Journaling to increase your health and well-being.

There are proven health benefits of journaling, taking time each day to download your thoughts and feelings on paper as well as goals, to-do lists, ah-ha moments, favourite quotes and gratitude will boost your health and well-being dramatically!

Sometimes I go days where my brain just doesn't seem to want to shut off. The mindless chatter goes on and on and on. Like that annoying friend that doesn't shut up and follows you EVERYWHERE! No matter what you do it just won't stop. Do you know what I'm talking about? I'm sure we've all experienced this on numerous occasions and we all have our own tips and tricks we pick up along the way that helps to quieten that chatter, helps calm you mental, physical, and emotional bodies... If you haven't accumulated any of these skills as of yet, don't worry! You're in luck!

Over the years I have picked up a trick or two for helping my mind to take a breather, to calm down, and simply shhh!

In this post I will be focusing on one of those... Journaling.

Writing has many proven benefits such as improving your IQ, encouraging mindfulness, bringing you back to the present where stress and anxiety over possible future occurrences and disappointments and trauma of the past are able to dissolve, leading to feelings of happiness. Writing can boost your energy, whether your recalling past memories of accomplishments of an enjoyable time you had with friends and family, by writing you are able to relive those moments in your mind, releasing endorphins and dopamine, the happy chemicals in your brain, making you feel good. Or you could be planning and writing out your goals, feelings of excitement build making you feel gooood, focused and motivated. Writing can improve your communication skills, emotional intelligence, self-discipline, self-confidence, and it aids in healing, one that I have especially found in my personal experience. Between these and all the other benefits out there why wouldn't you want to start writing today? Why wouldn't you want to start right Now? That's all we ever have.... Now.

"Yesterday is gone, tomorrow has not yet come, we only have Today" - David R. Hawkins.

Journaling for me has been very therapeutic. I always loved writing, I would spend my free time in school writing, I would go home and write some more. I wrote short stories, longer stories in book format, poems, essays, songs, I could write for hours! I never thought it would or could be something I would do full-time or something that generates income. It was always a hobby for me, something I loved to do. When I was younger it was for pure enjoyment, in high school it became a chore, something I had to do to pass a class, over the last six years I have slowly made my way back to the enjoyment of writing as well as discovering that writing is so much more.

Writing has helped me to heal, to let go of past trauma, to accept myself and life circumstances. It has helped me to reclaim my power in my life, bringing me back to a state where I am in the drivers seat, deciding where I want to be in life, how I want to feel, where I want and will go. It's helped me feel, for so long I bottled everything up, thinking it was wrong to express emotion, writing gave me a safe outlet to release those trapped emotion, and in that so much healing was able to take place. When you hold onto emotions they are stored in the tissues of the body trapping energy causing tension, pain, injury, illness, stress, anxiety, anger, frustration, overwhelm, and more. Releasing the trapped emotion, which can be in the form of writing, helps to release all of that, leading you to a happier, healthier you.

The constant mindless chatter many of us experience on the daily causes much of our unnecessary suffering. Constantly thinking of the what-ifs, or what I have to do today, tomorrow, by the end of the week, by the end of the year, where I should be now, where I would rather be, who I would rather be with, what that person said to me yesterday, how rude the waiter was last night, the argument I had with my partner, my mother, my best friend, what that person did to me... These thoughts are all from a victim mindset, placing blame, and avoiding taking responsibility as well as replaying thoughts over and over and over is like your brain is on a treadmill with no off button. It's F***ING EXHAUSTING! We are living in a constant fight-or-flight response, always on edge, our constant thinking exaggerates our feelings. At first you might only be a little irritated at your friend and then all of a sudden you're ready to break down walls and burst into flames of rage! What the F*** happened?! Your thoughts got the better of you. Coming back to my point of journaling... Writing your thoughts down on paper, the good, the bad, the ugly, all of it, helps to stop the merry-go-round of thoughts. Once they're written down you can release them, they no longer have to play on repeat. You can finally take a deep breath and let go.

I have a number of journals for different occasions. My main go to's being my gratitude journal and daily planner.

Gratitude Journal

Spending 5-10 minutes first thing in the morning and just before getting into bed to simply give thanks. Thanks for the day, for your blessings, lessons, opportunities, for the things we take for granted. For the people in our life, for the exchange of a smile between you and a stranger. For the sun rising, fresh air, fresh water, having a roof over your head, food in your belly. You can write 3 things down, or 5, or 10, or 50, it's up to you, aiming for 5-10 minutes to not only write these things down but to really drop into the feeling of gratitude, allowing your heart to open. Reminding yourself just how lucky you are to be here helps the any stress and tension you are holding to release.

Daily Planner / Goals

I put these two together because my daily tasks are mostly in relation to the goal(s) I am aiming towards. Starting by getting clear on your vision, on what you want to achieve and from there breaking it down into smaller goals, and daily tasks in order to get you there. I like to get everything down, all the things I feel I want or need to do to achieve my goals, this is the master list. From there, deciding what's most important and getting those done first. Give yourself 3 top priorities for each day and whatever else you get done is a bonus. I also have an app on my phone, Productivity, that reminds me of recurring daily tasks so I don't have to constantly write those down.

By getting in the habit of planning your day beforehand you set yourself up for success. Now I'm not big on planning for every single minute, I've tried that before and found it stressful when I couldn't or didn't stick to it and then would beat myself up. Allow yourself some room for movement. When we're so planned out we limit the space for creative flow. This is why I say set 3 top priorities, that's not too many things so you are able to really focus, get those things done in your Prime Time, the time you are most productive, if you're not sure test out different times and see which time slot you are most in flow, most focused, where the rest of the world almost doesn't exist because you're "in the zone". Once these priorities are done you can continue working through your list, or you could take a break, you could do something energising, something recreational without feeling guilty like you should be "working", you can be fully present and experience your moments.

I also have journals for...

Yoga sequences

Putting specific sequences together for different intentions. Keeping them in a separate book makes it easy for me to flick to when I've got upcoming classes, workshops, and clients.

Guided meditations

As well, I like to keep my meditation scripts together. These are both personally written as well as other peoples scripts that resonate with me. Writing out meditations is almost like filing them away in my brain. When working with clients I prefer not to read from a book/journal and allow it come straight from the heart. Writing out meditations in my spare time is like increasing my meditation vocabulary.

Dream journal

Dreams have many hidden meanings, guidance, messages, and also helps you to relieve stress, trauma, and helps you to heal. Everything we experience is stored in the body, mind, and soul. Much of it is held in the subconscious mind which has a huge influence on your current reality. Your thoughts determine your reality, and a lot of these thoughts are occurring on a subconscious level that you may not even be aware of.

Writing down your dreams as soon as you wake up helps you to recall as much as you can before it slips into the subconscious and you "don't remember". From there you can research what the dreams could signify. You can either do this straight away or come back to it later. By either getting a dream dictionary, or jumping online and researching the meanings of your dreams, can help you to understand what's going on in your subconscious, what guidance and messages are you receiving.

Inspiring quotes

Those sayings, or quotes you hear someone say, or read in a book, I like to make note of them so I can come back to them when I need a little reminder, a boost of energy, something to calm me down and remind me all is okay. Going through the quotes I've written down has a huge calming effect, and also reminds me of the times I wrote them, how far I've come since then, and paints a smile across my face. They're also great when I feel like sharing a little inspirational message with others. And again... Writing things down helps solidify the thought or idea in your brain, helps you to remember and connect with what you're writing on a deeper level. You can read a quote and simply forget, or you could read a quote that really resonates and file it in your brain by writing it down.

Ah-ha moments / Lesson journal

Through times of struggle come lessons and growth, sometimes we can find ourselves coasting through life not taking the opportunity to learn and move forwards. When we move into a state of awareness, and start to acknowledge what's going on on a deeper level we open ourselves to evolving. Taking time to acknowledge and write down our challenges, lessons, opportunities, ah-ha moments, helps us to solidify those lessons, to really juice as much as we can out of it. It also helps us to slow down just enough to be grateful, to pat ourselves on the back, to celebrate before jumping onto the next to-do, the next goal. If you're non-stop running, you may get there faster, but did you really enjoy the journey? Are you actually satisfied just because you're at the finish line? If your focus is on the destination you'll struggle to feel fulfilled.

"Fulfilment is in the journey, the destination always changes."

My advice is to start with two journals, your gratitude journal, and your daily planner/goals journal. Do the 5 minutes each morning and night of gratitude and watch your world change. As well as set aside sometime, maybe an hour, to get clear on your vision of what you want your life to look like, what you want to experience or achieve. Once you're clear on this, break it down into steps, your master to-do list, and each night choosing 3 top priorities that you need to do the following day. If you need to, pair up with someone for accountability, set reminders on your phone, make the DECISION to practice self-discipline and complete your 3 daily tasks each day. But don't beat yourself up if you slip once in awhile... Just don't make it a habit, or be okay with staying where you are...