Stream of consciousness journaling (aka automatic writing) is a simple and powerful way to tap into higher consciousness and inner wisdom. Here’s how to do it.
May 17, 2023
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Stream of Consciousness Journaling
In the current collective consciousness, there’s a feeling of uncertainty, lack of direction, boredom, and desire for purpose and fulfillment. The vibe has been lingering since the pandemic and has moved to an “enough is enough” point.
Many people attuned to this feeling are turning to councilors, coaches, and intuitives for direction (and those resources are such a blessing!).
But there is another way to gain insight — and all you need is a pen and paper.
Claim Your Wisdom
Anyone, no matter how intuitive you believe yourself to be, has the ability to tap into infinite wisdom.
We’re created from Source consciousness, meaning that all answers are within us. But social conditioning, lack of confidence, and busy monkey minds can make it challenging.
And I can tell you from my time as a Past Life Regression Hypnotist, we have so much wisdom gained from many, many lifetimes of experiences right at the surface of our subconscious.
Stream of consciousness journaling is a very simple but powerful practice that helps us move past those mental barriers to retrieve the insight and answers we’re seeking.
It can take as little as 5 minutes of rapid-fire writing to gain profound clarity and insight into a personal situation.
Every person on this planet is a living breathing oracle.
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Morning Pages Turned Flow Journaling
I first discovered stream of consciousness journaling as a writing practice taught by Julia Cameron in her book The Artists Way. It’s a method to help writers clear their minds to allow the flow of creativity.
The Morning Pages Method: Every morning, take out some blank paper and rapidly fill 3 pages with stream of consciousness writing.
As I did this each morning, the writing would start off completely drab (“I’m here. I’m writing. I’m not sure what to say … etc.”) but usually, the last page would hold insight. For example:
- a hidden negative belief would surface
- a creative idea would emerge
- or a solution to a problem would present itself
And some days, especially if I was writing about a problem, it would be wildly insightful.
So, I began to use this as a journaling method any time of day when I had a question, needed direction, or just wanted to connect with my inner wisdom.
I refer to my own stream of consciousness journaling practice as “flow journaling” because I can feel the abundant flow of wisdom moving through me.
Here’s an Example
I’m highly empathetic and one day I watched a hawk kill a dove in front of me. My nervous system went wild and my mind couldn’t fathom why the food chain works in such a horrific way.
I decided to journal out the disruptive thoughts.
I moved into stream of consciousness journaling and I received a profound message about oneness consciousness that put me at ease.
The insight wasn’t something I’d ever considered and it didn’t feel like it came from my conscious mind.
7 Benefits of Stream of Consciousness Journaling
It can help you:
Make a Decision, Solve a Problem, or Gain Clarity About a Situation
Stream of consciousness journaling can allow you to move past the biases of your conscious mind and tap into your subconscious — where deeper insight and emotional blocks and barriers can be uncovered.
Connect with your Higher Self, Guides & Source Energy
Clearing mental clutter and constriction and allowing your thoughts to flow can help open the crown chakra to higher divine insight. It’s a great practice for those looking to develop their intuitive and channeling ability. Just always set the intention to only connect with those of the highest light.
Clear Emotional & Energetic Blocks
Setting yourself free to write absolutely anything allows the flow of life force energy to circulate, freeing stuck energy and emotions, and clearing the chakras.
Release Anxious Thoughts
Use the page as a dumping ground for anxious thoughts. If possible, burn the paper when you’re done and envision and feel the thoughts alchemizing into light.
Connect with your Inner Wisdom
We all contain so much wisdom just under the surface. Stream of consciousness journaling allows you to bypass the conscious mind and allow your inner wisdom to come forward.
Deepen your intuition
You may experience deep intuitive hits while journaling. It’s a great way to develop your intuition, especially if you have an overactive mind.
Spark your Creativity
Stream of consciousness journaling is a tool used to push through writers’/artists’ block that’s often caused by perfectionism or fear of judgement (by yourself or others). Since you’re in a state of presence and flow, you’re focused on creativity rather than quality.
How to Do It
The simple answer:
Write as quickly as you can for at least 3 pages without stopping.
The detailed answer:
1: Take a few deep breaths and set an intention. It may be that you want clarity on a situation or that you simply want to connect with your higher self and wisdom.
2: Start writing anything that comes to mind. Handwrite don’t type. If you don’t have a particular question or situation you want to explore and need a kick-off point, start with “Today I feel …”
3: Don’t worry about the words. Even if you write, “Today I feel … like I don’t want to write. I have no idea what to write about. I don’t know what to say.” your mind will eventually tire of writing about being bored and a new topic will emerge. Likely something outside of your awareness that most needs to be addressed.
4: Keep writing as quickly as possible and don’t allow your pen to leave the paper or your mind to pause and think. Your goal is to tap into a deeper awareness rather than your conscious thinking mind.
5: You may start to feel some constriction in your hand or mind. Remember that this is an exercise in freeing yourself. Let your thoughts run wild. It’s fine if you jump from one topic to another. You’re the only one that will ever see the result. And let your handwriting get messy.
6: If your goal is to gain insight into a burning question, make sure you don’t push yourself to figure out an answer. Your only job is to be the penholder in this situation and observe what wants to be written. Simply allow the pen to respond to you. If an answer doesn’t come, it’s likely not time to receive it yet.
7: When you intuitively feel like your journaling session is complete, stop writing. Close your eyes for a minute and breathe. This practice can sometimes excite the nervous system, so take a moment to slow everything back down.
8: Then, if you feel called, go back and take a second look at what moved through you. (You may have to decipher some of the handwriting 🤭.)
Insights Surfacing
I’m so often floored at the depth of insight revealed from stream of consciousness journaling.
Sometimes the tone of voice is very different than my mind’s voice and it switches from 1st to 3rd person as I write, signaling that it’s a channeled message from my guides and/or higher self.
And other times, I tap into my subconscious to gain a greater depth of self-awareness.
If you don’t receive any helpful insights on your first couple tries, don’t sweat it. Moving beyond the conscious mind can take a little practice.
And to get started, all you need is a pen, paper, and an open mind.
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