Journaling is not what you think it is

The power of puking it all out.

When I tell people to journal, I don’t mean a perfect habit where you write full sentences every morning in a journal while sipping a latte.

We do not need to add another self-judgment item to our lists!

Those of us who are already anxious, or grieving, see it as yet another to-do, and something we have to do perfectly. This makes us put it off even more, making ourselves feel worse in the process. The point is to just do it, it does not matter how “it” looks.

A perfect-for-you journaling practice can look like:

• bullet points on napkin

• watercolor pencil drawing in a notebook

• handwriting long form

• typing in Google docs or Evernote

• chicken scratch on a receipt from the grocery store

You can do it once a day, once a week, once a month, or whenever you feel like it. The point it is to get it out of your head - no matter how or how often you do it.

There is power in just writing what is in your head down on a piece of paper (or online, etc etc). I call it puking it all out. Once it’s out, much like throwing up (sorry 😀) you’ll feel so much better.

There are lots of scientific studies that have shown the physical benefits of journaling. Getting it all out on paper (literally or figuratively) reduces anxiety. Putting our difficulties out there can help us release the hold they have over us. By reducing that hold on our brain, we reduce stress hormones, which can reduce inflammation.

Less inflammation = feeling better. Less time ruminating over things in your head = more time for creative endeavors and doing the things you love. (And I actually find that the more I journal and get the cobwebs out, the better my intuition and readings are).

If you want to make it a practice, and try to do it every day, do it! But don’t ever beat yourself up about how often, or how, you do that journaling practice. The point is to make it self-care, not another place to feel as if you’ve failed.

Journaling can actually change your life.