Inner Inquiry Journal

The Penumbra Hunt Activity

Name: __________________________

Date: ___________________________

"Mental unwellness is born out of an accumulation of unfelt feelings... We must continually ask ourselves a simple-sounding but grand and deep question: What am I feeling now?"

01 Scanning the Penumbra

Sit in the silence for a few minutes. Like a fisherman by a murky river, wait for a feeling to surface. Don't rush it. What is the first "vague mood" you notice?

02 The Specific Catch

Look closer at that mood. Try to name the specific emotion hidden beneath it. Is "irritability" actually "fear"? Is "melancholy" actually "grief"? Why might this feeling have been "disturbingly well-camouflaged"?

03 The Somatic Dialogue

Shoulders & Neck

"If my shoulders could speak, what might they say?"

Chest & Breathing

"Is there tightness or openness? What is it asking for?"

Hands & Limbs

"Do they want to curl into a ball, hit something, or be held?"

The "Ancient Traumas"

"Is there a 'small person' inside who needs your help?"

Transformation Check

By identifying the feeling, we transform it. "We become sad where we were previously melancholy, angry where we were irritable, and compassionate where we were anxious."

How do you feel now that you've named it?