Panache

Journaling is a healing exercise for many people. Millions of people not only regularly journal but also want to write a part of their lives on paper. With the help of different types of journaling and digital journals, people have been following this in new ways.

But did you know there is one journaling exercise through which you can process your unhealed emotions? Yes, there is. It is not only therapeutic but makes sure you heal from past wounds.

Read below and learn about this technique. Tell us if you have been doing it. Or would you like to do it in the future?

The empty chair technique.

When someone goes to the therapist with unresolved emotions, they try to help them heal first. If they realize they can’t be healed in any other way. They often try the empty chair technique.

In this technique, an empty chair is placed in front of the person and they are asked to imagine the person sitting in it. The person is supposed to say anything and everything that they want to say to that person only that they will be saying it to an empty chair.

In this way, a person brings out every emotion hidden or buried deep inside them. This not only helps with an emotional release but also recognizing some deeper aspects of their emotional personality. It helps them understand themselves and get some closure. It has been highly therapeutic with some people.

Write a letter without the intention of sending it.

Do you know the show “All the boys I’ve loved before…”? In the book or show a high school girl wrote letters to all the boys with whom she felt any romantic feelings. She kept them and never sent them to those they were addressed to.

You need to do the same. Write a letter to those you want to say those things you could not say to them. It can be one letter. Or separate letters as you remember those things again and again.

This exercise will not only help you effectively process your feelings. But you will finally be able to give shape to those thoughts that keep churning in your head. And conclude what you wanted to say before you even realize it.

Write everything you want to express.

You mustn’t judge yourself when you write these letters. That is the objective of these letters. Express yourself honestly and completely. You have to dive deep and be honest in these letters.

Write in any language you want. If you want to use any emojis or codes you can do that too. But make sure, once you are done with these you have nothing to say to the people you are addressing in these letters.

After writing, you will feel much lighter. You will feel as if a weight has been lifted. And this would just be the beginning of getting closure.

Also read: What is shadow work? How to do it right through journaling?

Keep the letter or burn it.

Like the protagonist of “To all the Boys I have loved before…”, you would not want your letters to be read by anyone else except you. So, all you need to do is hide them from the world.

And when you want you can even burn them too. You will realize that you didn’t feel bad after burning them if you have healed from your past. You can keep them to know how naïve or innocent you once were. Or how things turned out once you healed from a bad phase in your life.

Write as many times as you want.

It is not enough to write one letter. You can do it as many times as you need to. If you remember something you want to cry over or want to forget, just start another letter addressed to the person.

In this way, you may collect a few letters addressed to this person. These letters will have the feelings you once had and everything you wanted to say. Do not restrict your words or feelings to the number of pages.

If you need to, write the same things over and over again. It is your healing journey and only you get to decide how and when you will be completely healed.

Process and Heal your emotions.

Do not just express yourself in the letter. Instead, consciously write the letters to put your emotions into it. Let them flow from your heart and mind through your fingertips to the paper.

Feel everything you have been writing. Take your time and cry if you need to. But make sure you healthily process your emotions. The whole exercise is there to heal you. Allow it to do the same. And you will feel the difference.

Validate your feelings.

One of the most important aspects of this exercise is to never ignore your feelings. You will only be able to heal completely when you validate your feelings. So, don’t be judgemental towards yourself.

Find the best words or phrases to describe how you feel about the whole thing. Sit with that feeling and then express it on the paper. In this way, you won’t be able to ignore any part of you. Instead, you will accept and validate. Therefore, fastening your healing journey.

Forgive and Forget.

This is one of the hardest things you have to do. But you need to do it to let go of the things that have become the bane of your existence. You need to forgive someone who never asked for forgiveness.

Remind yourself that only the courageous do it. And you have to be brave enough to be able to do it. It will not be for them but for yourself. You need to do it so you can live an easy life. So, you earn your freedom from the past.

You let them go to move forward towards a life that is full of happiness and fulfillment for you.

Also read: How to learn to let go?

Don’t yearn. Learn.

It is hard to make peace with yourself. Especially when someone supposed to validate your feelings doesn’t do it. They neither acknowledge them nor are even aware of them. But you walk this path because you want to heal.

Most importantly, because you want to build a new life. So, make sure that you don’t hope for anything once you are done with the letters. Instead, you learn that life is small and you have to live for yourself. Make a beautiful life that is worth living.

Also read: How to approach journaling as a newbie?