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How journaling can reduce stress

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Making a note of your thoughts every day can be therapeutic during these time

Published: Fri 10 Apr 2020, 12:00 PM

Updated: Fri 10 Apr 2020, 3:08 PM

  • By
  • Rachael Lynn, author, At Home Anywhere

 

When life is changing daily and the world around us going through historical things -- thoughts and feelings in our heads and hearts can run free, sometimes positive and other times overwhelming.
There's something we can do - that's totally free and takes very little time - to help centre ourselves. It's what many great world leaders, inventors and artists have done for centuries.
Sub-head: Keeping a journal.
Journaling is writing and recording your thoughts, feelings, ideas and reflections - usually meant to be kept for private use.
This act of free reflection allows you to put your thoughts onto paper, allowing you to see patterns, where you'd like to make changes, and ideas you'd like to act on.
Journaling can help you see in physical form any fears that you've taken on from other people that you actually don't agree with. Or help you form more concrete opinions of our own.
 
Enhance Creativity With Pen and Paper
Writing and rambling to yourself is also the best way to come up with great ideas. In fact, journaling is how I got the idea for my first book, , and how I realised my husband was the man I was meant to marry.
You may journal for 354 days and think that nothing special has come out of it -- but it's that one day of clarity that can literally change your life. You never know what brilliance is waiting inside of you!
There are two ways you can journal:
Free-writing: Start by writing any thoughts that come to mind on paper. in no particular order. Go for as long as you want, or at least a couple of pages.
Prompt-Based: Don't know where to start? Ask yourself a question and then answer it. After a few sentences, the answer will trail off into its own ideas.
You can use prompts like:
Today I'm grateful for.
The things that are most on my mind.
I'm afraid of.

Other Tips To Get The Most Out of Journaling:
Be consistent: Give yourself five minutes every day to write something. You will start to look forward to this 'you' time.
Don't edit: Spelling and sentence structure don't matter. Eliminate the habit of trying to be perfect and let words flow.
Be honest: We can change our feelings and beliefs when we know what they are. Don't hide what you think from the paper.
 



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