Through journaling, people create a safe space to receive and release their thoughts and emotions throughout the course of a day.
The American Psychological Association states that writing about your feelings can reduce anxiety or alleviate the effects of emotional dysregulation, and create a system for self-care.
When the journaling habit is simple and easily accessible, the ability to gain benefits from it continues to grow.
Many emotions generate confusion when we are keeping them in our heads.
Writing helps to develop emotional understanding on a deeper level than through the guided exercises these companies provide.
Journaling as a Tool for Stress Reduction
The build-up of stress usually occurs when an individual does not speak, express or resolve their inside thoughts.
Journal writing allows a person to create space to work through their issues in a calm, private manner and gives an individual the opportunity to have more control over the outcome of the situation when uncertainty arises, thus decreasing cortisol and other neurochemical responses to stressors.
Journaling also aids in physically relaxing the body by relaxing the autonomic nervous system.
Through slower, more focused writing on paper rather than through controlling one’s thought process or racing thoughts in one’s head, the resulting calm state allows for increased quality of sleep and vitality during daily living.
Journaling has been shown to create and strengthen the individual’s resilience to future stressors.
Journaling and Mental Awareness
The National Institute of Mental Health states that awareness techniques can assist in managing stress and anxiety.
The structure of a journal supports mental wellness, without conflict or pressure to perform at any level.
By creating a habit of checking in with one’s self through regular journaling, this also improves emotional awareness.
Furthermore, evidence suggests that writing provides individuals with an opportunity to collect themselves before responding to challenge.
Often the time taken for writing will allow individuals to make healthier choices and experience greater levels of peace during all personal decisions.
Collectively these components develop and promote focus and emotional awareness.
Continued practice of journaling over time supports a continual, healthy state of mental wellness and emotional balance throughout daily activities and life changes.
Journaling Provides a Safe Way to Process Emotions as Well As Heal Within Oneself
Journaling allows individuals to ‘process’ through challenging life events or experiences by providing individuals with a safe space to release their emotions.
By writing about the event or experience, the intensity of the negative emotions surrounding that event or experience is reduced.
Writing allows the individual to gradually release the emotions over time, which provides individuals with a less judgemental and non-threatening way to understand and manage those emotions.
Journalling is viewed as a means to improve a person’s overall mental wellness when individuals acknowledge their feelings and emotions rather than ignore them.
Journaling can also act as a support system during a time of stress by providing individuals with the opportunity to reflect honestly on their own thoughts and feelings.
Building Emotional Resilience Through Consistent Journalling
Through consistent journalling opportunities, individuals will begin to identify patterns of their own emotional triggers and responses.
As individuals become aware of emotional triggers and responses, they are less likely to experience emotional confusion and more likely to think clearly.
Over time, consistent journalling provides individuals with the tools and confidence to manage their emotions and provides individuals with a means to maintain emotional balance during difficult life challenges and uncertain life transitions as well.
Journalling also provides individuals with a method to manage everyday life stressors.
Professional Support and Modern Wellness Practices
Mental wellness professionals regularly recommend journal writing as a supportive emotional activity.
Many wellness apps such as Headspace promote journaling through reflective writing as a means to gain greater emotional clarity.
Building a Routine and Consistent Journaling Experience Supports Mental Wellness Long-Term
The building of a consistent and routine journaling experience provides everyone with the opportunity to develop a supported and structured environment for their emotional well-being.
The National Institute of Mental Health emphasises small, simple daily practices that support managing stress. This enables individuals to maintain short, pressure-free journaling sessions for an extended period.
Over time, individuals will find journaling to be a solid emotional support for them.
Clarity, Emotional Awareness, and Reduced Anxiety
The American Psychological Association has said that a clear method of writing will allow for better clarity in the way an individual thinks through difficult or complicated situations.
The resulting clarity increases confidence and lessens anxiety for the individual writing.
Journaling as a Tool for Mental Organization and Focus
A large number of experts on productivity and wellness recommend journaling for the purpose of providing clarity.
Notion and many other tools are designed and created for the purpose of providing a way to create organized reflection in order to assist in the creation of ideas and goals.
By establishing a regular habit of journaling, an individual can create and maintain a calmer state of mental peace, and stronger focus, and create a more healthy state of mental organization.
How to Use Journaling for Emotional Expulsion and Reducing Anxiety
Writing allows for immediate relief and emotional calm.
A large number of mental health professionals recommend journaling as a tool to manage anxiety. The purpose of expressive writing is to help people understand their anxiety using logical thinking, and therefore lessen their anxious feelings.
Journaling for Self-Awareness and Personal Growth
A journal is a way to document one’s life experience, challenges, and progress along the journey to becoming their best selves.
Through reading past journal entries, individuals can see how their way of thinking and their mind has developed or changed over time.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, having a self-awareness practice can assist individuals with regulating their emotions and maintaining long-term mental health, and keeping a journal is one way to build that practice.
The balanced perspective this creates for an individual produces increased confidence and emotional clarity. In this way, journaling allows individuals to direct their attention towards growth rather than setbacks.
Journaling as a Daily Activity Helps to Maintain Mental Peace
As journaling is practised more frequently it becomes a tool to intentionally create a life in accordance with your values and goals; this provides clarity of mind which improves your mental health, supports your ongoing development, and increases your sense of emotional balance.
Practising journal writing regularly helps provide a maintaining balance for a person’s inner world and consistent mental well-being.
Mental peace for many individuals comes from knowing they are understood by others, and even more importantly feeling understood by themselves.
With journaling the writer can freely share their thoughts and feelings without fear of being judged or interrupted.
According to the World Health Organization, some of the best forms of self-care that foster emotional expression will improve an individual’s overall mental health.
Over time, journaling becomes a form of emotional stability. As it allows the writer to reset both mentally and emotionally after the end of each day.
Having a consistent journaling practice provides long-term mental peace as well as greater emotional clarity and a greater level of control over their daily life experiences.
Combining Journaling With Other Mental Wellness Practices
Combining journaling with additional mental wellness practices is even more effective than only journaling.
Journaling acts as a means for individuals to reflect on their experiences; whereas, other supportive practices create greater emotional stability, thus creating a much more complete approach to helping meet an individual’s mental care needs and allowing them to create continual progress instead of simply finding a quick solution.
According to the American Psychological Association, combining reflection with other mental health-related techniques enhances emotional regulation and stress management.
Additionally, journal writing allows for the processing and understanding of internal awareness.
Journals can also serve as a reference and tool for therapy and counseling. Writing in a journal between sessions gives individuals the opportunity to reflect on topics addressed during their therapy sessions, in addition to allowing them to track their emotional progression.
Furthermore, it provides a better means for individuals to communicate with their mental health practitioners and increases self-awareness and emotional clarity.
Digital wellness applications serve as reminders of the pairing of habits.
Overcoming Common Barriers to Journaling
Barriers such as time constraints are the most common barriers to keeping a journal.
There are many ways to keep a journal effectively, and one way to do so is by not having to spend a great deal of time on it.
Mental health professionals suggest that when keeping a journal, it’s better to have short regular writing sessions as opposed to writing long periods of time.
An individual may feel that what they are writing isn’t important enough and or structured properly.
Journaling is effective when one writes their honest feelings rather than trying to write in a “perfect” manner.
Letting go of the feelings of self-judgment, as well as expectations regarding how one writes, creates a greater ability to reflect on one’s emotions clearly, and to have self-awareness.
The ability to consistently write in a journal and not be bound by rules or regulations is a major advantage to developing a regular journaling habit.
This way, one can write without restrictions until they feel they have developed their confidence as a writer.
Writing freely without rules allows one to feel good about themselves, develop peace of mind, and to develop journaling as a lifelong mental health habit.
