demands.
And at some point, if you comeacross a realization that's gone
out of hand and your thoughtsare bouncing around, and it's
hard to pinpoint the problem,and you somehow in the
background keep feeling yuckyduring the day, but you can't
figure out why.
In all of this scenario,journaling is an excellent
(02:36):
avenue to slow down your mindand find out what's going on.
This is an excellent way to slowdown your attention to figure
out where the thought errors arecreating an emotional burden in
your day.
Since your thoughts cause youremotions, journaling is an
excellent way to reveal yourthoughts to yourself in a world
(02:57):
of inattention.
The next reason you might wantto journal is to create a
difference between regulation orresolution.
Journaling helps you feel calm,but that does not mean that
you're necessarily changingsomething deeper that's a
thought pattern in you.
You might have experienced thefeeling where you feel lighter
(03:20):
after journaling, after lettingyour heart out and just writing
it on paper.
Your brain feels quieter, andyou may even be proud of
yourself for doing the work.
But the real question is, doesthat peace last?
And a lot of times for women whodon't find the habit of
journaling sustainable, themistake they're making is that
(03:42):
when they journal, they feellighter immediately, but they
don't slow down to examine whatneeds to change.
If journaling only feels good inthe moment, it's probably
helping you regulate yournervous system, not resolving
the root thoughts.
And don't get me wrong, aregulated nervous system is a
(04:02):
huge win.
I will opt for journaling justto regulate my nervous system
any day of the week.
If that is all journaling did, Iwould take that every day.
But journaling can do so muchmore.
It does serve as a quick resetwhile it's helping you regulate
yourself like anything else,like exercise, time with
(04:23):
friends, going for a swim,having a quick wrestling match
with your child, anything toreset.
But all of this is not rewiring.
Weird journaling surpasses inits benefits, and in my opinion,
surpasses all of these otheractivities by a long shot, is
that it gives you theopportunity for rewriting the
(04:44):
thought patterns that youdiscover, especially if they're
unhelpful or limiting thoughtpatterns.
And the litmus test that the wayto figure out if you're just
resetting or rewiring usingjournaling is if the same
thought keeps reoccurring, thenyou're most likely journaling
just to reset.
This practice is not yettransforming you, it's just
(05:06):
soothing you.
Again, because I say it's justsoothing you, I'm not saying it
to minimize the effect of asoothed nervous system.
I'm saying it because if that'sall you do, you're probably not
going to be able to keep up withthe journaling practice.
And it's not the full benefit ofit.
So what you're going to askyourself instead is, am I
(05:27):
repeating my thoughts over andover again, or are they changing
at some level?
If you keep looping back to thesame story every few days, then
journaling is serving as apressure valve, not necessarily
a shift in perspective.
It's comfortable, but it's notchanging.
And that change itself is anamazing gift that journaling can
(05:50):
give you.
Next benefit is detachment, notnecessarily avoidance.
And I've talked previously aboutwhat detachment is.
Becoming detached with yourunhelpful thoughts, with your
limiting belief patterns is thefirst step towards trying to
rewire them.
And detaching in this way doesnot mean you're numbing or
(06:12):
escaping them or pretending thatthey don't exist.
What journaling does in helpingyou detach from your negative
thought patterns is that it letsyou see them clearly without
getting entangled with them.
This detachment is not like Idon't care.
It's more like I care, but I'mnot consumed by these thoughts.
(06:32):
If during journaling you see athought like he should have
treated me better, instead offeeling bad about having that
thought, instead of wrestlingwith it, instead of numbing the
feelings that arise, you say, Ohlook, that's that thought
visiting again.
You're not pushing it away,you're recognizing it, and
(06:53):
you're not letting it move inpermanently.
And no matter how much youpractice detachment, it does
have its limits.
You're not gonna float away fromthe difficult experiences of
life, but it's going to get muchbetter.
You don't necessarily need todetach from everything.
Some parts of your life, likegoals, discomfort, ambition,
(07:15):
require a certain attachment,and they require your strong
associations, and this calls foryour full emotional presence in
order for you to live a lifewith its full spectrum.
And this is where I split frompure quote-unquote detachment
philosophy.
I don't want to detach fromlife.
I want to detach from my ego'sdrama.
(07:37):
I don't want to detach from thedreams.
I want to detach from thelimiting beliefs that my ego
feeds me about these dreams.
Ego, like I said, how my friendtaught me, is a tool you pick up
when you need it, and you dropit when you don't need it.
I still want to set goals, Istill want to journal my way
(07:58):
towards them.
I want to build and create, andI want to collect failures on my
way towards these goals.
I want to feel the whole rangeof spectrum of emotions while
doing it.
I don't want to necessarilydetach from it.
And this is the exact kind ofdistinction that journaling will
help you create.
You're not using journaling tonumb and completely detach.
(08:21):
You're using things to pick upthe things that you want to
attach to and inquire willingly.
You don't want to journal yourway out of life.
You want to be awake in it,consciously choosing what to
attach to and what to give yourattention to.
You don't journal to fix yourlife or avoid negative emotions.
(08:42):
If you reach for your journal,every time you feel a strong
emotion, especially anger, youmight be using it to escape the
feeling instead of allowing it.
And you can very easily fix forthis issue by asking: are there
emotions that you were trying tojournal away?
Or you're moving towards themand listening to the message
behind them.
(09:03):
For me, this most common emotionthat I tried to journal away was
anger.
When I felt that spark, thattightness, that heat, I would
immediately start coachingmyself out of it, rationalizing,
trying to reframe, trying toexplain every point of view.
But at some point I realized Iwasn't feeling anger, I was
(09:25):
managing it.
Journaling does not have to bethe immediate fire extinguisher
to the emotion.
It needs to be the container tofeel it safely, fully, and all
the way through.
And for this process to occur,you have to have a body
awareness.
Your body must be a part of thisprocess.
Real emotional integrationrequires somatic awareness,
(09:48):
noticing sensations, tension,your breath, warmth, movement,
where these sensations lie.
Emotions don't live in yourthoughts.
They are created by them.
They live in your body, and yourhead happens to be a part of
your body.
So if your journaling happensonly through the language, only
(10:08):
through the rational part, onlythrough the brain, you're
missing half of the experience.
Try writing and noticing wherethe feeling is sitting in your
body.
Where do I feel it mostintensely in my body?
When your thoughts meetsensation, that's where healing
starts to happen.
Then the next benefit ofjournaling is evolution.
(10:31):
Journaling and coaching.
There's an overlap withdifferences.
Journaling and coaching bothhelp you observe thoughts, but
coaching adds structure andintentional redirection.
Journaling and coaching overlapin self-awareness.
And coaching adds the nextquestion of okay, what now?
(10:53):
I figured all of this out.
Where do I need to go next?
Where do I want to go next?
Journaling helps you see thethought, separate from it.
Coaching helps you shift.
Journaling helps you witness anemotion.
Coaching helps you reframe itinto movement, into progress,
into evolution.
(11:14):
That includes both you coachingyourself or getting coached by
somebody else.
All of these steps matter.
Journaling for relief andregulation, for awareness, and
then detachment, and thenjournaling for transformation
and evolution.
Here, not only are you steppinginto thinking and then out of
(11:37):
your thinking, you're no longerthe person doing the thinking.
You're becoming the person who'swatching yourself think, and
being the watcher of thethinking immediately provides
relief.
And at that point, you can askyourself, why am I thinking
this?
Is this helping me or hurtingme?
You just need to know which oneyou're doing and why.
(12:00):
And also continue to notice whenjournaling soothes you or takes
you away from transformation.
Staying at any of these stagesis not wrong.
They're all part and benefits ofjournaling, but you might want
to explore further and furtherstages for your ongoing
evolution and growth.
And the takeaway here is to payattention to your intention
(12:22):
behind journaling.
The real question isn't isjournaling good or bad?
It's why am I journaling rightnow?
Am I running away from somethingthat I don't want to feel?
Or am I sitting down to meet it?
So if I am to break it down intosteps, the very first step is
going to be step zero.
What journaling is not for?
(12:43):
It's not for finding out what'swrong with you or your life.
When you sit down looking forwhat's wrong, the brain will
gladly provide a list.
It will give you the evidence.
And while you might be thinkingyou're journaling for
reflection, it's just more andmore of self-criticism.
Then there's no way journalingis going to be sustainable or
beneficial.
(13:04):
Instead of asking what's wrongwith me, just ask what's going
on here?
What am I witnessing?
Step two is journaling forregulation.
And the purpose here is to staycalm within your nervous system
and bring order to your racingthoughts.
At this stage, journaling willhelp you slow down enough to
(13:24):
hear your mind clearly.
It's like the equivalent oftaking rest in your mind.
And when you're writing at thisstage, you might be emotionally
venting, dumping, or listing,and all of that is okay,
especially if your nervoussystem resets from chaos to
coherence.
Step two is journaling forawareness.
(13:45):
And here the purpose is toreveal the thought and the
emotion connection.
Here you're gonna start to seepatterns.
What thoughts are creating youremotions and what stories are on
repeat?
What inner dialogue is drivingyour day-to-day activities?
You might begin to notice I'mfeeling anxious when I think
(14:05):
about that conversation.
This is the sentence that showsup in my mind every time I feel
small.
At this level, you're learningyour emotional alphabet
language.
Step three is journaling fordetachment.
Here the purpose is to separateyourself from your thoughts.
Here you start to evolve intothinking he should have treated
(14:27):
me better, to telling yourself,I'm having a thought that he
should have treated me better.
And then you can decide if thisthought helps you or not.
You're no longer fusing with thestory, you're observing it.
There is this healthy detachmenthere, or what otherwise also is
called non-attachment, which ismore like I care but I'm not
(14:48):
consumed, while unhealthydetachment is I don't care
anymore and I'm trying tosuppress this thought.
Through this stage ofjournaling, you will figure out
what helps you and what doesn'tand what thought to release.
Step four is journaling forembodiment.
And this is a very highlyevolved skill.
(15:08):
This is to integrate youremotions throughout your body,
not just the sentences in yourmind.
You start noticing sensationswith your awareness.
And the sensations might be heatin your chest or clenching of
the jaw with tension.
Or for me, when I'm confused, mybrain feels like it's physically
twisting when it's actually not.
(15:30):
Emotions live in the body.
When you are at this level ofawareness of physical
sensations, you're letting thebody join the conversation,
you're opting into receiving alot more input.
And this is extremely helpfulinformation.
Then the next step, step five,is journaling for
transformation.
(15:51):
To move from witnessing torewiring.
Now your journaling becomes veryintentional.
You're not just recording ordiscovering what's happening,
you're shaping into how you wantto be, what you want to become.
Asking questions like, what canI reframe this into that doesn't
bypass my experience, but alsogets me into growth and
(16:13):
movement.
All of this collectively putsyou from reactivity to creation,
from being a thinker to becomingthe observer of your mind to
eventually becoming the creatorof your life.
All of this is to see if yourjournaling is making you a deep
thinker or a ruminative thinker.
(16:34):
Meaning, are you coming back tothe same topic and thinking
about it over and over again indifferent ways?
Or are you thinking about whatneeds to be changed and
distancing yourself from yourlimiting patterns and allowing
yourself room to change?
A deep thinker comes up with adifferent result when a
ruminative thinker comes up withthe same result of a truncated
(16:57):
life, of a difficult life, whileit might even look like they're
thinking about thingsdifferently.
Ruminative thinkers circle aboutthe same thing in different
thoughts over and over again,but there's no good outcome.
A deep thinker uses journalingto expand, where each session of
journaling ends in a new insightand clarity.
(17:20):
And as per usual, while I havegiven you very neat and clean
categories, nothing in lifeexists like that, just like
separate levels.
When you start journaling basedon the ideas of this podcast,
you will see that there is a lotof overlap.
You might think that that's notsupposed to happen, but that's
not the case.
I always simplify things inorder to create a deeper impact,
(17:44):
but things don't exist as cleancategories when you put them
into practice.
And all of that is okay.
If you find yourself overlappingor jumping from one stage to the
other, everything is fine.
When you integrate any or all ofthese categories, you're going
to be living the highest levelof purpose, especially using the
journaling technique, how it'ssupposed to be used.
(18:07):
And that is for the reasons ofintegration and evolution.
The purpose here is to blendeverything: regulation,
awareness, detachment,embodiment, transformation, and
practice it into daily lifewhere you actually start to feel
better and see results in yourlife.
You can, and I welcome tojournal when you're in a crisis,
(18:28):
but you eventually journal togrow.
You journal to maintain clarity,gratitude, and creative flow.
And it becomes a practice of youaligning with your highest self.
To be able to live what I write,I absolutely love living at that
level of journaling.
This is where the practice istruly sustainable and
(18:51):
transformative in the real senseof the word.
This is where journaling hasbecome the source of thezkiyah,
an act of self-purification.
In the Quran, the Qalb, theheart, is the true center of
perception.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,they have hearts with which they
do not understand, meaning yourheart is the instrument of
(19:15):
knowledge.
When you're journaling only fromyour head, you're in the
superficial stages.
When you're journaling fromheart, you're purifying and
you're improving andtransforming.
This difference might feelnuanced for somebody who's new
at this, but it is so important.
Education in Islam is not justabout collecting information and
(19:38):
regurgitating it, it's about thezkiyah, purification through
understanding, implementation,practical application.
True learning transformscharacter.
It brings your soul closer toAllah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
When your journaling evolvesthrough these stages and you're
not just sitting there trying tofind out what's wrong, you will
(19:59):
uncover what's absolutely trueabout you.
You will uncover more and moreof your pure self, the original
primordial self, your fitra.
God-given nature underneath allof the noise.
So this way journaling hasbecome a spiritual act.
It is self-help, but mostly itis the act of self-return.
(20:21):
With that, I pray to AllahSubhanahu wa Ta'ala, Ya Allah,
let my words on paper be amirror of the truth, not a
recycling of pain.
Guide my thoughts from confusionto clarity.
Take me away from ruminationinto reflection and
self-compassion.
Guide me towards the skiyah andrecognizing my true self.
(20:43):
And help me release what nolonger serves my soul.
Make my journaling a bridgebetween my heart and your true
wisdom.
Amin Ya Rabul Amin.
Please keep me in your du'as.
I will talk to you guys nexttime.
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