12: Self Reflection Journal Prompts

October is the first full month of fall (in the northern hemisphere!) and the start of quarter 4. It’s the home stretch of the year just before the excitement of the holiday season sets in.
Listen in to the episode to hear eight self-reflection journal prompts designed to help you capture the mood of the fall season.
Grab your own FREE copy of the 8 Self-Reflection Journal Prompts from the episode. HERE
New episodes go live on the first Thursday of each month!
Show Notes

Click HERE to join the email list and receive your FREE Expanding Your Vision guide

Transcript

TaReon Jael: 0:01

Welcome to the Wellness for Black Girls Podcast. I'm your host, TaReon Jael, a Certified Health Educator and Clinical Lab Scientist. For more information, please visit www.wellnessforblackgirls.com. While I hope you enjoy listening to and learning from the podcast please remember that it is not intended to be a substitute for a relationship with a licensed health care provider. Thanks for tuning in to today's episode. You may have noticed that we've switched from a biweekly podcast schedule to a monthly podcast schedule. New episodes will go live on the first Thursday of each month. My hope is that I'll be able to bring you valuable content with more intention and more engagement in between episodes. I was inspired to make this shift by the fall season. It's typically the season associated with transitions. As we begin seeking comfort in the midst of dropping temperatures we practice self protection by wearing layers and thicker fabrics. We also tend to retreat indoors and focus on cultivating a safe and comforting home environment. October is the first full month of fall and the start of quarter four. It's the home stretch of the year right before we get swept up into the excitement of the holiday season. For me, it's also my birthday month. Shout out to the October babies. Like most people, I start to spend time in self reflection. According to Dr. Laurel Halloran,"reflection is a conscious dynamic process of thinking about, analyzing and learning from experience that gives insight into self and practice these new insights in return. Help one to respond to similar situations with the more insightful perspective." One thing I reflect on is the start of this podcast. I had the idea to start the podcast, because I wanted to help Black women care for themselves and one another, but I wasn't sure I would actually carry out my idea. When I look back at my journal entries from the past year. I see entries where I mentioned working on the podcast, but feeling discouraged and ready to give up. But then my husband encouraged me to keep pushing forward. Then in other entries, I mentioned desiring to create a resource and a platform to help Black women care for their health and wellness because the world is tough on us I mentioned wanting to get to a point in my life where I can feel comfortable in my own skin and in who I am as a Black woman, like the Black women in my family. I believe Black women possess a certain something. Some call it Black Girl Magic, but I believe it's something more that can't be named, because it's a feeling or an experience that can only happen in the presence and in connection with a Black woman who knows herself and confidently knows what she brings to the table, if and when she chooses to do so. One thing I found to be an even more powerful experience is being in the presence of a group of Black women who possess that self awareness and self assuredness. It's that feeling you get at the family reunion or at an HBCU homecoming. Shout out to my fellow Tennessee State Alum. So it's that feeling you get at the family reunion or at homecoming, and you're given the opportunity to learn from the wisdom passed down from grandma, mom and the aunties when they speak about their life experiences as Black women. It's that sense of connection you feel when you're talking to your girl cousins and sister-friends and bonding over shared experiences that come along with growing up in the same generation. Experiences like the days when you all used to dance to Kid N Play, or life as an undergrad on the campus of an HBCU, or starting and navigating your careers as Black women while proudly observing mom and the aunties gracefully enter and navigate their much deserved retirement journeys. There's just something about being in the presence of these Black women that is in and of itself self care and soul care. It's where we get a glimpse and a feeling of what wellness, that is rooted in self assuredness and self love can be. Spending time in self-reflection can help us cultivate this state in our lives. Self-reflection is not about beating ourselves up over the things we should or could have done. It's about being honest and mindful about what's working and not working well in our lives based on our core values and priorities. It's a time to practice gratitude for our friends, family, our health and our career. It should help us create a plan for personal growth and give us clarity about the challenges we faced and are facing. While also being able to let go of those things that no longer nurture us. I've prepared eight self reflection journal prompts to help us capture the autumn mood. I've also created a free PDF with these journal prompts, so if you'd like your own copy of the prompts, head to the show notes for a link to download. Before we get into these journal prompts I want to offer some quick tips to help us keep the practice rooted in self love and self compassion. I want to say again, that self reflection is not about beating ourselves up over the things we should or could have done. So to help us avoid self criticism and judgment. We want to try taking the perspective of a neutral observer to ask what's behind our actions and forgive ourselves. We did the best we could with the knowledge, self-awareness, and other resources we had at the time. And if any distressing thoughts or memories arise, or if overwhelm creeps in, take a break from the self reflection session by practicing some grounding exercises. And for some of us, this may be an activity we want to do with a mental health provider to help guide us through the process. Okay. So here are the eight self reflection journal prompts. You can either journal your thoughts or simply take a moment to reflect mentally. Number one: when do you take time to listen to your body? Number two: when you are experiencing a difficult time what keeps you from asking for and accepting help from others? Number three: when do you take time alone to think about what's important in life. Number four: how can you create a safe environment where you can go and feel comfortable and stress free? Number five: how do you define financial wellness for yourself Number six: what intellectually engaging activities do you participate in? Number seven: in what ways does your career allow you to express your abilities and personal strengths? And finally, number eight: how do you cultivate a sense of connection to your community? After taking the time to reflect you should have an idea of how things stand in your life and where you most want or need to make a shift. From this place, decide on one small change you feel called to make and commit to taking one action to bring that change about. I hope these eight self reflection journal prompts will help you to remember the wisdom of the past, reveal inward strengths of the present, and project courage to generate a hopeful future. Be sure to head to www.wellnessforblackgirls.com and click on episode 12 for show notes with links to references, resources, and a free copy of the journal prompts from the episode. If you want to keep up with the podcast on social media, you can follow on Instagram@wellness4blackgirls, and you can follow my personal Instagram page@tareonjael.