Elul Prompts and Practices: Preparing Your Heart for the High Holidays

The Jewish month of Elul is a sacred time of reflection, renewal, and preparation. As we approach the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Elul offers us an opportunity to pause, slow down, and attune our spirits to what matters most. Think of this month as a gentle runway for your soul, a time to enter the New Year with openness, honesty, and compassion.

The Spiritual Invitation of Elul

Elul is often described as a season of teshuvah, or return. It is a chance to return to ourselves, to our deepest truths, and to the Divine presence in our lives. Through simple daily practices like quiet reflection, journaling, small acts of kindness, and forgiveness, we create space for growth and healing.

This preparation does not always mean doing more. Often, the most powerful work is done by slowing down, becoming present, and listening to what your heart and soul are calling you toward.

7 Journaling Prompts for Elul

Journaling during Elul can be a spiritual practice in itself, a way of giving language to the stirrings of your heart. Words have the power to heal, to reveal, and to transform. When you sit with a blank page, you create a doorway to wisdom that is already alive within you.

Use the writing prompts in our Elul Blessings book, or start with these seven journaling prompts to guide you:

1. What am I ready to forgive myself for?

2. How have I grown since last Rosh Hashanah?

3. What patterns no longer serve me?

4. What does teshuvah (return or repentance) mean to me?

5. How do I want to show up differently this year?

6. What am I most grateful for right now?

7. What is my soul calling me toward?

Choose one prompt to begin with. Let the question linger. Write slowly and see what emerges. Sometimes the words that rise to the surface are less about answers and more about opening pathways to new awareness.

4 Practices to Prepare for the High Holidays

Alongside journaling, small daily practices can help you align with the spirit of Elul. These actions are gentle but transformative, supporting you in arriving at the High Holidays with greater clarity and presence. 

1. Begin each day with quiet reflection. Ask yourself: What is going well in my life? What could use a shift?

2. Practice one small act of kindness daily. Visit a neighbor, call a friend who feels lonely, or make a donation. 

3. Journal about release and embrace. What do you want to let go of this year? What do you want to invite in? Let your writing be a space of intention-setting.

4. Reach out for forgiveness. Call someone you need to apologize to, or forgive someone you’ve been holding resentment toward. 

Shabbat in Elul: A Sacred Pause

Each Shabbat during Elul offers another doorway into reflection. When you light candles or simply pause to mark the transition from week to rest, allow yourself to feel the holiness of time. This pause prepares the heart for the deeper work of the High Holidays ahead. Use our High Holiday Poetry book to incorporate meaningful readings into your Shabbats this month. 

Shabbat in Elul reminds us that spiritual preparation often comes through presence, rest, and gentleness.

Entering the High Holidays with Openness

As Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur draw closer, these Elul practices help us bring honesty, gratitude, and courage into the New Year. If you want to go even deeper, take a look at our Elul Reflections book for more. 

Elul is your invitation to listen deeply, to reflect, and to begin again with compassion.