5 Benefits of Journaling and How To Start Right Now
Jan 06, 2025
News
Writing about stressful and traumatic events can significantly benefit your physical and emotional health. According to studies, time spent journaling about your deepest thoughts and feelings can reduce the number of sick days you take.
Journaling also helps you move forward and deepen self-discovery, among other benefits. Experts say journaling for just a few minutes daily helps turn it into a stress-relieving, sustainable habit.
Five important benefits of journaling
Relieves stress
Journaling is a great pressure-releasing activity when you feel overwhelmed or simply have a lot going on internally. Experts say most people who journal report a reduction in stress levels after completing this exercise:- Write three things you are grateful for
- Explain the story of your life
- Mention three wishes that you have
Journaling boosts health and well-being
According to experts, writing about your deepest thoughts and feelings contributes to fewer episodes of falling sick and visiting hospitals, lowers blood pressure levels and enhances well-being.
Helps delete negative thoughts
Negative and worried thoughts can be intrusive and lead to stress and anxiety. Experts say jotting down your thoughts helps create space and distance to consider them in a more objective way. Experts say if your thoughts do not serve your thoughts aren’t serving you, you don’t have to believe them. You can use journaling to see your thoughts as separate from you.
Helps process emotions
Emotions have a way of popping up and affecting actions—with or without awareness. Journaling allows you to process your emotions in a safe, contained space. Naming and accepting the specific emotions you are experiencing can have a positive effect.
Helps deepen self-discovery
Journaling helps discover a different piece or pattern every single day. Journaling provides a pause to help us reconnect and rediscover who we are. When we write, we learn our
- Preferences
- Pain points
- Fears
- Favourites
- Dreams
- Listen
- Bear witness to these changes
- You may get to know yourself better
How can you start journaling?
A few tips for starting to write and building a sustainable habit include:
Taking a micro-step
When you start journaling, make sure to set a timer of just one or two minutes initially and then you can increase the timings gradually.
Pick simple foods
Start with whatever method is easiest to incorporate into your routine—like typing on the computer, using an app on your phone, or using a pen and paper.
Do not read painful entries.
Experts advise against revisiting the raw details of difficult situations. If you feel you are not done with a situation, you can refocus on what you are grateful for in the situation and how you will apply what you have learnt from it.
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