Our minds, our lives, our visions for the future – it’s all one big messy jungle of emotions and responsibilities that can get quite overwhelming. Once we get tangled up in it all, it’s hard to find your way out – it’s a feat that requires creativity, brains and commitment.
Wouldn’t it be awesome if someone discovered a tool to help you escape from the modern cycle of constant business, stress and unrealistic expectations?
“There’s simply no better way to learn about your thought processes than to write them down”
Barbara Mark
Well, journaling might be the answer you’re looking for. I find that the beauty of this practice is in the unique way in which it introduces order and peace into our lives, without any direct help from anyone else. It’s the perfect symbol for taking back control.
I use the word journaling loosely, as an umbrella term to cover different branches of the same tree – expressive writing.
Whether it’s taking the time every evening to write down a reflection of the past day, or maybe just writing down a simple task list in the morning – every form of expressive writing has been shown to have vast amounts of psychological and physical benefits.
The need for change
Don’t you sometimes feel like you need a break? Don’t we all? I certainly do – and that’s perfectly normal!
We’ve become so used to living in a world that bombards us with information and tasks, often fifty at a time. That comes with the expectation that we can somehow process and manage it all without burning out.
We have become desensitized to our need to take a step back and chill.
So, what can you do about it?
The solution doesn’t have to be huge. You don’t have to quit your 9 to 5 and go soul searching in Tuscany (although if you’re able to then you might as well!). Realize that you hold much more power than you know, and it’s held within a few ‘keystone habits.‘
In his aptly named book The Power of Habit , Charles Duhigg reveals what he calls his keystone habits to be “small changes or habits that people introduce into their routines that unintentionally carry over into other aspects of their lives”.
It sounds a bit like the butterfly effect doesn’t it? Except this is much easier to understand and manifest.
Imagine running to work every other morning. Unknowingly, you might start getting up earlier each day, and consequently, going to bed earlier, improving your sleep.
The exercise will stimulate an endorphin spike, giving you a positive start to the day, making you more productive at work, and more communicative with your coworkers.
You’ll also save money by not using public transport every morning!
Wow, without even trying, you’ve decreased stress and increased your motivation to attain your goals. All because you made a habit out of running in the morning!
So how does this relate to journaling?
Well just like running to work every morning, journaling regularly can be a keystone habit packed with amazing power.
Wanna know why?
Journaling is a remedy for the mind
When I first began exploring the practice of journaling, I was fascinated by the sheer amount of psychological benefits that it had to offer.
But isn’t it just putting words on paper? How powerful can it be? Well according to heaps of research, extremely!
The flexibility of journaling means it can improve brain health by exercising it from both sides.
On one hand, journaling requires the application of the left side of your brain – the analytical and rational side. This allows the right side to flourish in freedom, relax, and wander around while the left one is occupied (Grothaus, 2015)!
On the other hand, if you practice creative expressive writing, such as bullet journaling, the time spent decorating and laying out your spread is great exercise for the creative muscles of your brain’s right side!
Moreover, expressive writing/journaling has been shown to improve your mood, increase your sense of wellbeing, reduce depression and anxiety before important events such as exams, reduce avoidance and intrusion symptoms after experiencing trauma, and enhance your working memory (Baikie & Wilhelm, 2005).
Need further convincing? There’s an almost overwhelming amount of research on the positive impact of journaling on common mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.
For instance, the effectiveness of journaling compares favourably to that of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) in terms of reducing depression in high-risk teens and young adults (Stice, Burton, Bearman & Rohde, 2006). It also helps college students who are prone to depression to lessen symptoms such as brooding and rumination.
Research has also shown that journaling reduces physical symptoms , health problems and anxiety, specifically in women (LaClaire, 2008).
Journaling can also help students manage academic anxiety and enhance their engagement in the classroom (Flinchbaugh, Moore, Chang, & May, 2012).
Journaling helps us face emotions that we have suppressed and ignored up until now, so in a sense it lifts a weight off our shoulders.
It’s a way to achieve self-awareness – it helps us detect hidden unhealthy patterns in our behaviour, such as staying up every night, which leads to being groggy the next day.
When we understand where we’re going wrong, we are empowered to take action and feel healthier. It’s a perfect tool to shift one’s mindset from a negative one to a positive one (Robinson, 2017).
Journaling is a remedy for the body
You’ve probably heard of advanced machines such as the Large Hadron Collider, super-computers, robots, etc. But have you considered that you’re the owner of a machine of divine levels of advancement?
That’s right – your body.
The human brain, the human body – it is fascinating what one can do when the two are properly coordinated, and when we are self-aware.
With this in mind, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that with the long list of mental health benefits that come with expressive writing and journaling, there are a lot of physical benefits too.
Still, I was surprised by the research.
Since we’ve seen that journaling reduces symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression, it probably no surprise that it could reduce the possible physical effects of these mental issues – heart problems, illnesses resulting from lowered immune system, gastrointestinal disorders, memory problems, and migraines (Banyan Mental Health, 2019).
However, research reveals even more.
According to James Pennebaker (University of Texas psychologist and researcher), journaling regularly and in the right way strengthens immune cells, called T-lymphocytes. Other studies, such as one conducted by Joshua M. Smyth, PhD; Arthur A. Stone, PhD; Adam Hurewitz, MD, finds that journaling regularly reduces symptoms in patients with asthma or rheumatoid arthritis.
A fascinating study by New Zealand researchers investigated whether regular expressive writing such as journaling could help older adults heal faster after a minor surgery, in this case a biopsy.
76% of the study participants who journaled for twenty minutes, three days in a row leading up to the operation we’re fully healed eleven days later, while only 42% of those who didn’t journal had recovered (Rodriguez, 2013).
Can journaling be a tool for healing?
As we’ve seen, journaling has both physical and psychological benefits. Journaling gives us a glimpse of the power we could have when we start aligning our bodies and minds. And I’m just scratching the surface here!
Journaling is a pathway to your goals
Enough with the science, right? Let’s take a step back and look at the big picture, at what journaling can mean for our lives and how we can realise ourselves as individuals.
All of us face a dilemma. We all have visions and goals, and fulfilling them would show us the best versions of ourselves. We are also overburdened and overwhelmed with necessities and responsibilities that leave little time for anything else, much less to become the best, most fulfilled versions of ourselves.
We are all trying to maintain a certain balance of the two – doing what we need and doing what we love. Unfortunately, we often mismanage and prioritise one over the other. We get exhausted, live paycheck to paycheck, weekend to weekend, and burn out.
This is why journaling matters.
With its long list of benefits, the keystone habit of journaling can be a tool to take a step back and analyse all that’s in front of you. Once you understand where you are, and once you learn the language of your emotions, a door is opened to a way out of this dilemma – to a balanced, fulfilled and happy life.
Teddy Yankov
Drawing on his love of painting, drawing, writing and purely creating, Teddy mainly specialises in the design aspects of our project.
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