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The practice of journaling is a physical way to approach one's mental health, which enables a person to take their well-being into their own hands. So, what is journaling good for?
Keeping a mental health journal can help you deal with anything life throws at you, which includes depression, anxiety, stress, and much more, in the safest way possible. Above all, it's you who's making the magic happen! Maintaining a journal can empower you to improve your psychological state and help you take charge of your life, be it relationships, future goals, or work pressure. All sorts of challenges have a place to be addressed here.
What is Journaling?
Journaling can be understood as the practice, or art, of maintaining a personal diary or journal that helps you dwell deeper into your own thoughts and emotions that you may experience as you live your life.
Journal-keeping allows a person to process underlying thoughts and emotions, which promotes self-awareness, transparency, and discovery. It can also help a person gain awareness of their anxiety and symptoms of depression by clearing their mental jargon and channeling the focus of their mind to the interiors of who they are.
Journal keeping can be a great meditative experience as well as it can help you let go of negative structures that keep you from become a better version of yourself.
The best thing about maintaining a journal is that it’s something you can do anywhere and at your own convenience, without having to spare a ton of time or resources. This is the primary reason why journaling is important and crucial for those who practice it regularly in order to keep their lives on a trajectory towards growth and declutter the mind.
Why is Journaling Good for Mental Health?
Maintaining a personal journal grants multiple mental and emotional health benefits. First and foremost, it boosts emotional wellness by lowering the intensity of negative thinking and emotional patterns.
By putting one's thoughts on paper, people gain distance from their memories and thoughts and can deal with them in an objective manner. The result of this process often leads to feelings of calm, peace, and healing within a person.
Keeping a journal helps people identify and track their underlying patterns and stressors, which is vital for the management of mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. Recognizing and identifying these patterns help people craft coping strategies to express their emotions.
Journals serve as a potent tool for objective thinking and goal-setting. By jotting down their difficulties and strategizing possible outcomes or solutions, individuals can gain fresh insight and explore creative ways to overcome hurdles.
Lastly, keeping a journal on a regular basis can improve an individual's overall quality of sleep. Before sleep, a person writes their heart out in a journal and goes to sleep. This allows for a much more pleasant sleep without the chatter of constant worry.
How to Journal for Mental Health?
If you are a beginner at journaling, you may have various questions or doubts about how to start writing. There are some tips that you can keep in mind to journal effectively for mental well-being:
1. The first is to find a spot for yourself. Would you like to be snug in your bed or keep writing at a desk? Assign a spot where you can journal every day.
2. Along with the spot, dedicate a time to this activity. Remember that like any other mental health technique, journaling starts showing its positive effects only after some time.
3. Third, and perhaps the most important, is to be care and judgment free. You are writing only for yourself, and your journal doesn't need to have a proper structure or grammar.
4. Some individuals also find journal prompts helpful while writing. For example, you can begin with the three blessings exercise--"What are the three good things that happened today?"
5. Lastly, try to make your journaling time a worry-free zone. While this can be difficult, you can learn to build authentic awareness about your thoughts and feelings during this time.
Journaling is a transformative habit that significantly benefits a person's overall wellness. It is a safe space that helps a person self-reflect, let their emotions out, and grow on a deeper level. By committing time to journal daily, individuals can improve their mental or emotional well-being and start afresh on a voyage of self-discovery, knowing, and healing.
It can be challenging to journal at first, and it definitely feels laborious to write every day. But the positive effects of this simple practice can be felt on the first day itself. So, don't give it much thought, and simply start putting your pen to paper!
Janvi Kapur is a counselor with a master's degree in applied psychology with a specialization in clinical psychology.
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