7 Ways Journaling Improves Your Wellbeing

Secret diary. Gratitude journal. Keepsake notebook. Personal blog.

Whatever, you want to call it, journaling is totally for adults.

If you had a diary you kept under your bed during your adolescence, you are already an expert on how to journal. Even if you haven’t tried it before, let me share with you the reasons you may want to give it a try. Journaling is a mindfulness tool you can use to express your feelings, track your moods, reconnect with your thoughts, write down your fears and concerns, store affirmations and set intentions.

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Research demonstrates the effect of journaling on personal, emotional and physical well-being.

Studies have shown it allows you to heal from traumatic events including surgery quicker. One study examined the impact of a 12-week positive affect journaling intervention on psychological distress and quality of life in general medical patients. They found it may serve as an effective intervention for mitigating mental distress, increasing well-being, and enhancing physical functioning among medical populations. Another study demonstrated the use of expressive writing to improve the quality of life for breast cancer patients. Journaling can be used as a safe outlet while going through any stressful experience.

Positive side effects of journaling:

Boosts immunity
Lowers stress
Fosters awareness
Improves mood
Decreases anxiety
Breaks the pattern of rumination
Uses the rational left side of the brain to clarify thoughts

Here are some tips on how you can get started with journaling to improve your wellbeing.

Purchase a journal that reflects you and gives you joy even when it sits there closed on your table. I admit, I am a collector of journals. It’s not just the look of the journal, it is the feel in your hand, the weight of the paper and how it lays open and soaks up the ink.

Consider the contents of the journal. Do you want a journal with lined pages or something blank so you can also doodle. If you like to make bullet points consider a bullet journal or even a grid journal. In the end, the journal is a space for you to express your thoughts, so you can even write at an angle if it makes you happy. Don’t over complicate it.
What size journal do you want? Is this something you want to carry around in your pocket/purse or do you want to keep it by your bedside (added bonus, journaling before bed helps you sleep better, while journaling first thing in the morning sets your day up with gratitude). Maybe consider having more than one journal when you are ready.
Pick out your writing instrument. Do you prefer to write with a pencil or a pen. Does your pen have a 0.5mm or 0.7mm tip. Do you use more than one color. This is yet another way for you to express yourself creatively. My personal choice right now is the energel pen in 0.5 mm with purple or green liquid gel ink. Writing activates specific areas in your brain for processing and transforming thoughts as opposed to typing or texting.
What can you put in your journal? Well basically anything. Write down your thoughts for the day, express your gratitude for yourself, your friends and family. Add inspirational quotes you may have heard or seen. Write down questions you may not have the answer for but are working through. Always try and end on a positive note and the process of journaling will become easier.

In the end, journaling is a form of expressive writing and what you get out of it will be what you put in to.

Consider journaling as something you look forward to rather than another task that needs to be accomplished. Start small, with maybe five minutes a day. The more you write, the more your thoughts will become clear and the actions you want to see in your life will start to manifest.

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REFERENCES:

Smyth JM, Johnson JA, Auer BJ, Lehman E, Talamo G, Sciamanna CN. Online Positive Affect Journaling in the Improvement of Mental Distress and Well-Being in General Medical Patients With Elevated Anxiety Symptoms: A Preliminary Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Ment Health. 2018;5(4):e11290. Published 2018 Dec 10.
Lu Q, Gallagher MW, Loh A, Young L. Expressive Writing Intervention Improves Quality of Life Among Chinese-American Breast Cancer Survivors: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Ann Behav Med. 2018;52(11):952-962.

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