Better Balance + Flow

There’s a lot of talk about journaling and its benefits and so you might be asking yourself what it involves. It isn’t too far away from the diaries you may have kept as a teenager, however there’s no ‘one size fits all’ method. You don’t need to be plotting out the next great novel to reap the benefits of journaling, but rather you just need to be willing to sit down with a pen and notebook and let your hand do the rest. You’re not writing for an audience, it’s just for you so there’s no need to research or overthink, or even re-read what you’ve written. It’s more a cathartic process of putting all your thoughts on paper and understanding your inner life a little bit better. 

What are different journaling styles?

• Free writing. This is literally just writing freely, putting your pen to paper and seeing what comes out. In this case it can be good to look back on what you’ve read to try and pick up on anything interesting.
• Morning Pages. This is guided free writing outlined by Julia Cameron’s book ‘The Artist’s Way’. It’s essentially writing 3 pages unedited each morning when you first wake up and is supposed to help unlock creativity and point out thought patterns.
• Gratitude journaling. This is often focused on the beginning and/or end of the day and encourages you to note down everything you’re grateful for in your life and what you’re grateful for about the day that’s passed. There’s a lot of research on the positive impact this can have on your mental health as you are training your mind to look for the positives each day.
• Dream journaling. If you tend to have interesting dreams then this might be the practice for you. When you wake up, write down everything you remember about your dreams from the night before. This will give you a chance to reflect on your dreams and by doing so, you’ll start to remember them more clearly.
• Bullet journaling. This is for the more organized among us. Bullet journaling combines To-Do lists, calendars and notes and is based on bullet points, rather than long sentences. It’s a place where you can plan and organize your life and reflect on your thoughts all together. It’s a kind of DIY planner so you can also get creative.

What are the benefits?

• Getting to know yourself a little better. By taking the time to open up to your emotions, you become more aware of how you feel about certain situations and how you react to them. It’s an opportunity to recognise how you’re feeling and help yourself to understand why.
• Feeling more positive. By taking time to clear your mind of any negative thoughts by putting them to paper, you’re making space while at the same time making time to work through your emotions. Secondly, if you specifically focus on gratitude journaling then you will start to train your mind to look for potential positives in each situation.
• Improved health. Offloading your thoughts, feelings and worries can have a positive effect on your overall mood and lead you to feeling lighter, happier and relaxed.
• Increased mindfulness. Through your practice you’re likely to become more aware of what’s going on around you. You may choose to write specifically about the present moment, which will in turn tune you into just experiencing the here and now.
• Action. As Julia Cameron, author of the Artist’s Way says, “It is very difficult to complain about a situation morning after morning, month after month, without being moved to constructive action.” 

Where to start?

The best thing you can do is just start writing, even if it’s simply along the lines of ‘I don’t know what to write.’ That’s still a good starting point. You could write down how you’re feeling, what you’ve done so far in the day, what you’d like to do, etc. You’ll be surprised what you’ve got going on in your mind! 

Another great way to get started is through journaling prompts. To help you with this, we’ve compiled a list of some of our favourites and put them together to get you started on your practice.

Download them for free HERE!