I took this picture in Landmannalaugar, Iceland about a year ago. I climbed this volcano, which for me represented the battle of will over mind. (Most people just ran up and down…)

While taking this personal challenge I was thinking about the intensity of the eruption and the meaning of the eruption – both physical and metaphorical.

Journaling. Real openhearted journaling is a lot like a volcano eruption.

Your inside is burning and feels like it is going to explode and once you let it out – burning magma is pouring out. Once you really let loose and allow your best and worst feelings to come out, you can no longer control the flow.

However, as the emotional build-up is completely dissolved and all there is left is rubble you can then start afresh.

For this week’s journaling prompt try the volcano eruption journaling technique.

Step 1: Erupt. Go to whatever “quiet place” that works for you. Take a pen and a paper pad (or your journal) and start writing about a subject that has been smoldering in your mind lately. Write non-stop for an hour or so. Let your feelings and thoughts loose. Allow yourself to rant, to judge, to over analyze, to have pity, to envy, to covet, to wet your journal pages with salty tears (if it comes to that). WRITE – without editing, without thinking, without boundaries. Just write EVERYTHING.

Step 2: Start afresh. Take a break. Breathe deeply. Sip a tall glass of green tea or a fat mug filled to the rim with hot chocolate or a frothy cappuccino. Take a walk. Go to sleep. Steer clear of your journal for a while and relax. Then come back, read what you have written and come up with a positive and constructive thing to write for every negative scribble that erupted before.

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Have you tried the volcano eruption technique? How did it work for you? Leave a comment on this post and share your thoughts and experience.