Tips For Making Your OH, MY WORD Practice (even more) Awesome!

By Cheryl Wilson-Stewart | December 2, 2019 | Comments 11 comments

OH, MY WORD journaling has been described as a 5-minute active mediation.

Get cozy in a comfy chair, sip your morning coffee or tea, choose an intentional word that describes who you want to be, draw and colour.

In that 5 minutes you’ve interrupted an old, negative, habitual thought and replaced it with a positive new one, created a new neural pathway and begun to rewire your brain.

How’s that for a good use of your time??

OH, MY WORD journaling makes you feel great. There are a few things you can do to intensify your practice and make it even more effective.

6 ways to make OH, MY WORD (even more) awesome.

1. FIND YOUR BEST TIME

My favourite time to do OH, MY WORD is first thing in the morning because it sets the tone for the entire day. But it can be successfully adapted for families (in the evening) and to fit work schedules.

2. USE GOOD QUALITY PENCIL CRAYONS

Use good quality pencil crayons…usually described as ‘artist quality’. These are just more fun to work with! They are smooth and velvety on the paper, they blend well and the colours are particularly vibrant and beautiful. Claire Moore (illustrator of OH, MY WORD) has offered her recommendations. Check them out here.

3. MAKE YOUR INTENTIONAL WORD ACTIVE

When you complete the sentence Today I choose to….. make sure the word (or phrase) you choose is active. Verbs like love, forgive, trust, explore, experiment, create, see, listen are great examples. If you choose a word that isn’t a verb you can make it active by adding ‘be’ (ie be grateful, be peaceful, be vulnerable, be generous, be free, be present etc). Short phrases work very well too when made active like…. go for it, take a risk, speak my truth, stand up. Making the word active catapults you into that state of ‘being’ and super charges the intention and your day.

4. TAKE 3 DEEP BREATHS AND THINK OF YOUR WORD

Throughout the day when you’re stuck in traffic, in line at the grocery store, waiting at the doctor or dentist’s office take 3 deep breaths and think of your word. What I do it is see my word on the page. I take a deep belly breath inhaling through the nose to count of 4 holding it at the top and exhaling to a count of 6 (I exhale through my nose you can exhale through your mouth if you prefer) holding at the bottom and repeat. This has the power to make me super chill in just a couple minutes. Plus, I’ve breathed all that energy and power into my word. Very satisfying. Very uplifting. Very powerful.

5. FEEL FREE TO USE SAME WORD OVER AND OVER

This is the most commonly asked question by OH, MY WORD journalers . Can I repeat a word? Yes…yes…and YES! You can repeat a word as many times as you like for as long as you like. What you do have to do is draw it on a fresh page every day. I’ve repeated certain words over and over and over. The only person that knows when its time to move on is You.

6. WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH – KEEP GOING

We all hit patches when the going gets tough. We’re overwhelmingly busy, dealing with a setback, in crisis mode whatever it is the we feel like we’re struggling in the trenches. Don’t stop OH, MY WORD journaling! Have you ever noticed that when things get challenging in our lives we often stop doing all the things that are good for us. We say things like, “It’s just not the ‘right’ time to…. (go to the gym, meditate, journal, get out in nature, eat healthy food etc….)“. Let me tell you as one whose been there it’s the ‘right-est’ time EVER. Do. Not. Stop. Get something on the page even if its…Today I choose to…breathe. This can be particularly good since when we’re in the trenches we often hold our breath and forget to breathe! I promise it will help.

THE BONUS …..

Colour outside the lines.

Channel your 6-year-old self as you draw your word.

BANISH Anxiety. Find JOY. 5 MINUTES A DAY. ONE WORD.

BUY OH, MY WORD at Chapters/Indigo in Canada

BUY OH, MY WORD at Amazon for US and International

How Busy Families Can Connect and Instill Positivity in Kids

By Cheryl Wilson-Stewart | December 2, 2019 | Comments 16 comments

OH MY WORD provides a way for busy families to connect and instill positivity in kids.

Has life become so busy that you’re not connecting as deeply with your kids as you’d like to?

THE OH, MY WORD FAMILY VERSION

OH, MY WORD is a great way for parents to connect and prompt meaningful discussion with kids. It can be a fun and engaging conduit for discussing values, building a strong sense of self and navigating social situations. Ideal age is 8 – 12 years as teenagers may prefer to keep their OH, MY WORD journal personal. Suggested time is after dinner when the family can carve out 10 – 15 minutes of ‘connection’ time.

What you ‘ll need:

copy of OH, MY WORD for each family member
pencil crayons, wax crayons or gel pens

TO GET STARTED

READ – THE FOUR PILLARS. Focus on one per night. Parents can use examples from their own or family life to support the FOUR Pillars. Encourage discussion…ask kids for their thoughts and ideas. There are some pretty cool facts in the ‘thought’ section like how we can rewire our brain with the thoughts we think.

READ – THE INTENTIONS. Choose ones that are age appropriate. To help kids think about intentions ask-What kind of person do you want to be? OR How would you like people to describe you? Encourage kids to brainstorm some of their own intentions (i.e. nice, friendly, strong, helpful, kind, fun, happy) and add to the lists in the book. When drawing in the journal intentions are most effective as a verb or made active so if necessary add a ‘be’ before the word (ie be nice).

READ – CHOOSING AN INTENTION. Parents can share experiences from their own lives (think ‘do-over’) where a having an ‘intention’ would have brought out their best self and likely a different outcome. What would the intention have been? Help the kids think of experiences in their lives where an intention might have changed an outcome.

THE FUN BEGINS

Starting the daily ritual.

OH, MY WORD with kids is best done after dinner when connection time is possible. Suggest starting with the Reflections question – this will provide a look back at the day and frame it in a positive way before moving on. Each family member then chooses an intention WORD that reflects the person they want to be and draws and colours their WORD. *Remember there is no right or wrong way to ‘draw’ the ‘daily page’ everything is totally A-OK, and it is totally fine to repeat the same word day after day until the author feels it’s time to move on.

PLAY “WHAT’S YOUR WORD?”

‘What’s your word?” Everyone shares the intention WORD they chose and explains why. While it’s ok to ask questions the most important thing to remember is that this is a judgment free zone. Everyone must feel accepted for who they are, knowing we are all in a process of becoming our best selves.

What a fun way to build a positive sense of self

THE FAMILY VERSION

Because the OH, MY WORD family version is suggested at night instead of the morning the choosing of the intention is often a ‘look forward’ reflecting the person I choose to be now and tomorrow. For that reason, it’s a great idea to leave the journals open to the current page so that in the morning everyone is reminded of their WORD.

The thing for parents to remember is that everyone draws their page in their own unique way

BECOMING YOUR BEST SELF

OH, MY WORD is a fun, engaging way to help kids become the very best person they can be. It instills the understanding that we are each choosing in every moment of every day who we will be, that we are responsible for the thoughts we think AND (most importantly) with those thoughts we are creating our reality

This empowers kids and adult alike to think thoughts that reflects their biggest dreams and highest intentions.

Please share our family’s experiences with OH, MY WORD I’d love to hear!

If you ever have any questions or just want to say hi email me at:

[email protected]

I look forward to hearing from you.

Warmly,

Cheryl

PS I wanted to share this with you it’s an email I received from a Dad of 2 girls….

“People who do this together will learn not only about themselves, but about each other… which will lead to better team building and family support and accountability. I think it is an achievable goal to set in modern busy family life. It offers an important and accessible meeting place for families who have had difficulty finding time and facility to be together and present for even just a few minutes a day. AND in doing so, we are all gradually manifesting our best selves…. a win on all levels! Thanks Cheryl”

Peter-Parksville, BC Canada

Claire (illustrator of OH, MY WORD) has offered a few recommendations for artist quality art supplies (they’re just fun to work with) check them out at – www.ohmywordjournal.com

BUY OH, MY WORD in Canada at Chapters

BUY OH, MY WORD in US and International at Amazon