Journaling prompts for anxiety

I know, I know, a therapist who suggests journaling. How unique! Journaling is not for everyone — no intervention is one sized fits all — but these questions can be a beautiful place to start exploring your emotional processes. I suggest setting the scene: get comfortable physically, open a new document and/or crack open a notebook, light a candle or a stick of incense, and see what comes out on the page. There is something special and important about externalizing your experience, getting it out of your head.

• If a miracle happened overnight and I woke up to a new life, what would feel different? What would remain the same? What feels uncertain?

• Write a letter to the person who stirs up the most anxiety in me. Name what feels hard about being connected to them and why they bring up those feelings. (This letter is just for me—not to be sent.)

• What is the biggest life lesson I’ve learned so far? How did it come to me, and how has it shaped the way I live?

• Reflect on this statement: “Anxiety stems from our desire to control things we cannot.” What comes up for me when I sit with that idea?

• Create two columns. In the first, list five things I fear. In the second, reflect on why those fears feel valid.

• Write a letter to my 10-year-old self. How would I encourage them, reassure them, or guide them?

• What’s a quality I deeply admire in others? Where do I notice traces of that same quality in myself?

• Choose one inspiration word for this week. What does it mean to me, and how might I live with that word at the center of my days?

• Write a letter to myself, offering forgiveness for something from my past.

• What’s one thing I wish I had said no to? What kept me from saying no? How did that decision affect my experience?