If you are not sure whether journaling is for you, keep reading. Writing daily or a regular basis provides an opportunity to create a dialog with ourselves.
It makes us better writers, but the more important reason is the surprising health benefits it delivers. Here’s our favorite five:
- Reduces stress and anxiety. Writing creates a space for mindfulness, which allows us to clear negative thoughts. Through the process of writing, fears lose their edge. Writing about stressful situations helps manage those stressors.
- Sparks creativity. Activities like writing and painting ignite creativity because they give our brain downtime. Then our stream of consciousness flows along with our creative muscles.
- Lifts your mood. Journaling helps you prioritize worries and concerns. It provides a tool to identify negative thoughts and re-focus them into positive ones.
- Boosts your memory. Studies have shown that writing as a habit improves your memory. You also retain memories better because by merely writing about them, you create permanence.
- Helps you heal. Expressive writing enables us to find the road to healing and become untangle from emotional injuries. When we express our traumas and link our emotions through writing, we begin to heal.
To journaling start, set a few minutes each day to write or have a pen and paper on hand then write as the mood strikes. There’s no right or wrong way; do what feels right for you.
We will be putting it out, regular writing prompts, so stay tuned on our social channels. We are all laying low trying to flatten the coronavirus curve; it’s an ideal moment to pick it up or start to journal with us.