For centuries, journaling has been used as a form of self-expression and soul searching.

 

The Immediate Benefits of Journaling

Journaling supports us expressing pent-up feelings of anger or anxiety. It supports us clarifying our thoughts and feelings. By writing about our experiences, we gain valuable self-knowledge. Another benefit of journaling is that often we can come up with solutions to issues by writing about things we want to resolve.

 

Through scientific research, journaling has been shown to provide health benefits:

• Decreases the symptoms of asthma, arthritis, and other health conditions

• Improves cognitive functioning

• Can strengthen immune system response

• Can counteract many of the negative effects of stress

 

The Long Term Benefits and Potential of Journaling

By journaling regularly you create for yourself a reliable way to express your thoughts and emotions. Through this practice, you become more self-aware. Even after just a few journaling sessions, by re-reading your entries, you may be able to start discovering patterns in your life that you want to shift. Over time, you’ll likely find your level of felt stress decreasing and your level of engagement and aliveness increasing.

 

A Few Ways You Can Journal:

You might find that combining these styles works best for you. 

• Brain purge journaling. It is often beneficial to alleviate ruminative thoughts and to support peaceful sleep. Purging the brain of any negative thoughts, to-do lists, feelings of being a victim, or wanting to blame someone can help significantly by minimizing the brain spinning and helps regulate your nervous system by getting it out and down on paper so it can be viewed more objectively after rest.

• Experience Expression and Emotional Release Journaling. In this style of journaling your aim is to express your emotional responses around events from your day. This approach supports you processing your experiences. You might be able to shift into a positive mindset and perspective 

• Therapeutic Journal Writing is a series of written passages that document the personal events, thoughts, feeling, memories, and perceptions of your journey throughout life. It is a tool for self-exploration and the enhancement of personal development. The intended outcome is creating a felt sense of wholeness.

• Gratitude Journaling. In this method you list out things you are grateful for. This practice supports you seeing the benefits of experiences and events. Rather than focusing on what’s wrong, you learn to focus on what’s supportive and enlivening for you.

 

A Few Tips for Journaling:

• Journaling works best when done by hand. In a pinch, digital journaling can work too, but there is just something about the physical act of writing that supports our expressing ourselves fully. Studies have shown that writing by hand helps create a deeper connection for moving through emotions and information through the physical hand/eye coordination of putting pen to paper.

• Journal writing works best when you believe it will be beneficial for you so imagine that your journaling will be supportive for you. 

• Forget about trying to do it perfectly. You are writing for yourself, not for someone else to read so don’t worry about making sense for someone else. Focus on going inside yourself and expressing whatever you can about your experience.

• Other than not doing it, or doing it infrequently, journaling can’t really be done “wrong.”

• If your hand gets tired, switch to your non-dominant hand and try writing a sentence or two. It’s challenging and supports your creativity!

• If you find yourself focusing on negatives, consciously shift your perspective to something positive or actionable, like solutions for challenging situations or how you might use a perspective shift during a future stressful event to create a more positive outcome than you did in the past.

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Starting Your Own Journaling Practice

 

Supplies You’ll Need

1. A notebook dedicated solely to journaling

2. Something to write with. A pen, pencil, or favorite writing utensil.

3. A quiet, private, uninterrupted environment to collect your thoughts and write about them in your journal

 

Setting Yourself up for Success

• Before you start journaling, take a few moments to close your eyes, breathe deeply into your belly, and relax. Hot tea and soft music make support you relaxing.

• Write the day, month, and year at the top of each journal entry. This will support you when you’re reviewing your journal later on.

• Write without censoring yourself. Whatever comes to mind, do your best to write it down without editing it. Also, don’t worry about how neatly you write so long as you can read your own writing.

• Let your thoughts be free-flowing.

 

Instructions for Expressive and Cathartic Journaling

• Start with the goal of writing for 15-20 minutes three times per week.

• Write about both stressful and positive events in your life. 

• Start with the events that cause the most frustration, grief, or tension for you.

• Ask yourself what emotions arise for you during the stressful events. 

• Then ask yourself why you feel that way.

• When ready, start looking for and wondering what solutions and steps you can take toward resolution as well as what you can do in the future to turn the stressful situation into less stressful situations.