This Mental Health Awareness Week, I've been asking people about their journaling habits and how they use writing to support their emotional health and mental wellbeing.
It's been great to hear how journaling has helped so many of you, whether you practice it individually at home, or at workshops and retreats.
Benefits of Journaling Can Include:
🤍 Reduced stress and lower heart rate from creating time to sit calmly, slow down, and self-reflect.
🤍 Increased 'clarity of thinking' - I wasn't sure how to phrase this one, but fellow journalers will know that writing down thoughts and feelings from a busy mind can help to create clarity, organisation and perspective.
🤍 Direction and guidance towards goals or intentions set during your writing practice. Almost like a self-created set of instructions. Accountability is also a big part of this - doing what you've said (written) that you'll do.
🤍 Deeper personal insights gained from writing in a flow-state or fluid freewrite. Tap into the creative subconscious and reflect on what's going on for you under the surface.
🤍 Communication and Connection - I love writing for myself, but I also love sharing writing in wellbeing workshops, as well as here on social media. We open up in a way that might feel scarier to do with our audible voices.
These are just a few of the ways in which writing can help us with our emotional awareness, and each person will benefit differently from their creativity. If you've never tried journaling before but would like to start, there are lots of prompt books out there. That's exactly why I wanted to make the Blue & You Journal, so that I could share writing for wellbeing with more people than could attend my workshops:
I also have some free resources available on my website shop and topical prompts and journaling inspiration shared on my Instagram and Facebook pages. If you have any more questions about workshops, coaching or journaling, feel free to get in touch via social media or email me at hello@strengthinfeathers.com . I love hearing from you!
Emily x