Ayana Onoura is a business coach and mindfulness teacher who uses her training in both psychology and business administration to help entrepreneurs thrive. An experienced administrator whose background includes working with Tesla, she has designed programs on business launching and time mastery that incorporate journaling along with other mindfulness exercises. She spoke with the Navel Gazette about her own journaling practice and how she shares journaling with her clients.
Navel Gazette: When did you begin to journal?
Ayana Onoura: From the time I was about 14, I always wrote out my feelings, whether it was in a letter or poetry. For a while I was in a very depressed state, and I’ve always written poetry as a way to cope with that. About 15 years ago my personal writing took on a different form as I practiced more mindfulness and personal development.
You began to also use the stream-of-consciousness journaling style?
Yes, this type of journaling became a way to express and validate my feelings. It really makes a difference in my temperament and how I feel when I do or don’t journal.
What specific differences have you noticed?
One of my first “Aha!” moments was back in 2009. I was experiencing a conflict with a friend, and I don’t like confrontation. I wrote about it in my journal and quickly got from a place of anger and anxiety to a place of peace, where I could just leave the conflict there. It was resolved in the way I needed it to be resolved.
Journaling continues to provide that for me. Just by expressing my feelings, I release them.
Do you mostly use the journal for addressing uncomfortable feelings?
I find it’s helpful to first release those feelings, but then I can shift and write about what is good in my life. Energy goes where attention goes, so it’s important to also bring that attention and awareness to what is positive.
The mind is for problem solving, not problem storing. By writing things down, I can see both the problem and the probable solutions.
Essentially, journaling is a decluttering exercise. That’s the best way to describe it. My thoughts will be all jumbled up in a lot of activity with wires twisting and crossing, and journaling helps me untangle it and sort it out.
You are also a yoga teacher and meditator. How do you find that journaling compares to these practices?
All three practices are useful on their own, but combined they are extremely powerful. It’s like preparing a satisfying meal. Chicken on its own is good, but when you add salt, paprika, and onions, it’s an explosion, it’s a full experience. I feel the same with asana, meditation, and journaling. Asana provides presence and meditation provides peace, whereas journaling provides the pragmatic component: you can iterate your thought process.
How do you incorporate journaling with your business coaching clients?
I help them understand: Your business plan is a journaling exercise. Your marketing plan is a journaling exercise. People journal and don’t know that they journal!
For the beginners, what I place emphasis on is there is no right or wrong way to do it. Even just writing “I don’t know what I’m doing” or “Where is this going to go?”
Find an opening. Find prompts.
Do you find that clients are receptive to taking up journaling?
There can be some initial resistance. I think people underestimate it. “What am I spending time writing for?” Often people want a coach to give them the concrete steps to take. But that’s not sufficient for their success. I can get them started, but they need to understand things that are deeply rooted, like a need to be constantly busy, or their fears of achieving or not achieving. There comes a point for entrepreneurs when you really need to integrate mindfulness for success.
What is the best reason to journal, in your opinion?
The best reason is to learn from yourself. You are your best teacher. Journal for the breakthrough and you’ll find it.
Find Coach Ayana O. at ayanao.com and @coachayanao on Instagram.
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