Nurture Yourself Journal Prompts

These journal questions will help you find the best ways to nurture yourself. Some of them are pretty big questions; it's ok to give them time to ‘marinate' in the mind. Use your bite-sized moments of self care, taking 3-5 minutes to answer a prompt. Respond to the ones that move you most – by writing, doodling or meditation.

Nurturing YOU

• Do you feel worthy of nurturing and gentle care? How does it feel to you to say “I am deserving of loving care. I take time to take care of myself.”?  Write down an affirmation (either this one or the one that resonates with you) that reminds you that you that you are worthy of gentle nurture and care.

• How can you treat yourself more gently this year? Can you come up with three things you can lighten up on yourself about?

• List: What are 5 or more SIMPLE activities I can do when I need to nurture myself? (Think about what you can do when you’re burnt out and low energy – take a bath? drink a cup of tea? walk outside and take a deep breath?  What nurtures YOU?)

• Visualize: How can I change my physical space to be more nurturing to me? Let your imagination be over the top,  free and big with this. Imagine you are walking in your front door. Your space feels nurturing, comfortable and enlivening. What do you see? How does each room look? Describe the scene – what do you see, hear and feel in your most nurturing home or work space?

• What small habit could you create to remind yourself not to neglect self care? Putting on lotion? Playing your favorite music? Brainstorm a simple ritual that means ‘self care’to you.

Nurturing your Mind

• List: write down 5 activities that bring you mind alive and make you feel interested and engaged.

• What do you not need to stop worrying about – what’s taking up extra mental space for no benefit?

• What do you repeatedly re-evaluate in your life? Is it time to let go? What do you need to reevaluate that you’ve left alone for a long time?

• Where or who do you need to STOP looking to for information this year? What makes you more worried, stressed and uncertain rather than less?

• Would you like to read more this year? What would you like to read?

Nurturing Your Body

• What negative phrase do you tell yourself about your body?  Can you think of a positive phrase to replace the negative one?  Example: ‘I hate my ugly stretch marks!’ replaced with – ‘Thank you belly for holding my babies.’ Find phrases that help you eliminate negative self talk.

• List: 10 things your body does that are amazing. Can be as simple as ‘taking this breath right now’.  Goal – add to this list over time.

• List: 5 SIMPLE things you can do during your day that nurture your body.  These should be things that can be part of your regular routine, like eating breakfast, stepping outside for breaks, that kind of thing.

• How are you sleeping?  Can you think of one change you could make to get better sleep this year?

• In my heart I know the one way I can nurture my body most this year is________________.

Nurturing Your Heart and Soul

• Who can you call who makes you feel loved and cared for?

• If you have no one, how could you develop a friendship this year – imagine you have a close confidant – how does that relationship feel?  You trust them…they trust you. How do you treat them?  What do you share with them?

• Who do you want to surround yourself with this year?

• What social media strings do you need to drop to create a space which nurtures you?

• Visualize: How would you like your relationship to develop with your children this year? Describe how you talk together, how you feel in the same room together and what they’ll remember about interacting with you from this year. You may also wish to visualize this about your spouse or partner.

• How is your spirit? Do you long for more connection with God/the Universe/nature? If so, what is one simple way you can invite a deeper spiritual connection into your life?