The power of words, or why you should start journaling
Hello lovely people,
Today I am going to share with you one of my favourite morning routines: journaling. I started journaling back in 2016, and since then I have learned so much about how writing regularly is an act of self-care and self-love. It plays such a major role in improving your mental health that I want to share part of this knowledge with you. Who knows? Maybe this article will be the little push you need to start journaling yourself!
As I was saying, I started journaling back in 2016, at a moment in my life when my mental health became a priority because it was so bad. I had just come back from a one-year contract in the United States, I was unemployed, back at my mother’s apartment in France, and I was feeling absolutely lost. It was a time when I didn’t know who I was or what I wanted in my life anymore. What I had was plenty of time alone with myself. After repeatedly reading that a good morning routine was the key to a better day and a better life in the many self-help books I devoured and also that journaling was the best way to clear out your mind, I decided to try it out. It is true that I have always loved writing, but I was more comfortable with creative writing than introspective self-discovery. Let me tell you: writing out my thoughts, my emotions, my struggles… anything and everything that came to my mind (and as many of my overthinkers will recognise, it can be a lot), journaling was one of the most liberating things I had ever done. Six years later, I still feel the need to do it regularly.
Journaling can help your mental health in so many ways. It is a fantastic tool to manage anxiety, reduce stress or even cope with depression. As you let the words flow on the paper (or the computer, whichever you prefer), you can prioritise your problems and write down your fears and concerns. I found it especially useful to recognise the triggers for my anxiety and better control them. Journaling is the best opportunity for self-talk. How we talk to ourselves significantly impacts our everyday life; writing and identifying the negative thoughts and behaviours we carry along with us is a genuine act of self-care and self-love.
Starting a journaling routine can seem daunting. Maybe you wonder what you would write about or how and where to start. So here are a few tips that you may find helpful:
Make it easy: get yourself a notebook that you like, something that makes you want to open it, or if you prefer typing, you can make it fun by adding sound to your keyboard and making it sound like an old typing machine. Anything that would motivate you.
Write whatever feels right. There is no right or wrong way to journal. Just let the flow of words come freely; get it out as it comes. I would advise you to write three pages every time; you will be surprised at the depth of what can come out on that third page. I know that sometimes it takes me a few lines to get the flow going so that third page is very important to me.
Don’t worry about what other people might think. Your journal is a safe space just for you. Carving the time to journal is a bubble of self-care and self-love.
Once you start, really try to write every day. It is okay if you miss a day or two, but I recommend being consistent the first few weeks. It takes 21 days for a habit to be truly integrated by your brain, so if you need a little push, I suggest trying to make it a challenge or partnering with a friend who would also like to start journaling (almost like a gym buddy but it is a nice soothing workout for your brain).
Schedule the time you will spend journaling in your day. I prefer writing in the morning, but other people find it more helpful to clear their minds at the end of the day. If unsure, try different times the first week and do what feels right for you. Make it a moment you truly enjoy. I like to listen to some calming music while I write; here is one of my favourites: Listen HERE.
If you need a little inspiration on what to write about, here are a few ideas of prompts and questions to get you going. Sometimes I start my day writing: “I have no idea what I will write about today”, but just beginning to put pen to paper unlocks things, and suddenly I cannot stop them from flowing out of my pen, so feel free to use these ideas, but also trust yourself and your instinct. What needs to come out on the page will eventually do so.
The first ones are for my fellow morning writers:
List 3 emotions I want to feel today
What are 3 things I can do to feel that way
What are the 3 main tasks I want to accomplish today?
What limiting beliefs do I want to challenge today?
Here are some questions you can use, either way, morning or evening:
What lessons have I learned in the past 3 months?
What would I do if I knew I could not fail?
What areas of my life would use a refresh?
What are my priorities for the next 3 months?
What can I do to get out of my comfort zone?
And finally, a few options for my evening writers:
What are 3 things I am grateful for today?
What great moment of today do I want to remember?
What is something I learned today?
How do I feel about my goals?
How do I want to wake up and show up tomorrow?
The Recovery College of South West London has created a pdf called “Introduction to Journaling” that I found quite interesting and might be useful to you as well: Introduction to Journaling.
In a nutshell, I believe that journaling is one of the best self-care and self-love tools you can have. It is of great help with managing your mental health: writing can be freeing in such a way that I could not properly describe it, so instead, I invite you to try.
Just grab a notebook and a pen and go for it.
