What are Morning Pages? and How to Use Them to Access Your Intuition
There’s a sacred window just after we wake, when the dream world hasn’t yet dissolved, and the to-do list hasn’t yet formed. In this tender threshold, our intuition is most available… if we know how to listen.
Morning Pages are a simple, soulful tool to access your subconscious, clear mental clutter, and reconnect with your deepest self. Made famous by Julia Cameron in her creative recovery guide The Artist’s Way, morning pages are a daily ritual of returning to the inner temple.
“There’s a time every morning when we are half awake, half asleep and not quite fully conscious. At those moments, we have access to our unconscious mind and our inner workings. But like dew on the morning grass, it will soon be gone without a trace. Listening to these tender morning wisps allows us to reach into our inner world, the deeper part of ourselves that helps guide us on our path of transformation.” ~ Julia Cameron
Morning Pages help us catch the fleeting messages from our inner world before they disappear. When practiced consistently, they can heighten our intuition, sharpen our focus, and support our path of transformation.
How to Begin Morning Pages
1. Keep your journal beside your bed.
Let it be the first thing you reach for. Begin writing before your thinking mind fully wakes. Let your hand move before your mind catches up.
2. Begin with your dreams.
Write down anything you remember: symbols, feelings, fragments. At first, there may be little to recall, but as you practice, a deeper conversation with your subconscious will begin.
“You’ll send a powerful message to your brain: I am prepared to accept my unconscious thoughts and feelings… and I accept that more and more will be revealed.” ~ Julia Cameron
You’re building a muscle here, the muscle of inner trust. Over time, you’ll develop a direct and profound relationship with your intuition as the Priestess, your inner self.
3. Write 10 things you’re grateful for from yesterday.
This simple act recalibrates your focus. It’s easy to let the mind spiral into problems and forget the blessings that fill your life: peace, friendship, shelter, food, choice. Gratitude sharpens your perception and creates fertile ground for intuition to grow.
4. Flow into stream-of-consciousness writing.
Let your thoughts spill onto the page, uncensored and unfiltered. Write for at least one full page, ideally three. Write slowly, or write quickly, whatever matches your rhythm.
“Nothing is too petty, too bad, or too silly to write down. Nobody will be reading this, so write it all. No censoring.” ~ Julia Cameron
This is not the place to sound poetic or polished. It’s a purge, a liberation of the mind’s debris. The angry, messy, repetitive thoughts that might otherwise sabotage your day are released safely here on paper, instead of your life.
Why This Practice Works
“By doing early morning pages, you get all those repressed thoughts out of your system so you can live your life and realize that you are not your mind and you are not your thoughts.” ~ Julia Cameron
You begin to see clearly: You are not the drama of your thoughts. You are a soul in a material world, moving steadily toward the life your soul came here to live.
Like meditation, Morning Pages ask you to observe without judgment. To let thoughts rise and fall. To return again and again to presence.
“Watch your breath. Watch your mind. It’s like a meditation. Be still and just let it all pass from your mind onto the paper.” ~ Julia Cameron
So tomorrow morning, reach for your journal before you reach for your phone. Listen to what your spirit whispers when the sky is still pink with possibility…
And write.
