In this article we explore journal prompts for anxiety and depression. Journaling your feelings related to anxiety and depression can be really helpful in processing these experiences and understanding them better.
As you work with these journal prompts for anxiety and depression it is important that you understand that this is not a process that you want to rush through. Slow down and take your time. Any one of these prompts can be used daily.
In fact I would recommend that you only use one a day.
This is because connecting with your body in this way can be extremely powerful. It will bring a lot of feelings online within your body that may seem overwhelming at first. You want to give your body time to adjust, process and integrate. So take it very slow.
By using these somatic journal prompts for anxiety and depression, you are taking yourself into a deeper space within your body instead of simply existing at the mental level. Anytime you are working with the body it is important to go very slow and take – your – time.
Slowing down cannot be emphasized enough.
In this rush-rush go-go society you are trained to forcefully move through every experience like a bull in a china shop. But that is not the path you should take when you are healing. So as you contemplate each one, feel into how they land in your body and let your journaling unfold from there.
So read on to see these somatic journal prompts for anxiety and depression can best support you in noticing and processing your feelings and emotions during your healing process.
19 Somatic Journal Prompts For Your Mental Health
1. What Do I Need Right Now?
As you begin exploring these journal prompts for anxiety and depression let’s begin with this simple question.
While this is a simple question it can often bring up complicated feelings or even feelings of confusion. You might not have any idea how to even respond. Often as women, especially black women, your needs are second, third or fourth to everyone else’s. Or all of the responsibilities you have take priority over taking care of yourself.
So as you sit with this question just write down how you are feeling. Notice how you feel just being asked and the response it brings up in your body. All of that is important information for you to know and a portal into having a deeper experience.
2. When I Am Anxious How Am I Breathing?
As you contemplate this question just focus on your breath and the rise and fall of your chest. As you turn inward just notice where you are sensing the anxiety in your body. Notice your breath in relation to it. Journal your response and allow the information from the experience to flow through you.
3. When Did I First Notice My Anxiety In My Life?
Put your hands over your heart and allow your mind to float back to the very first time you noticed anxiety in your life. Write down the first memory that comes to mind and then let that memory go. Write down the second memory that comes to mind and then let it go. Repeat this process until no more memories come up related to this question.
As you explore these journal prompts for anxiety and depression, see if you notice common themes or experiences around your first memories of having anxiety.
4. When In The Day Do I First Notice My Anxiety?
Focus on your breath, the rise and fall of your chest, and ask yourself this question. Your body will respond to let you know when you first experience anxiety in your day. You may think you know automatically. But don’t be surprised if by asking this question in a somatic way your body offers you a different response.
Whatever information you receive, journal your response and let the information flow.
5. Does My Anxiety Have A Color, Shape or Image?
Now if you are new to working in a somatic way with your body this may see like an odd question.
Does my anxiety have a color, shape, or image?! What???
But I promise if you ask the question there is a very strong chance you will receive an answer in the form of a color, shape, or image or even something else.
Trust yourself. Trust your body.
Your body holds so much incredible wisdom that it has been trying to communicate to you for years. Wisdom about what it needs to heal so that you can be brought back to a path of wholeness within yourself.
6. If I Could Hold My Anxiety In My Hand, Does It Have A Texture?
Again this may seem like another odd question but ask it anyway. This question can be asked as a follow-up to the previous question or as a completely separate journal entry the next day.
Remember: take – your – time.
As you ask this question, prepare to receive an answer. You can cup your hand or imagine you are cupping your hand. See your anxiety there in your cupped hand and run your thumbs and fingers over it.
What texture does it have?
Allow your body to tell you how this texture is related to your experience of anxiety. Journal from there and allow the experience of bodily wisdom to unfold.
7. If I Could Hold My Anxiety In My Hand, What Temperature Would It Be?
So by now you should be aware that something is happening as you ask these questions of yourself. And real answers with real information are unfolding within you.
So now ask yourself this question and see if you can sense the temperature associated with your anxiety. It could be a feeling within your whole body or just a part. Or you can still use the image of your hand being cupped as mentioned above and notice the temperature that way.
However you are experiencing it there is no right or wrong. Just allow the experience to flow for you and write down what you receive.
8. What Feelings or Sensations Do I Have In My Body When I Am Anxious?
Focus on your breath and notice what happens when you ask yourself this question. See how your body responds. This might have been the first time you have noticed that your anxiety is not just one feeling. That there are other feelings and sensations associated with it that may have often been too subtle for you to notice before.
Gently just observe your inner experience associated with your anxiety and write down every feeling and sensation you notice. Journal from here your perceptions and the wisdom that flows forward.
9. Can I Treat These Anxious Parts Of Myself With Kindness and Compassion?
Anxiety can often be terribly debilitating. I know from personal experience. It’s kind of like a screaming child having a tantrum demanding your attention.
So now see if you can turn towards your anxiety as if it were a screaming child you were trying to comfort. Now if as a child you grew up in a home experience where you were not comforted then this may be uncomfortable for you.
This is where your imagination can be extremely helpful.
If you don’t have a frame of reference for this, create one. Imagine how a child should be comforted if they are upset or in distress. It also could be an image pulled from a book, film or television that demonstrated compassion, empathy or love towards a child.
Use this framework to imagine the anxious part of you. It may appear as a child or not. However it appears to you extend this kindness and compassion towards this part of yourself. Notice any shifts or changes in this experience.
See if this anxious part of you can absorb the kindness and compassion you are sending it. Notice as the kindness and compassion flows towards them if it has a particular color.
Does the image you are seeing of the anxious part of yourself change in any ways? Write it all down with as much detail as possible. This will help this connection to remain real and accessible to you so that you always have this connection as a way to soothe and comfort yourself.
{Related Post: How To Be Mentally Healthy And Happy | 7 Tips For Mental Wellness You Must Know}
10. Where Am I Noticing Sadness In My Body?
Lay both palms across your heart to ground your body in the present moment. Notice your breath for five breaths then ask yourself this question.
See where you are noticing the sadness in your body. A common place is the center of the chest but it can be felt in a variety of places. Notice where you sense the sadness within your own body.
After you notice it, begin to write about it in your journal. See what unfolds as you write about this experience.
11. When I Am Depressed How Am I Breathing?
So see if you can notice how you are breathing when you are depressed. In the previous prompt you noticed where sadness was in your body. Now notice how you are breathing related to this feeling.
If you put your hands over your chest closer to your heart you might get a sense of how your breath feels related to when you feel depressed. Your hand over your heart may bring some comfort there and allow you to feel more grounded and calm.
Journal what you are experiencing here.
12. When Did I First Notice My Depression In My Life?
Focus on your breath for a minute or so. Ask yourself this question and give yourself permission to float back to your first memory of this experience.
Write down the first memory that comes to mind and then let it go. Write down the second memory that comes to mind and then let it go. Repeat this process until no more memories come up related to this question.
See if you notice common themes, emotions or experiences around these memories. Journal what comes through for you. Trust what you receive about the meaning of these experiences for you. Your body wisdom does not lie.
13. Does My Depression Have A Color, Shape or Image?
So while this question might seem a bit odd, it is often very insightful in helping you understand yourself better and how you experience depression. So ask your question and see if a color, shape or image unfolds for you.
Stay with it for a while. Write down everything you notice. Allow your inner wisdom to flow from there.
14. If I Could Hold My Depression In My Hand, Does It Have A Texture?
Imagine you are cupping your hand, or actually do it, and envision your depression as a physical object in your hand.
What does it feel like? Does it have a texture?
Rub your imaginary fingers over it to get a sense of the texture. Write down everything you see, sense and observe. Allow your wisdom to flow.
15. If I Could Hold My Depression In My Hand, What Temperature Would It Be?
As with the previous question you can continue to use your imagination. While holding your depression in your mind’s eye, what temperature does it have?
Allow yourself to be immersed in the experience of the temperature associated with your depression. Temperature can often give a lot of insight into mood and emotions. Journal your experiences from there.
16. What Feelings or Sensations Do I Have In My Body When I Am Depressed?
Turn your attention to your breath again. Ask yourself this question. Notice any feelings or sensations in your body.
Don’t rush.
Slow down.
Notice.
The sensations and feelings can move quickly so even with your eyes closed try to scribble down what you are noticing on a piece of paper. You can revise and make sense of it later.
But it is important to track how your body communicates with you. Everything you receive is important. There is probably a lot more subtlety to the experience than you previously realized.
Look back on your notes and journal everything you noticed with as much detail as possible. As you write, connections will be made that allow you to understand yourself in a deeper way.
17. Can I Extend Compassion Towards The Parts Of Me That Feel Depressed?
Depression can be extremely draining and debilitating. Trust me I know the experience first hand. But despite the overwhelming nature of the experience, your experience with depression is not your enemy.
It is a part of yourself that needs more attention, empathy and love. Think of these depressed parts of you as if they were children that were abandoned and ignored. Tired of being ignored because they need love and attention, they will attempt to get your attention any way they can. Hoping that you will finally extend some love their way.
So by now you might have an image associated with your depressed parts. You have explored where it is in your body. You might have an image, color or shape associated with it. You might have a temperature and texture associated with it as well.
So now you have a lot of information about the qualities of your depression. Now allow an image to form in your mind of what it actually looks like. It may appear as a child, a blob shapeless and formless or something else. Don’t judge, just observe.
Once this image has formed see if you can extend compassion towards it as you would a child you loved deeply. Treat it with complete empathy and understanding and see what you observe.
Journal everything that you have experienced and allow your inner wisdom about this experience to flow. Write it all down. Don’t censor yourself in any way. It doesn’t have to “make sense”. Your higher mind and inner wisdom already understand it completely.
18. How Would I Treat Someone I Loved Deeply Who Was Feeling The Way I Am Now?
Often with depression people beat themselves up. They berate themselves for not feeling better or for not being able to push through the feelings to get on the other side. Often in our most vulnerable moments we bully ourselves. That is not loving, kind or compassionate.
When has bullying ever helped anyone? So why would it help you?
Think of someone you love deeply. They can be real or imaginary. Imagine they are struggling with what you are struggling with now. They are sharing about the loneliness, the sadness and confusion.
Connect with the love you have in your heart for this person. As they share their story which is also yours, give them words of empathy, kindness and compassion.
Journal about your experience of giving these words of kindness and compassion to someone else and see what follows.
19. How Can I Hold Compassion For Myself In This Moment?
Compassion for ourselves is often never present but let’s see if you can extend it to yourself now.
Bring up the image again of your depressed parts which you gave compassion to earlier. Now not only do you see the part of yourself that is holding the depression, you see yourself as you are now.
Step into the picture with your depression. Extend your arms towards it. Sit next to it. Whatever it allows.
Now see you both being encircled in a bubble of compassion. Really allow yourself to feel it. See how this depressed part is absorbing it. See how you are absorbing it.
Really feel the energy and sensations this compassion brings to your body. Let it transform you. When you feel full and complete journal about all of your experiences.
*BONUS TIP*
If you enjoyed the somatic techniques shared in this post you might also enjoy Somatic Psychotherapy Toolbox: 125 Worksheets and Exercises to Treat Trauma & Stress by Manuela Mischke-Reeds. Manuela was one of the teachers who trained me in somatic psychotherapy. She is a fountain of wisdom. This book is a gem to always have on hand to do some gentle work with yourself or in tandem with one of your healing professionals.
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