Start with the OCD Journaling App

The coloring journal to record your kusala and akusala feelings will help you document your meditation progress - I find this helpful, because you will directly 'see' the effect of your meditative practice, which makes it easier to stay motivated and committed. It will also help you identify mental patterns during OCD episodes.

IMPORTANT: The coloring journal lists so-called 'hindrances' from the CWSL as a means to record your amount of 'akusala' feelings. It is the unabbreviated list from the ancient CWSL scripture, and some items sound rather harsh, mentioning f. e. things like dishonesty or lack of moral values. If your OCD theme is related to moral/religious obsessions, take care not to let this lead you into yet another OCD spiral, f. e. by mis-interpreting it as 'omg, I have so many hindrances, I am a bad person'. This is not what the hindrances are about. If you feel thoughts like this arising, tell yourself 'This is what OCD accuses me of, but that is not what other people see in me. I will record it in the journal because it is a thought that I noticed arising, but I am aware that I am not recording a character feature, but just an emotion that has arisen because of OCD.' After the meditation, do the same exercise again, and you might see that in relaxing your mind the amount of akusala has become a little less than before - which is yet another proof that the OCD thoughts are more about being stressed, and not about reality!

You can click on the link below to open a digital, interactive version of the coloring journal which you can use directly in your browser. When you click on the link, a personal URL will be generated, so that the journal will be yours only. Save this URL in your browser favorites, and everything you do in the journal will be automatically saved. 

Open here: Interactive Mandala Coloring Journal

NOTE: If you cannot see the mandalas for coloring immediately, be patient and just wait a minute - it may take some time to load, as there are many pictures.

If you prefer working with real paper, you can download a pdf version of the journal and print it out. Follow the instructions on the worksheets to record your kusala : akusala ratio before and after meditation. Have fun :)