Book Review: Mindset Medicine -A Journaling Power Self-Love Book

I fell in love with journaling when I was 13. It has remained a critical part of my ability to know, understand and connect with myself. Over the years, the practice of journal writing has also helped me deepen how I love and care for myself. Mari McCarthy's latest book, Mindset Medicine, guides readers towards experiencing unconditional self-love through a deep and nourishing journaling practice.

Here are a few things I enjoyed about Mindset Medicine and why it's a beautiful book for anyone desiring to transform their relationship with themselves: 

1. The book's written style helps readers feel like they're having a personal conversation with Mari. The writing is straightforward, honest, supportive, and empowering. For example, on the opening page of the book, Mari invites readers "... to view this book as an invitation to journey inward and deprogram what you have been conditioned to believe you should be. If you're anything like me or most of the people I know, there is so much power within you that has yet to be fully tapped."

2. The chapters focus on different areas of a reader's life, such as discovering gifts, establishing boundaries, and practicing gratitude, each necessary for developing a healthy sense of self-love. Another key to developing self-love is self-respect. In chapter 5, Mari writes," You can only develop a lasting and ever-flowing sense of self-respect when you feel unconditional love for yourself."

3. The prompts that close out each chapter encourage the exploration of self-love from the inside out. Readers are shown the importance of exploring who they are and taking the necessary steps to change their mindsets and lives. For example, in Chapter 10, Mari encourages readers to see themselves as their own heroes and to "make promises to yourself about the wonderful things you are committed to doing to be your own hero."

Mindset Medicine is to be read slowly, allowing time and space to think about the message Mari is sharing before working through the prompts in your journal. I recommend this book to anyone who desires to deepen their relationship with themselves. It's an open invitation for readers to cultivate unconditional self-love through journal writing and connect to what is already within, which is their personal and unique power.

 

Click the links below to order your copy today.

Goodreads

Barnes and Nobles

Amazon

Journaling For Creatives

A new guest post @ womencreativechats.com

Transformation begins when you consistently create space for your creative dreams. Journal writing is a way for creatives to cultivate such a space that allows for their dreams to not only grow but also thrive. 

I first learned about the impact of journaling on my life when I was thirteen. My mom gave me a diary and every day I would write in it, filling each page with the details of my teenage life. Over the years my journals continue to be the place where I'm most free to express myself. It’s where I get to know who I am as a person, a woman, a mother, and a creative. 

My journal is also home to my creative dreams. It’s a place to explore my dreams and everything that's connected to them. The more I'm connected to my dreams, the more I'm inspired to pursue them. The more I pursue them, the more aligned I become with the purpose of my life. 

There are numerous life-changing benefits you experience with a journal writing practice. Over the years my personal transformations as a result of journaling have made a positive impact on my creative life. When I routinely journal several things happen; I'm able to confront my fears, doubts, and ongoing battles with procrastination, I'm empowered to keep moving forward, I become clear about what I want and need to achieve goals, and I learn lessons from my setbacks and failures, and I have a record of my creative journey. 

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If you love journal writing make sure you sign up for Journal Zine. This bi-monthly zine is filled with prompts, tips, techniques, and other resources to help you deepen your journal writing practice.

Discover your purpose with my latest workbook, Journaling To Your Purpose. Click here to learn more about this workbook and to order your copy.

Connecting The Dots on Money Anixety

A new guest post on www.createwritenow.com

Money makes me anxious, specifically excess money. After my bills are paid, any money left over causes me to feel uneasy because I'm not always sure what to do with it. I first started to experience this unsettling feeling when I became an adult living on my own and then as a mom of two children. Despite my awareness about money's ability to make me feel this way, it's a topic I've never seriously written about in my journal.

The Seven Days to Money Mastery course is designed to help you explore your relationship with money through the use of journal writing exercises. It also guides you in identifying financial goals and taking the necessary steps towards achieving them. The introductory pages of the course point out that "journaling is a powerful way to come to terms with and work through different kinds of stress in your life, and it is the perfect tool to manage your concerns about money." I decided to take the course because I know my feelings about money are potential blocks to achieving the financial peace I desire in my life. 

I also know my unresolved feelings are the reason why money remains a neglected topic in my journal. At the start of the course, I decided to confront this truth by reading some old journal entries looking for ones that specifically addressed the issue of money. I was only able to find a few random sentences that I'd written over the years. 

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Four Techniques To Deepen Your Journal Writing Practice

A new guest post at www.createwritenow.com

One of the many benefits of cultivating and sustaining a journal writing practice is that over time you begin to know and connect with yourself in a deeper way. I've maintained a journal writing practice for many years and have experienced the personal transformation that can only occur when I'm willing, to be honest, and vulnerable on the blank pages of my journal.

Below are four techniques that I use and would encourage you to try. Each one can add a new level of depth to your practice and provide opportunities for further personal growth and transformation.

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Why Journal Writing Sustains Me

Today, I am sharing a post I wrote over at createwritenow.com about how journal writing has become an important part of my life. In the coming weeks, I will be writing more on the topic of journaling, its value, and benefits. As you read, let it be a source of inspiration for you to either start keeping a journal or to begin again if it has been some time since you last wrote out your thoughts and feelings.

Here's an excerpt:

My journals have always been the place where I could be the freest with my thoughts, feelings, and ideas.

When I was in the 8th grade I was given my first diary. It had a brownish cover, with gold trim around the pages and a small, gold key attached to it. In this little book, I would record the daily events of my life as a thirteen-year-old girl and my “first love.” I guarded that little book with my life, hiding it under my mattress so prying eyes could not find it.

When I went to high school my writings were no longer kept in a diary, but instead in black and white composition notebooks. The size of the diary I had in 8th grade was no longer sufficient to capture the emotional life of a high schooler. My writings were still simple, recording the day in the life of a teenager in exact detail, but as I moved into my senior year, they slowly started to take on a tone of introspection.

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