In this feature for Medium with Authority Magazine I share 5 Ways Journaling Makes You More Calm, Can Help You To Be More Calm, Mindful, And Resilient.
Journaling in and of itself provides calmness. There's a reason why it's suggested to make to-do lists, create meeting agendas, and to write down your thoughts before you go to bed. Doing this helps increase the likelihood that you'll remember them, decreases your worry about them and helps you process information more readily. The same benefits come into play when thinking about journaling. We can't ever fully turn off the thoughts in our minds, but we can get those thoughts out of our heads and onto paper. Doing so can help us take control of them and provide a more serene head space for ourselves.
Journaling helps us reflect. Think about all of your old yearbooks from school - elementary school, middle high school, and think about those messages, the pictures and the notes that are in them. They're all reminders of your past. Journaling works in a very similar way, except you control the narrative. Reading over old journals is a beautiful way to see how far you've come and what you've overcome. It's a reminder of those happy moments and the not so happy ones. But each of those help us to become a whole and complete person because we're able to learn from them and grow.
Journaling gives us a release. In a world where we worry so much about how others perceive us, journaling gives a safe space to show up for ourselves without worry or fear of rejection or judgment. It's a way to let it all hang out and come just as you are inside and out. Journaling lets you download your thoughts and feelings to get them out of your head and onto the page. And for some of our thoughts, that's really all we need - a place for them to rest for others. Journaling can help you further explore the ideas or concepts to guide you or to think about which direction you want. Those thoughts to go in.
Journaling creates quietness. To journal, you usually have to be still. It's a time when the crowded thoughts of your mind can leave your brain and spill out onto the page. It's also generally a place where all outside distractions are no longer a concern; you're forced to be still and focus on those thoughts and your feelings in our busy lives. We don't always take the time to do this.
Journaling protects our thoughts. It creates a safe space for your innermost thoughts and feelings. You know, those things you wouldn't dare or dream to say out loud, a journal is a perfect place for them to live. Whether these thoughts are positive or negative, it doesn't really matter since they're safe and sound in the pages of your journal.
I hope you have found this helpful to see the ways that journaling can help you become calm, mindful, and resilient.
