Journaling for mental health

This isn’t your locked childhood diary…

The act of writing your innermost feelings on paper is a good way to incorporate self care into your life. It means scheduling time just for you. It means giving narrative to your thoughts, needs, questions and past. It also means you are being intentional with your goals, time and needs. This is important, because living with intentionality is both the hardest and easiest way to take control of our emotions, responses (as opposed to reactions), relationship and boundaries.

Journaling is also a way to explore in more detail your likes, dislikes, values, morals and dreams. Do you still want the same things out of life? Or have your goals changed? Getting closer to YOU is always a good thing. When is the last time you explored who you currently are? We are ever-evolving beings. We are not the same people we were last year, last month, last decade. Journaling is one way you can connect with those changes in a meaningful way.

Writing things down also increases the amount of modalities we are using to process something. For example, we hear it in our head, we physically write it down, and we can read it on paper. Everyone has different preferred ways of learning. Some learn best by doing, others by hearing, reading, seeing. The more modes of learning we utilize in education, the more we understand and remember. Similarly, the more of those modes we incorporate into our self discovery and healing, the more impact it will have. 

Journaling is a powerful way to work through issues in an external manner. It can help you refocus and build self esteem. It can also bring insight, learning and opportunity. Below, you will find a few of my favorite journaling prompts.