Spilling secrets: The health benefits of journaling

by Joey | Feb 7, 2019 | Advice

If you were to be left alone in my house for an hour, climbed onto my *very unstable* vanity chair, and pulled down the *very heavy* pink bin to the left, you would find every one of my secrets.

“Seems risky,” my HS best friend said after discussing the dark green fabric covered notebook she grew so accustom to seeing laying around my room. “Aren’t you afraid someone will read it?”

I thought about that for a moment, my sixteen year old brain really churning the thought. “No,” I said finally. “Is it really the worst thing for someone to really see you? The real you? I don’t think so.”

I didn’t realize it then, but this little journaling habit I couldn’t kick was on my side. Unlike the habits of my supposedly cooler friends, my journaling habit was improving my health and well-being. I always understood that I just felt better when I journaled. And I could feel it when I skipped a day or two. But back then? I had no idea that there were actual health benefits to journaling. I didn’t realize that journaling was actually helping me be a better, more patient person.

I’m 32, and I still haven’t kicked the habit. Where you find Joey, you’ll find a notebook filled with thoughts, dreams, plans, feelings, you name it. It’s how I work through things. It’s where I get to have the important conversations with myself.

THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF JOURNALING

For the sake of this post, I did some research to determine the actual health benefits of journaling. I won’t bore you with stats and figures, but instead, let’s take a look at how this little habit has played a major role in my mental well-being.

JOURNALING CONSISTENTLY:

♡ IMPROVES YOUR MEMORY♡

Don’t believe me? Ask my husband. We went to high school together, and where he has vague, high-level memories of events and people, I can practically tell you what shirt they were wearing and what the air smelled like when… Okay, maybe not that specific, but pretty much. The interesting connection here is that I also often attached “memories” and “events” to “emotions,” which makes it even easier for me to conjure up a memory. My memory isn’t what it used to be these days. I’ve complained about that a few times over the last several years. But journaling slipped into a when I feel like it, every-so-often kind of habit the last few years instead of a religious daily habit.

I also think the coolest part is that if ever I can’t recall something independently, I have notebooks filled with the specifics. As a YA author now, I am forever grateful I kept track of pretty much every little thought and feeling as a teenager.

♡ REDUCES ANXIETY ♡

There really is some kind of magic to slowing down. Anyone with anxiety can tell you when panic starts to rise, everything feels fast. It feels like you can’t keep up, you’re already behind. The world around you spins at warp speed and your mind races. But when you slow down, pull out your notebook, and put your thoughts to paper, slowly but surely your heart rate slows. You’re able to distance yourself from the panic, to look at what you’re thinking objectively. A thought swirling in your mind has super powers. It’s bulked up like the hulk, crashing into every rational thought and swallowing it whole. But when that thought is in black and white on a piece of paper in front of you, suddenly it loses much of its power.

♡ ENHANCES YOUR MENTAL HEALTH ♡

If you’ve ever been to counseling, you’ll know a lot of the practice is being prompted to explore things a bit deeper. You do most of the talking, the counselor pressing occasionally. Counseling is invaluable, and journaling by no means can replace it. But it is definitely a wonderful supplemental practice. Making a consistent habit to explore what you think and feel about certain situations can improve your mental health exponentially. I wish I had stats here to really drive this point home–but strangely, they’re hard to come by. But trust me, mental health professionals boast the health benefits of journaling.

♡ IMPROVES YOUR MOOD ♡

I would hope this one would kind of go without saying, but it’s an important one so I didn’t want to leave it out. Spilling your guts on a regular basis, releasing negativity, purging does wonders for your overall mood. I’m a generally happy and optimistic person even now in my adulthood. But as a teenager, I was like Tigger on crack. Light and positive and generally happy-go-lucky almost all the time. I attribute that 100% to the fact that I consistently let go of things. I didn’t carry anything around with me. If someone hurt my feelings, I wrote about it. If I had “judgmental” thoughts about someone — I wrote about it instead of gossiping. Journaling every day allowed me to show up as the best version of myself, unweathered by all the things that typically weigh a person down.

I know, journaling can feel a bit unnatural and sort of silly. It’s second nature for me at this point because I’ve literally been doing it since my aunt gave me a yellow notebook with blue flowers on it for my 10th birthday. But adopting the habit now, as an adult, can be a little harder. But hear me when I say, it’ll change your life. There are literally no down sides to picking up this habit. You only stand to win in this case. That I can promise you. If the risk of someone finding your deepest, darkest secrets freaks you out — seek out a good hiding place.

KICKSTART YOUR JOURNALING HABIT WITH THIS FREEBIE

I know people typically struggle with how and where to get started when it comes to picking up this habit, so I created this freebie for you. Jumpstart your journey to joyful with this 7 day challenge filled with thoughtful prompts to get you started!

GET YOUR FREEBIE 👇🏻