The Benefits of Journaling

“Whether you’re keeping a journal or writing as a meditation, it’s the same thing. What’s important is you’re having a relationship with your mind” — Natalie Goldberg

Journaling is like therapy without the therapist. You become your own therapist. Through writing down your thoughts and emotions, you can get rid of all bottled up feelings without the fear of judgment. Besides, it is not very good to suppress all those feelings. Somewhere they need to come out. Rather on paper than an unwanted emotional explosion.

Whenever I think of journaling, I see an old script with an inkpot and a feather. It feels very nostalgic. But it goes to show how long journaling has been used effectively over the ages. Years ago, people already knew intuitively how powerful journaling is and they acted on their knowledge.

Different Ways of Journaling

The great part about journaling is that there is no right or wrong way. It is a personal experience that can be done in many different ways. Some people like to just write about their day’s experiences. This is a great way to reflect on on your day and give you insight into areas you might need to work on. But it will also highlight things that went right.

Or you can simply keep a gratitude journal. Every day, you write down things you are grateful for. Either list a few items or go a bit deeper and also write down, why you are grateful. On some days you might need to dig really deep to find the positives. This will remind you that no matter how hard the day was, there is always something to be grateful for and over time you will start experiencing a positive view of life.

Another way is to make use of journaling prompts. Sometimes you get stuck on what to write and prompts are great for those days. They also force you to think and write about thoughts and emotions you subconsciously might be avoiding.

Benefits of Journaling

There are numerous benefits from journaling and it may also vary a bit depending on the type of journaling you choose.

Here are some of the benefits of keeping a journal.

· Improves mental well-being

· It creates awareness

· Helps cultivate gratitude

· Can improve memory function

· Can reduce depression and anxiety

In addition to the mental health benefits, journaling can also help improve your sleeping patterns.

Conclusion

Journaling helps you to become aware of how your thinking and emotions impacts your life. During the process you learn more about yourself and how to solve your own problems.