Journaling along with mediation is a big part of my daily routine. Why do I do it and why should you? Journaling is one of my go to’s for my health and wellness practices. I didn’t believe it was something I should do daily and had a hard time committing to doing it for a while. Once I started getting into a groove of my daily practice it has been extremely beneficial for me. I can take time to pause to be grateful and mindful, able to write down certain thoughts out of my head and manifesting them into the universe.
Today you can find so many varieties of journals out there from moleskin journals, ring-bound journals, bullet journals, planner journals, electronic journals, and more. You can also grab a blank old school notebook to use as your journal, it is up to you and what makes you more comfortable. There is no right or wrong way. Just have fun with it and try to commit 5-10 minutes a day.
When you start writing, it is helpful to be in a space where you can focus and concentrate like a quiet room that has no distractions that works best. Try scheduling time to set aside each day like early in the morning with some coffee or time you know will work best.
Once you start making it a part of your daily routine you will slowly see the difference it makes.
Reasons Journaling is greatly beneficial for your health and wellness.
- Thoughts and Goals– Journaling allows you to write down your experiences and thoughts for the day or week as well as jotting down ideas on-the-go. You are able to use them to identify your future goals and how to improve in areas of your life. This will also give you the ability to set your goals and set ways you can achieve those goals.
- Keeps you Organized-Being able to write down your thoughts, ideas, moods, or goals down will help keep your thoughts organized to come back later and make them apprehensible. This process will also help clear your mind as you put everything down on paper.
- Relieve Stress and Anxiety– Believe it or not but stress can affect your overall health and well-being. (1) Journaling helps force you to pause and take time for yourself as well as it can be calming writing or getting your thoughts and emotions out on paper. Not to mention since journaling can help reduce your stress levels, it can also help boost your immune system. (2)
- Self-Reflect-Allow yourself to self-reflect. Journaling helps us figure out who we are, what we need, what we want, how to grow, and find inner peace.
- Boost your memory, Focus & Clarity-Journaling helps keep your memory sharp and can help you to focus on areas of your life that you like to focus on more often.
- Inspires Creativity-While you are journaling, you may find that writing can be a great creative outlet for thoughts and feelings. This often leads to a spontaneous brainstorming
- Mindfulness & Staying in the Now– Journaling creates mindfulness and helps your stay in the present while keeping perspective.
Here is what I like to write when Journaling
Morning
- 3-5 Things I am grateful for
- 3-5 Things that I can do to make TODAY Great!
- 3-5 Things that make me HAPPY and SMILE
- Daily Affirmation (I am ___________________________________________________)
Evening
- 3-5 GREAT things that happened TODAY (even if you had a horrible day, there is always something positive or great that happened during day you can write down or take note.)
- How could have I made it better?
- Self-Check Notes
- Important Notes for the day to remember
- Brainstorm notes
You can journal however you see fit in whatever way works best for you. It doesn’t have to be perfect or thought out. Just start with what you are grateful for, affirmations, motivational quotes, how you are feeling, what you thinking about right now, or things that you can do to motivate you. Don’t overthink it. Just start writing.
Do you journal? What are your thoughts?
2 thoughts on “Why Should I Journal?”