How Journaling Can Improve Your Mental Health and Well-being

I wanted to start sharing some of the practices that I share with clients and also use myself. I had to start with journalling a practice I began when I started my counselling training. This was encouraging to help us with both our personal and professional development.

Let’s start with the benefits, and there are so many! Journalling supports our mental health and well-being. Writing about our thoughts and feelings can help us to process our emotions, can provide a sense of relief and can also help us to identify behaviour patterns. It can help to improve self-awareness which becomes really apparent when we look back.

Journalling can boost emotional intelligence, by journalling regularly it helps us to be able to identify and articulate our emotions, enabling us to express them better. When we reflect on our daily interactions through journalling, we are able to see things from alternative perspectives increasing our ability to empathise with others.

Journalling can be great to support mindfulness. By writing about our emotions in the present moment we become more in tune with our body and emotions. If you find that as soon as your head hits the pillow that your brain decides it’s time to start thinking about that work meeting 3 weeks ago or what you are going to have for tea tomorrow then keeping a notebook by your bed to empty your head of these thoughts might be useful.

Different types of journalling.

There isn’t really a right or wrong way to journal. Some people prefer a more structured approach and other like to free flow. If you are struggling to get started journal prompts can be really useful for self-discovery.

Gratitude journalling focusses on the things that you are grateful for each day. This can be a great way of shifting your mindset to a more positive one. There are many benefits to gratitude journaling. It improves mood as well as physical health by lowering stress levels. It can reduce negative thoughts and improve emotional regulation. The key to practicing gratitude if to feel the feelings of gratitude. Not just note down what you are grateful for by bringing up those feelings we release oxytocin that wonderful hormone which helps us to connect with others.

Bullet journalling can be a great way to keep organised and on top of things. Bullet journals are often used for productivity, such as planning the day/week, keeping a record of things or writing lists.

Art journalling can be great if you want to be a little more creative. Similar to a sketchbook it can be used to document your thoughts and feelings in a more artistic way using drawing, painting, collage etc.

Stream of consciousness journalling involves writing without a prompt or goal. This is a free-flow writing technique, where you write your thoughts as they come. You don’t need to worry about structure, spelling or grammar It helps to clear the mind and process emotions. It may be useful to set a timer for 10 minutes when doing this.

I often use journalling myself and with clients to explore emotions. You can start with identifying how you are feeling right now. Try and be as specific as you can and mane the emotion. You might find it useful to use a feelings wheel to help be more specific. You can then ask yourself what triggered this emotion? Where do I feel it in my body? What thoughts come up when I feel this way? Is this emotion familiar? Have I felt it before? What is this emotion trying to tell me? This can be hard and heavy work so end your journalling with a positive message to yourself such as I accept that I feel this way or I am learning and growing.

If you would like to explore the benefits of journalling yourself download my free journal prompts booklet.