Journaling: A Mini-Series

Journaling– it’s what you may have done in high school when you were filled with oh so much angst on that crush and hopefully, you’ve had the joy of moving past that phase of your life. And now, I’m going to suggest that you take up the habit once again. Let me share with you how journaling can be used to improve your mental, emotional and physical health.

Journaling can be done rather simply with a notebook, a Word document, or even your iPhone notebook. Journaling can use a stream-of-consciousness method, or you can use a template to follow along with specific areas you want to chronicle. However, the method doesn’t matter so drastically–journaling can help you improve your health in key areas:

Journaling for Mental Health

Using logic and reason in thinking through your more distressing issues can help you change your brain chemistry and literally make yourself smarter.

• Brain & Creativity. Writing utilizes your left brain, which is analytical and rational. With your left brain engaged, your right brain is free to let creativity and emotions. So those mental blocks you’ve been facing can easily be removed by thinking through your stress.
• Goal setting. Keeping a running bucket list, you can map out what you want to achieve and work through the finer points– why those goals, how will you achieve it and how will you know you’ve achieved the goal?
• Self-reflection. Identifying bothersome or negative behavior and thoughts you’re starting to face, you can tackle unhealthy habits before they settle in permanently.

Journaling for Physical Health

The impact of stress on your body is much more tied together than what many people realize. Reducing negative thoughts and processing through stressful time periods can only be beneficial for your health.

• Immune system. Journaling strengthens immune cells, called T-lymphocytes.
• Medical complications. Journaling decreases the symptoms of asthma and rheumatoid arthritis.
• Stress. Journaling about stressful events helps you come to terms with them, thus reducing the impact of these stressors on your physical health.
• Blood pressure. The more efficiently you reduce stress, the more you can maintain a healthy blood pressure level.J

Journaling for Emotional Health

The chaotic mess of emotions doesn’t need to be proven by me, you already know it’s power. Anything that could promise even the possibility of reigning some of that in, would be well worth the time.

• Clarification. Forcing yourself to at least formulate complete sentences to describe the problem can often settle for you how you truly feel as well as how to actually solve the issue.
• Emotional reduction. Writing about emotions can take the edge off their intensity. It’s difficult to work through a problem when the emotions are too strong to look at the situation clearly.
• Solve disputes. When you write on the disagreements you have with others, beginning with your side and ending with their side, it can help you make a more rounded, and dare I say fair, view of the argument.