I’m going to be upfront and say that I am not that consistent with my mindfulness journal habit. I won’t lie and tell you that I can feel the weight of the world lifting off my shoulders as I write in my mindfulness journal.

However, that being said, the simple act of jotting down thoughts in Notion is one form of stress release for me. It’s a space where I can be completely present and in the moment – fully immersed in the experience of putting my thoughts on (digital) paper.

Using Notion as a daily journal not only streamlines your routine but also encourages you to be more mindful of how you spend your time.

In this article, I want to share with you how to use Notion effectively as a mindfulness journal. I’ll provide some practical tips and insights to help you get the most out of your journaling experience.

Sounds good? Then let’s get started!

Table of Contents

What Is A Mindfulness Journal?

First up, a mindfulness journal is a personal log where you document everything. It can be anything from your thoughts, feelings, reactions, and experiences.

By recording your reflections and observations, you create a deeper level of self-awareness. It also helps foster a connection with your inner thoughts and emotions.

How To Start A Mindful Journaling Practice

Starting a mindful journaling practice can be quite simple. Follow these steps to begin your journey:

Select a journaling platform (ahem. Notion). This article is about Notion after all. 🙂
Set aside 10-15 minutes daily for journaling. Personally, I like to do this at night before bed – everyone is different.
Create a calming and inviting atmosphere (e.g., soft lighting or some nice LoFi music).
Begin writing without any restrictions or judgments. Include your thoughts, feelings, emotions, and observations.
Try to focus on your present-moment experiences and aim to be non-judgmental.
End your journaling session with a sense of gratitude and self-compassion.

Designing Your Mindfulness Journal

Creating a mindfulness journal in Notion can be as simple or complex as you like. Don’t overkill it though. Remember your mindfulness journal should be promoting relaxation, self-awareness, and personal growth.

Let’s walk you through the process of designing your own mindfulness journal.

Daily Log Template

A daily log template helps you keep track of your thoughts, experiences, and emotions on a daily basis. To create a template, add a new page, and create a database.

Open the page where you want to add the inline database.
Type “/database” and select the “Inline” option when prompted.
Start adding properties to your inline database by filling in the columns.
Each row can now represent a new day

Try customizing it by including elements like these:

Date
Energy Level
Effectiveness
Emotion / Mood

Mood Tracker

A mood tracker is a useful tool to visualize your emotional state over time. To create a mood tracker:

Add a column for “Mood” (similar to the above)
Use the Mood column to record how you’re feeling each day using emojis or descriptive words.
Tags can be used to add more context, such as events or experiences that affected your mood.

Reflections

Reflecting on your personal experiences and challenges is a great way to build self-awareness and resilience. Include a reflective section in your mindfulness journal as follows:

Create a separate page for daily reflections.
Add headings or prompts for guidance, such as “What did I learn?”, “Challenges faced,” or “What can I do better next time?”.
Write your reflections in paragraphs or point form.

You can set up a template in the database so it’s easy to populate a new page each time your journal. Check out How To Save A Page As A Template In Notion.

Gratitude

Incorporating gratitude into your mindfulness journal can help you cultivate a positive mindset and appreciate the good things in life. Review your gratitude list regularly to remind yourself of the positive aspects of your life.

Integrating Mindful Habits

In this section, we will discuss how to use Notion to seamlessly integrate mindful habits into your daily life by setting reminders, creating a meditation tracker, and incorporating mindful quotes.

Setting Reminders

With Notion, it’s easy to incorporate reminders into your mindfulness practice. Start by adding another column into your database with the Date property.

If you want to set a reminder for a specific date on a specific row, click on the Date column to open the Calendar window. Then, go to “Remind” and choose when you want to be reminded from one of the listed options. If you want even more specific reminder options, enable “Include Time.”
Once you’ve set the reminder the date will appear in blue on your page.
Alternatively, you can create a reminder block. Type “/reminder” and hit enter. Add this to the end of your current day to remind you to add another entry tomorrow!

You can find out more about reminders in this article – Can Notion Send Reminders?

Creating A Meditation Tracker

A meditation tracker is another useful tool to hold yourself accountable on your mindfulness journey. Setting up a meditation tracker in Notion is simple. Begin with a table to record the date, duration, and any notes about the individual meditation sessions. For example:

Date	Duration	Notes
2023-03-26	10 minutes	Focused on breath
2023-03-27	15 minutes	Body scan meditation

This simple but effective tool helps you track your progress and encourages consistency in your practice.

Incorporating Mindful Quotes

Incorporating uplifting and thought-provoking quotes throughout your page is an excellent way to maintain an inspired mindset. To do this, create a gallery or database housing your favorite mindfulness quotes.

Let me get you started with a few:

“The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
“Mindfulness is a way of befriending ourselves and our experience.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn
“When you realize nothing is lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” – Lao Tzu

Adding quotes to your Notion mindfulness journal reminds you constantly of the values and principles at the core of your mindfulness practice.

Reviewing And Analyzing Your Journal

Once you’ve started using Notion as a mindfulness journal, the next step is to review and analyze your journal entries regularly.

This will help you better understand your thoughts, emotions, and patterns, and gain valuable insights for personal growth.

In this section, we will discuss two ways to effectively review your Notion journal. Utilizing filtering options and creating visual summaries.

Utilizing Notion’s Filtering Options

Notion offers very flexible filtering options that allow you to easily sort and display your journal entries in meaningful ways.

For example, you can filter entries by date, mood, or any other custom property you’ve created. To apply filters, follow these steps:

Open your journal database in Notion.
Click on the three-dot menu in the upper right corner, and then select ‘Filter’.
Click ‘Add a filter’ and choose the property you want to filter by, such as ‘Mood’ or ‘Date’.
Select the values or date range you want to focus on and watch as your filtered entries appear!

Filters help you isolate specific entries so you can analyze trends or patterns in your mindfulness practice. For instance, you can filter by a certain mood or emotion to see which days were particularly challenging or joyful. Monday blues anyone?

Creating Visual Summaries For Mindfulness

A visual approach to analyzing your journal entries can be highly beneficial. It helps you see the bigger picture and spot patterns more easily.

One way to create visual summaries is to use Notion’s gallery view for your journal database. To set up a gallery view, follow these steps:

Click on the ‘+Add a view’ button at the top of your journal database.
Select ‘Gallery’ from the list of view options.
Customize the gallery view by selecting the properties you want to display and by choosing cover images for each entry.

More on galleries here – How To Add Image To Gallery View In Notion.

Whether you’re new to mindfulness or a seasoned practitioner, a mindfulness journal can be a valuable tool for cultivating awareness, compassion, and personal growth. So why not give it a try and see what insights you can uncover?

As always, thanks for reading! You can make a copy of the Notion Mindfulness Journal here.

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How To Use Notion As A Mindfulness Journal