5 Ways Journaling Can Improve Your Mental Health
I know! Who journals? Why would someone journal in 2024? Are there any benefits to journaling? The answer… yes! Journaling has many benefits, especially in today’s time when life is so hectic and our minds are forever racing. Journaling can help you become the best version of yourself, especially if you’re not ready to go the therapy route.
In my journey to having internal peace, journaling was my safest space. Sometimes when you’re going through things, you go through them alone and not always by choice. Sometimes there’s simply no one who will understand what you’re going through, or there no one trustworthy enough to confide in.
At the same time you can’t hold all that in, it needs to escape somehow. Journaling is a great escape and a safe space made just for you.
I hit a really dark place in my life and journaling was my only outlet. Every emotion I felt was released with my pen. I was able to clear my mind and process what I was feeling and what I had going on. It didn’t fix my situation, I wish it could have. But it gave me room to dissect what I was going through and what I was feeling.
There are many benefits to journaling for mental health or just journaling in general.
Reduce Stress & Anxiety
When we are going through something, it’s often not a positive moment. So the negative moments tend to be on repeat in our heads. If you’re anything like me, you’re replaying every possible scenario that could have happened. Wondering why you didn’t do something a certain way or say something.
These thoughts cause unwanted and unnecessary stress. Taking those negative emotions & thoughts and putting them on paper releases it from your consciousness.
Do you know how much more peaceful your day or night could be, depending on when you choose to journal. Journaling give you the chance to release the negativity from yourself.
Statistics show that journaling 20 minutes a day can improve your mental health more than writing 1 or 2 times a week for an hour.
Achieve Goals
Many times when we have these amazing thoughts, we fail to write them down. Or we have the thought and we don’t go into detail with it and what could have had potential is now forgotten in the wind somewhere.
When you have a goal, you need a plan. The best way to meet that goal is to have the plan fully mapped out. This way you can keep up with what you need to do to accomplish your goal, and what you’ve already accomplished.
I’m a firm believer in not sharing your goals with others. Make a plan, follow the plan, and bust out with the results! The best person to hear your plan and keep you accountable is your journal.
Release Painful Memories
When it rains.. it pours. Everyone can benefit from journaling and releasing the pain from those moments. When we hold on to that pain, we turn into the worse version of ourselves. We end up being resentful, angry, depressed, anxious.. all the bad emotions tend to linger within us.
Writing out those feelings and memories gives you a chance to process what happened and heal. Even if healing isn’t the goal at the moment, not holding on to the negative emotions and thoughts can bring a sense of peace to your mental.
Manifestation
Believe it or not, manifesting takes place in many ways. Your thoughts alone can manifest the positive or negative events in your life without even knowing you’re doing so. Journaling with purpose is the key when manifesting.
Write out what it is you want. Write it in full details, to the point you could play it as a movie. Then write what you need to do to accomplish the goal. Write about yourself in a positive mindset, knowing without a doubt you deserve what your manifesting and you can and will achieve it.
Track Progress and Growth
As you write, you will see yourself change as the pages go on. You may start out sad or angry, and you find yourself to be more calm and appreciative of what you do have. As you get more comfortable and make journaling a daily practice, you’ll notice that what hurt you 2 months ago, now hardly affects you at all.
You may even want to give yourself a goal of where you want to be mentally or physically or both. Keeping a journal or your daily progress showing the small changes you made that will lead to a huge reward at the end, will help you stay on track.
Journaling = Self Care
Journaling is a form of self-care. We tend to neglect our mental health when we perform self care. We usually look at it as a time to pamper our physical selves, not realizing our mental self needs to be pampered as well. While that looks different for everyone, journaling is a great way for those who don’t know where to start.
It is important to take care of your mind so that you can take care of the rest of you. Therapy is not always affordable. Many times therapy requires a certain level of vulnerability, that you have to be prepared for. It took me a very long time to be ready for therapy. Many days, I still feel like I’m not ready. Some topics I’m not ready to explore with someone else. That is where journaling comes in and helps me fill in those empty spaces until I do get to a point where I’m ready to open that door and discuss it.
How Do I Start Journaling?
Believe it or not, I believe the book matters. The journal should be Saturday for sure, and a design that makes you want to write and brings you peace. You also want it to stand out so that you know it’s your journal in a stack of books. The pen matters also, you want something that writes smooth and dark. My personal favorite is a felt tip pen. I always find my best journals and pens at Target.
Once you have that, you want to go somewhere that brings you peace. That could be your room, the park, your balcony or porch, or the beach.. wherever your mind can rest. Take a deep breath and begin writing.
Dating the page helps when you want to track your progress in personal growth or achieving a goal. Don’t worry too much about what you’re writing, just let it flow. Even if it doesn’t make sense. You could start out just writing words that describe how you feel or the type of day you’ve had. As you get more comfortable being vulnerable with yourself, opening up becomes easier.
Don’t try to make sense of everything at first. If you’re just starting to journal, the first step is to release your thoughts. Acknowledge the huge step you just took in healing and personal growth. Be proud of yourself, its a huge step. It takes courage to admit that you need a mental release and to actually follow through with it.
Lastly, make sure you store it in a safe place that only you have access to. The point of journaling is to keep your thoughts, feelings and growth personal. If you want to share, that’s your choice and I support you!
