Ready To Deepen Your Relationship With Yourself?
📖 ✍️ Writing and wellness are natural allies 📖 ✍️ (Dimitroff et al. 2016)
Journaling has long been associated with negative connotations❌. A lot of people perceive it to be a waste of time or as a "silly" practice that only creative people engage with. But, let me change your mind. Let me help you on your journey of improving your mental well-being and boosting your self-development. This article will help provide you with the tools to help you to become the best version of yourself 🧰.
I am genuinely excited to be talking to you about journaling because it is a practice that is accessible to everyone. It is a practical exercise that you can easily add to your daily routine and begin to reap the benefits journaling has on your mental health. Here at Happio that is what we want, we want you to be living your best life! 🤗✨.
✍️ So, let’s get into it… what is journaling? Journaling allows you to gain a deeper understanding of yourself, improving your self-awareness and developing your insight. Journaling enables you to explore your thoughts and feelings and really delve into them. It’s a safe space where you can express your ideas and make sense of your experiences. Journaling allows you to build a strong and meaningful relationship with yourself ✅.
👆If you approach journaling intentionally and purposefully, it can be a real agent for healing and change 👏 (Dimitroff et al. 2016).
✍️ How do you begin your journey with journaling? You can journal in lots of different ways. When I began journaling I purposely bought a new journal because I like putting pen to paper and I knew if I had a pretty journal I would be more likely to write in it. But, you can also journal on your phone’s notes section or your computer. Another method if you don’t like typing or writing is to send voice note messages to yourself or use an audio recording device.
✍️ It can be difficult to know where to begin with journaling at first. You might find your mind goes blank as soon as you put pen to paper. I have included a variety of different questions for you that you can make a note of and answer in your journal to get started... 🔷 What strong emotion have I felt today? 🔷 What caused my strong emotion today? 🔷 What am I grateful for today? 🔷 What has made me feel joy today? 🔷 What have I done today that is in alignment with my values? 🔷 What have I learned today? 🔷 What have I done today to work towards my goals? 🔷 What are the next actions I need to take to get closer to my goals?
✍️ Barriers to beginning your journaling journey ... 👉 It is completely normal to be apprehensive about starting to journal. You might feel a sense of exposure by writing down all of your inner thoughts. This is ok, it’s ok to feel exposed and it is a normal experience, you’re not alone in this. But, this is something you need to work on and push through so you can reap the benefits journaling can provide. If you do feel exposed or have anxiety about your inner thoughts being documented down on paper. Then it may be useful for you to begin journaling by writing down things that you would feel comfortable sharing with other people. Then as your confidence grows with your journaling than you will be able to delve deeper into your feelings, understanding, thoughts, ideas, and experiences. A further barrier that could prevent you from journaling is finding the time to do so. To overcome this barrier, I would suggest that you decide on a set amount of time that is appropriate and suitable for your lifestyle. Maybe starting with five or ten minutes a day. It could also be useful to decide on a time of day that you will engage with your journaling exercise. Then you could set up a reminder alarm on your phone so you’re reminded and it becomes a scheduled part of your daily routine.
✍️ What are the benefits of journaling? ❇️ It evokes conversation with self. ❇️ It helps you with personal growth. ❇️ It allows you to review and reread earlier entries and you can see how you have grown as a person and reflect. ❇️ It can help you challenge negative emotions/views and experiences. ❇️ It helps your personal growth and development. ❇️ It helps you have breakthroughs and new insights ❇️ It provides you with a space for self-expression. ❇️ It can help you further understand the problems you're experiencing and help you problem-solve them. ❇️ Documenting negative feelings and emotions can help reduce the intensity of these feelings so you are left feeling calmer and more positive. ❇️ Reduce stress. ❇️ It can help with emotional exhaustion and burnout. ❇️ It can help reduce trauma and compassion fatigue. ❇️ It helps you know yourself better. ❇️ It helps you to understand what you are feeling or experiencing. (Hiemstra 2001, Purcell 2006, Dimitroff et al. 2016)
✨Here at Happio, we have some really exciting new programmes starting, please have a look and see if you think they are suited to your needs. Journaling alongside participating in these courses will further help you on your journey of improving your mental well-being✨.
🤗 Remember you are not alone, Happio is here to help you! I look forward to hearing about how your journaling journey is going!🤗