One of my absolute favorite things about taking programs at the Monroe Institute is journaling! I love recording all my experiences immediately after having them so I can reflect on them later. I recently went down the rabbit hole of reading the notes and experiences from all the programs I attended going back to Gateway Voyage in early 2020, and I have some thoughts to share.

First off, it’s important to write out your experiences exactly as you experience them. If they’re abstract and bizarre, journal exactly what you saw, heard, and felt in meticulous detail. Express yourself matter-of-factly. If you feel the need to interpret things, great, but do so in a separate paragraph or section. Trying to decipher experiences as you document them can distract you from recording essential points. Or perhaps, the point isn’t relevant at all, yet. Later it could be. Trying to decipher what you’ve experienced as you journal instead of documenting the details exactly as they happened will cause you to miss the opportunity to find noted gems later—gems that could reveal something that the universe was trying to tell you before a major life event occurs.

Recognizing that some of your experiences are messages coming from your higher self about a later event could do wonders for your meditation process.

I’ve had specific experiences in exercises that I interpreted in a precise way. Then, years later when I look back, I see the same experience in a very different way. I see how it applied to my life in the times that followed the program, and it means something very different. I’d have robbed myself of that opportunity if I hadn’t taken detailed journal entries by getting sidetracked by attempted interpretations. I’ll try to always write out, “I experienced this…” in vivid detail first, and then follow up with, “That could mean X to me now.”

Recognizing that some of your experiences are messages coming from your higher self about a later event could do wonders for your meditation process. It has for mine. It was a lesson learned long ago, and I’ve never looked back. Even if you don’t love journaling, you can try to leave yourself detailed reminders or notes. 

For instance, in one Gateway exercise, we connected with parts of our past lives, our iThere. I asked for advice from these pieces of myself, things that could help me in my life. The advice was on target and relevant to me back in 2020, and it has just as much of an important impact on me today as I reviewed these old entries despite being translated into my life and mind very differently. I was advised about how “gratitude” and “patience” were key factors that would play a part in my life. They look very different to me today. Some of the advice I was given then seemed relevant to fighting for relevancy at work—and when reviewed today, appears as if it is extremely important advice for me coming out of my recent divorce. The advice I gave myself on love that seemed irrelevant at the time resonates so clearly with me today.

And then there was this lovely excerpt from my Exploration 27 journal:

“As I reflect on Exploration 27 and why I’m here, I realize that I experience life for a living, which is swell and fun. But I’m at a place where I need to learn to experience life FOR MYSELF and beyond. I’m being pulled in many directions by many people and experiences, and I’m ready to commit more to myself and a path that works for me. I’m an explorer and I’m ready to explore my own destiny and future. I’m ready to bring my curiosity and thirst for knowledge and my fearlessness to this week.

I’m getting to that point with my Monroe meditations where I’m realizing it’s more about energy than perception. I think we perceive or see things in our imaginations while experiencing these focus levels because that’s how we are used to existing in the physical world. But we see it in a different way outside of the physical. We “feel” an experience, and it’s different than the way we see or live out things here on earth. And a lot of these programs help us to adjust and “remember” or get used to existing in a different way than we currently do.”

We leave these little Easter eggs for ourselves as gifts from the past when we leave ourselves notes to review later. That’s why you’ll hear Monroe trainers stress the importance of journaling your experiences. That’s why I keep stressing it here, too. The ability to review past experiences with fresh eyes is an important tool for growth and learning. I hope you’ll start laying this out for yourself for future adventures.