Want to journal for wellness reasons? But don’t know how or where to start?
Today’s post is for you. Keep reading to learn:
- The #1 most powerful tool to strengthen your mental health in 10 minutes a day or less.
- The best way to start journalling for wellness.
- 3 simple steps to improve your wellness through journalling.
- The 2 questions you need to ask yourself to feel lighter in minutes.
- The #1 problem with journalling and how to avoid it.
- 7 surprising ways journalling improves your health and wellbeing.
- How to stop journalling overwhelm and procrastination.
How To Journal for Wellness
I get it. You want to learn how to journal for wellness. Because you’ve heard it’s good for your mental and emotional health. But…
You don’t know where to start. And feel so overwhelmed with all the options.
You ask:
- What would I even write?
- How long should I journal for?
- What questions should I answer?
Fret not. My philosophy is all about keeping things simple. And I specialise in helping women like you finally create healthy habits you’ve been trying to create for years.
Mental Health Habits
I believe we should view our mental health like we do our physical health.
Put another way, I know you’re constantly being told to exercise daily to improve your physical health. But, why aren’t you being reminded to do the same for your mental health?
In my opinion, we should be exercising our minds daily too. To keep them healthy, strong and capable.
That’s why I now do something daily not only for my physical health but for my mental health too — daily psychological exercise, as I like to call it :).
The thing is, habits to improve your mental health can sometimes be the hardest to create. That’s why I’m sharing my simple 3-step process for journalling with you.
And because journalling for wellness is one of the most powerful things to do daily to improve your mental health — it’s a habit you want to create sooner rather than later.
So, this practice will show you exactly how. First, though, we’ll touch on why.
The #1 Tool You Need for Your Mental Wellbeing
7 Benefits of Journalling
Here are 7 benefits of journalling that might surprise you:
- Helps you accept rather than judge yourself, your mind, and your day-to-day experiences.
- Reduces anxiety, negative thinking and overwhelm.
- Stops obsessive thought cycles that keep you stuck in your head and overthinking.
- Regulates emotions (in other words, less ups and downs) and improves your mood.
- Offers you a clearer perspective on something that’s happened and reduces self-criticism.
- Helps you see, accept and understand your feelings and low moods.
- Improves mental clarity and confidence.
- And, even boosts your physical health!
The Problem with Journalling
I personally like to think about journalling as putting my thoughts and feelings on paper. In fact, I like to call it my daily brain dump.
Why? Because I think we’ve attached a lot of unnecessary pressure to the word “journalling”. And this pressure can stop us from trying this powerful wellness tool.
What do I mean? Well, depending on where you look (yes, Pinterest I’m looking at you!), journalling can feel like it needs to be “perfect”. Something you do in the prettiest notebook, in the most beautiful handwriting, with some creative doodles surrounding it — and of course with no mistakes…
On the other hand, my daily writing practice or brain dump has a lot less “perfection” attached to it.
Like my mind can sometimes be, my daily writing practice can (and should) be messy. It doesn’t need to make sense because it’s just a brain dump on paper. I’ll probably never look at it again, so why does it even need to be neat or make sense?
For me, there’s so much less pressure to journal “perfectly” — when I think about journalling in this way.
Whatever you want to call it — journalling, daily writing practice or a brain dump — the important thing is this powerful tool should be simple to do and NOT “perfect” — especially when you’re just starting.
With that said, we’re now going to talk about the best way to start.
The Best Way to Start to Journal for Wellness
When you start to journal for wellness, the best way to begin is to keep it short and sweet. Set your alarm for 10 minutes, and ask yourself these 2 questions:
What’s on my mind?
How am I feeling?
Write down whatever comes up for you (I give you some examples below) — aiming for one or two sentences for each question. You’ll feel lighter within minutes.
The best part? Nothing you write has to be perfect.
You just want to unearth what’s going on inside you. Because we often have so many thoughts and feelings whizzing around us, that we don’t even notice they’re there.
And if we don’t notice they’re there, they can start to make us feel heavy. This is why we can often find ourselves in a low mood, but not knowing why — right?
That’s why, I want you to take a few minutes to answer these 2 questions now.
And, if you need a little more guidance, you’ll find my 5-step journalling practice below.
3 Simple Steps to Journal for Wellness
Step 1
Step number 1, is to grab a pen and notebook or a piece of paper — and set a timer for 10 minutes. If 10 minutes feels too much, start with 2 minutes, or 5 minutes instead.
The important thing isn’t the length of time, it’s finding a time that works for you. A timeframe you can increase in future the more comfortable you get with journalling.
Step 2
Step number 2, is to write down, “What’s on my mind today?” at the top of your page. Then jot down anything that pops into your head.
For example, you might write, “I wish I hadn’t had that takeaway last night. I never feel good afterwards. I know I was tired, but I so wish I could make myself go on a walk instead. Then make supper at home, rather than grab something easy and binge-watch Netflix.”
Step 3
Step number 3, is to jot down, “How am I feeling today?” underneath your last sentence. Then capture what comes to mind.
For example, “I feel overwhelmed. Maybe I should make a list of everything I need to do and put it in priority order to see what needs to be done today and what can wait. I also feel optimistic about my future and achieving my financial and career goals this year — they really excite me!”
Try not to worry about it being neat, making sense, spelling or grammar — easier said than done, I know. But remember, these thoughts and feelings are for your eyes only and are simply being captured on paper so you can clear your head and heart — and improve your health and wellness.
Plus, if you want to, you can bin them afterwards.
The important thing is to get your thoughts and feelings out and onto paper. To remember that you want to journal for wellness reasons — and not to get a prize for perfect writing ;).
Strengthening Your Mental Health
Do this powerful exercise regularly — daily if you can — and over time, you’ll strengthen your mind and boost your wellness.
So, why not grab a coffee and your favourite notebook now? And, write a couple of sentences about what’s on your mind and how you feel today.
More Ways to Improve Your Health
Want more simple ways to improve your health and wellbeing? Download your free guide below. It’ll give you 5 simple ways to improve your health in 5 minutes a day or less — getting you out of your head and feeling better fast.
Health Coaching
Overwhelmed with everything you should be doing to improve your health and wellness? I can help you. Through a uniquely personalised 1:1 coaching experience, I’ll help you reach your health goals in just 12 weeks.
Learn more here — and join the waiting list.
Places are limited, but when you join the waiting list, you’ll be first to know when a spot opens up. So, I really hope to see you on the waiting list.
No matter what though, I hope you know you deserve to be happy. So, please invest in yourself and your mental, emotional and physical health — by following this 3-step journalling practice.
Thanks so much for reading this and being here.
With love,
Becky x