Somatic Journaling Prompts To Get It Off Your Chest
The Healing Power of Somatic Journaling: Get It Off Your Chest to Heal
When the world feels too big, too loud, too uncertain, it’s easy to push it down, armor up, and distract ourselves from the discomfort bubbling just beneath the surface.
But here’s the thing: your body—wise, tender, and intuitive—holds the truth of what you feel. It carries the weight of what you’ve been holding, even when your mind tries to push it away.
That tightness in your chest, the ache in your shoulders, the restless tension in your belly—these are not burdens to dismiss. They are invitations. Gentle messengers asking you to notice, to listen, to feel.
Why Acknowledging Your Emotions Is Healing
There is a quiet magic in turning inward and allowing yourself to feel what’s really there. Acknowledging your emotions isn’t about wallowing; it’s about connecting what you’re already feeling and caring for yourself in a way that helps those feels move through you and release. It’s about creating space for your body to process and let go.
When you do this, it’s like releasing the pressure valve on a pressure cooker. That emotional stress, held tight in your chest and shoulders, begins to soften. Your body exhales. You create space for clarity, lightness, and healing.
And one of the most effective ways to experience this release? Somatic journaling.
What Is Somatic Journaling?
Somatic journaling is more than writing—it’s a body-centered practice that invites you to connect with the sensations and emotions stored in your body. By tuning into your body first, you quiet your mental chatter and drop beneath familiar stories. You give yourself permission to feel, explore, and process from a deeper place.
Somatic journaling integrates elements of somatic healing, a body-based approach that helps release stored stress and emotions. Rather than just writing about what you’re thinking, you explore what your body is carrying and let the words flow from there.
The Science of Getting It Off Your Chest
In the 1980s, psychologist James Pennebaker conducted a fascinating study that revealed just how transformative journaling your feelings can be. He invited college students into his lab and asked them to write for 15–20 minutes. Half were asked to write about neutral or superficial topics, while the other half wrote about their most painful or challenging experiences.
The results were incredible!
Those who wrote about their pain experienced significant improvements in both their mental and physical health. They reported feeling a sense of relief and gained greater clarity about themselves. Their anxiety, depression, and stress levels dropped, and they even saw tangible physical benefits—fewer doctor visits, better immune function, fewer physical symptoms, and improved sleep.
This research is a powerful reminder: getting things off your chest can heal more than your mind—it can also heal your body.
Somatic journaling takes this concept deeper by adding a body-centered approach. It allows you to address not only the mental weight of your emotions but also the physical tension they create.
About this Somatic Journaling Exercise
This somatic journaling exercise is inspired by the transformative emotional processing technique known as Regenerating Images in Memory® (RIM). What makes RIM so extraordinary is its ability to guide us into the deeper layers of our bodies and subconscious minds, where the roots of our emotions and patterns lie.
By working with the body in this way, RIM helps us gently uncover unresolved issues and emotional wounds stored within us—often beyond the reach of everyday awareness. This process not only brings clarity and insight but also creates space for profound healing and release, allowing us to move forward with greater ease and wholeness.
As a Certified RIM Facilitator, I’ve witnessed the profound transformations this process brings, both in my work with others and in my personal healing journey. Traditional RIM sessions are typically verbal, done with eyes closed, and don’t involve writing or journaling.
However, over time, I’ve naturally integrated elements of RIM into my journaling practice. It’s an incredibly effective way to process emotions and connect with the parts of ourselves that need healing. That’s the approach we’ll be using today: a somatic journaling process inspired by the RIM technique.
Note: If you want to try a more typical RIM experience, you can try these traditional RIM exercises:
Episode 033: Create a More Supportive Relationship with Yourself
Episode 036: Meditation for When You Need a Good Cry
Find all Regenerating Images in Memory® episodes here
How This Somatic Journaling Process Works
This exercise is broken into four steps. The first two steps are meditative and designed to help you tune into your body and emotions at a deep, embodied level. Steps three and four involve journaling prompts to help you explore what arises.
I’ll guide you through steps one and two, helping you connect with your body’s wisdom. Then, I’ll offer journaling prompts in steps three and four, pausing for about 30 seconds between each prompt. You can pause at any point if you need more time to write—30 seconds likely won’t be enough for some prompts, and that’s okay.
I encourage you to let your words flow freely during this exercise. Don’t worry about grammar, spelling, or sounding articulate. You don’t need to be compassionate or wise in your writing. You just need to be honest.
When you allow your words to pour out unedited, you create space for remarkable clarity and deep emotional release. This somatic journaling exercise offers you the opportunity to let go of what your body has been holding, one unfiltered word at a time.
Try The Somatic Journaling Exercise To Get It Off Your Chest now!
Episode timing
00:00 - The Healing Power of Somatic Journaling: Get It Off Your Chest to Heal
04:49 - How This Somatic Journaling Exercise Works
08:09 - Somatic Journaling Step 1: Connect with Your Body
12:48 - Somatic Journaling Step 2: Feel Your Feelings In Your Body
19:13 - Somatic Journaling Step 3: Journal Prompts To Get It Off Your Chest
28:07 - Somatic Journaling Step 4: Whole Self Integration + Journal Prompts
37:13 - Conclusion
Other episodes mentioned:
Episode 033: Create a More Supportive Relationship with Yourself
Episode 036: Meditation for When You Need a Good Cry
Somatic Journal Prompts To Get It Off Your Chest
(Note: these won’t make much sense unless you’ve listened to the exercise and done Step 2. They’re just here for reference and future use.)
Journal Prompts for Step 3:
Becoming the part that you deeply noticed and sensed in Step 2, journal as that part:
"What’s bothering me most right now is ...”
“What I’m struggling with most deep down is…”
“What I'm believing about myself/the situation is...”
“The most innocent interpretation of this is...”
“The most sinister interpretation of this is...”
“What I really feel deep down is…”
“What I really want or need when I feel this way is…”
“How it feels to acknowledge all of this is …”
Writing anything else that wants to be written from this part.
Journal Prompts for Step 4:
Anchoring into your whole self, look back over what was just expressed from that part of you in Step 3. Now, journaling as your whole self, complete these sentences:
"Of course I feel this way because…”
“It makes total sense that a part of me feels this way because …”
“What I’m realizing now is…”
“How it feels to realize that is…”
Writing anything else that wants to be written.
What else wants to happen?
READY TO GO DEEPER ON YOUR Somatic HEALING JOURNEY?
Enroll in my free mini-course: The Feel it to Heal it Mini-Course
In 5 powerful mini-lessons you’ll:
Connect with your body and emotions in a deep and supportive way.
Learn exactly what it means to “feel it to heal it” (as well as experience 4 body-centered exercises to do just that).
Gain insight into your emotional patterns and knee-jerk reactions to life.
Learn a powerful mind-body technique to soothe your distressing emotions so you can increase your comfort with your emotions.
Use your deepening body awareness as a tool for healing and authentic living.
How did you like that Somatic Journaling Exercise to Get It Off Your Chest?
What shifts did you notice? What are your biggest realizations?
Please let me know in the comments!
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And please join me every Friday on this beautiful journey out of your head, and into your more embodied and authentic self. 🩷🩷🩷
Thanks so much for joining me!
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Enjoy more like this: RIM® Exercises, Somatic Journaling
About me
Hey, I’m Karena!
I’m a somatic emotional healing coach here to help you quickly identify and heal the subconscious blocks, old emotional wounds and self-sabotaging core beliefs that are holding you back!
Want to go deeper? Sign up for the Feel it to Heal it Mini-Course now!
Learn a body-centered approach to deep healing + wake up to the wisdom within!