The Joy Of Journaling: Self-Reflection and Growth
Since when have you not written a diary?
Did you know that in addition to being a faithful confessor during adolescence, writing a diary has many benefits for you?
Here we tell you.
Every time we think about writing a diary, an image of adolescence comes to us, of frustrated loves and thousands of emotions captured in notebooks with locks that years later will be read with nostalgia.
However, a diary is an invaluable and very important weapon that not only helps to keep memories alive , but also to have excellent mental health.
Diaries have returned from the trunk of memories to become a very powerful weapon to delve deeper into our lives and open a better path to the future.
“Memory is the only paradise from which we cannot be expelled.”
-Jean Paul-
Benefits The Mind
First of all, a journal will help you have a routine. Sitting down every day to write down your thoughts or feelings, whether it’s a paragraph or many pages, is a great personal exercise.
It will also help improve your writing and mental organization skills by putting your thoughts in order.
Even, as a study found years ago , writing about one’s own emotions produces, in healthy people, as many health benefits as other psychological interventions.
Specifically, in psychological well-being, physiological functioning and subjective health.
On the other hand, writing about stressful events helps reduce intrusive thoughts, reducing stress and improving working memory. That is, writing helps free up cognitive resources, leaving space for other mental activities.
It is also a very productive way to spend time , many times we prefer to do less productive things, like watching some irrelevant program.
However, taking a little of your free time to reflect on yourself and what you think is highly productive and in the long run will give you benefits of discipline and self-reflection.
And when we talk about self-reflection it is because the moment of writing your journal is a moment just for you, where you can be with yourself and in which you are free to be and write.
This also gives a great perspective when revisiting past times that you can now see again with new eyes.
” The writing is the paint of the voice .”
-Voltaire-
In addition to everything said, a diary is the perfect excuse to let creativity fly . There are no limits to how you should write it. In a journal you can draw, make songs or a comic, you can even share it with the world in the form of a blog.
According to a study carried out in 2013 , people with depression who begin to write down their deepest thoughts for a period of 20 minutes on a regular basis promote a decrease in this problem.
By capturing negative feelings, this time on paper, the person prevents these thoughts from being left behind inside . This way it is easier to process them to leave them behind.
Benefits The Soul
Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of journaling is for your soul and peace of mind .
It is very important because it gives you the ability to process events that are, or were, relevant in your life.
Processing life events is very important to healing and many times we cannot just trust our memories. On many occasions, having something written will always bring new light to our ideas.
It is also one of the most effective ways to clarify your ideas .
After a difficult or emotionally charged day, there is nothing better than sitting down and writing everything down to untangle what may be tangled and, above all, connect with ourselves and understand our own emotions.
Writing down what we feel can calm us down and make us better understand what is happening and make us feel less confused.
Lastly, a journal is a good way to document the important things in life , recording meaningful lessons that we often forget.
And an idea that can help you a lot in the future. Take advantage of your journal to write in it those important questions for which you now have no answers .
Surely in the future you will be able to answer them and, in addition, carry the common thread of your story.
Do you dare to start writing your diary today? In a short time you will no longer be able to live without it and it will become an inseparable companion in your life.
It makes you more optimistic
Having an optimistic attitude is very important for many aspects of life. Therefore, if you consider yourself a somewhat negative person , you still have time to change . Keeping a journal can help you with this.
To start seeing things with different eyes you can write a list of elements for which you are grateful .
This way you will begin to focus on the good things, reducing weight from all those that have been an obstacle for you during the day.
Promotes Physical And Emotional Health
According to a study by the University of Cambridge , expressive narrative helps to cope better with traumatic experiences , MejorconSalud has reported .
Diaries are often used as escape routes for those who write them.
Therefore, having this inanimate confidant can help raise self-esteem , since there is no one on the other side who can play with you.
Strengthens memory
Writing a diary helps strengthen your memory because you have to make an effort to think about what you have done during the day.
A good exercise is to try to remember even the smallest details to see how far your mind can go. Performing this exercise regularly will cost you less and less.
There are other exercises to improve memory that you can combine with writing. There are even foods that are the best fuel to improve mental performance .
