Why Journaling Is Great For Your Mental Health
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I have been journaling on and off for years. I’ve always loved writing in notebooks of all types, I do have a bit of an obsession with notebooks. My journaling has been a mixture of how I am feeling, things I would like to achieve, and gratitude lists. I think it has really helped with my mental health and I think it is a really beneficial tool for anyone who suffers from poor mental health.
Why Journaling?
I think journaling is a great tool as there are so many ways to do it and so many things that you can track with it to give you peace of mind or help you to reach goals. Before I go to bed, I like to do a “brain dump”. I just write down everything that is in my head or bothering me at that moment. Getting it all out onto paper somehow makes it seem less important and helps me to relax before I go to sleep.
Some of the benefits of journaling are:
- It helps to boost your mood
- It helps to relieve stress
- You can identify things that upset or trigger you
- You can see your negative thoughts and do something about them
- It helps you to be creative
- You can use it to track goals, health, etc
And one of the best things is that you can do it the way you want to, it is your journal and personal to you.
Types Of Journaling
There are many types of journaling, again the choice is yours on which you do, you can even do more than one if you want to.
At the moment, I write a gratitude journal and a more general journal. My gratitude journal is full of the things that I am grateful for. I start each day by writing “I am so grateful for….”. I write as many of these that come into my head at the time. Some days it is just a few lines, others it is a full page. This is a great way to start the day as it puts you in a positive mood straight away. My general journal is where I brain dump each night.
For both of these, I just use ruled notebooks, nothing too fancy. But you can use whatever type of journal or notebook you like. There are some lovely notebooks and journals on Amazon and Etsy.
Other types of journaling are:
- Bullet Journals
- Dream Journals
- Daily habit trackers
- List journals
What To Write In Your Journal
Now, this is the part where you can get really creative.
As I said before, what you write in your journal is up to you. How you set your journal up depends on the types of things you want to write about.
Bullet Journals, for example, are great for creating ways to habit track, create budget spreads, draw pictures or charts, and set out goals for the week/month. Bullet Journals are a very creative way to journal, there is so much you can do with them.
You could write about the places you want to go, your favorite self-care products, books you have read, and what makes you happy. Journals are a great place to write out your goals and record how you are doing with them or where you would like to be this time next year.
There are loads of blog posts and Pinterest Pins with journal prompts to help you write when your brain goes blank. One of the best journaling prompt posts I have read is this post by Lauren at Bournemouth Girl, 25 journal prompts to boost your mental health and self-love. Lauren also has some great posts on bullet journaling on her blog.
As you can see from this post, journaling has a positive impact on your mental health, it also gives you an opportunity to be creative and improve your writing skills. So, why not grab a notepad and get started today!
Do you already journal? I would love to hear in the comments what type of journaling you do.
Stay safe everyone.
17 Comments
Lauren
This is such a great post Ali. This is such a helpful post especially for people who haven’t journaled before and unsure where to go this post is very helpful.
I have such weird dreams and I keep meaning to start a dream journal. Thank you for including my mental health journal prompts in your post.
Thank you for sharing Ali.
Lauren – bournemouthgirl.com
Ali Duke
You are very welcome and thank you. I found your post very helpful too. I think dream journals are great, they make it easier to spot things that may be causing you stress without you really knowing it.
Blogging Guide
I completely agree about journaling! And although I know it’s not for everyone, you could publish your journal as a subscription based newsletter (just thinking of ways to monetize creative efforts).
https://bloggingguide.com/how-to-monetize-your-newsletter/
Regardless, great post!
Rachael
Such a fab post! I started journaling at the beginning of this year and I love it! I find it so calming xx
Ali Duke
That is one of the reasons I love it, I feel calm and relaxed when I have done it.
Gemma
I agree, this is a great post Ali. I began gratitude journalling last year and have not looked back; I do it every day now and it has become a positive part of my routine. I would love to expand this and journal about other things and ‘brain dumping’ sounds like a really effective way to unwind before bed. Thanks for this.
Gemma x
Ali Duke
Thank you. Gratitude journaling is the way I start my day too, starts the day on such a high note.
Gemma
Definitely!
Hannah
I really wish I could get into journaling but it just isn’t for me! I love all the tips you’ve shared and am so glad you find journaling so beneficial!
Ali Duke
If you are not into it, it won’t benefit you much. Thank you for reading.
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Kayleigh
Very interesting, when I’ve written journals in the past I’ve done it at night, once the day is done, but writing throughout the day might be useful to keep track before things become to much. I like the suggestion of dream and bullet journals x
Ali Duke
I thought dream journals were good too, you would be able to tell if your subconscious was trying to tell you something lol.
anonymous
I could not agree more. It is such a great way to get everything off your chest.
Ali Duke
It certainly does!