Journaling for Mental Health — Mind My Peelings (2024)

What is Journaling

Journaling is the practice of keeping a diary or journal which explores your thoughts and emotions you experience in your life. It helps process emotions in a positive way and creates an opportunity for self-dialogue.

Keeping a journal is a way to express yourself without any judgment or rules. It allows you to channel both positive and negative experiences into an outlet that creates a meaningful connection with yourself.

Learning how to keep a diary or journal might seem daunting, but it is quite simple to get started. Especially since journalling is meant to be a genuine and boundless expression of your thoughts.

Why You Should Journal

Journal writing benefits you by stimulating creativity and promotes positive wellbeing. It develops strong writing habits that translate into other skills such as problem-solving.

Writing helps you process information to clear your mind. This improves learning skills, generates creativity, and helps to:

• optimize your creative potential

• increase your focus and productivity

• accelerate your ability to manifest goals

• clear your thoughts and emotions

Having a consistent recording of your life can be invaluable because it allows you to track personal patterns or behaviors over time. This history can show your personal growth and give you memories of important moments in your life.

Benefits of Journaling for Mental Health

Journaling is a powerful tool that can promote mental health benefits. Writing out your thoughts will give you clarity and focus that enables you to problem-solve more effectively and resolve disagreements in your relationship.

You will notice a reduction in stress because you can process your thoughts and emotions in a healthy way. Journaling can help you improve your mental health by:

• prioritizing your fears, problems, and concerns

• creating a springboard for daily recovery

• generating clarity and congruence

• reducing mental clutter which gives space and time to focus

• allowing you to detach and let go of the past

• creating positive self-dialogue with yourself

• providing insight into your thought patterns and behaviors

Starting a journal for mental health is a great way to promote mental wellness, build resilience, and ultimately leads to a healthier mind with increased gratitude.

Different Types of Journaling Styles

Although there are many different types of journals to keep, such as food and travel journals, we will focus on self-care journals that promote mental wellness.

Daily Log Journal

This is the simplest form of journaling where you write about and reflect on your day. Keeping a daily log journal is fast and simple as you are focused only on the events that occurred that day or any emotions or feelings you would like to reflect on.

Deep Thought Journal

This is a deeper form of writing that focuses on the feelings and problems you are experiencing. The idea is to write in detail what you are feeling, why do you feel that way, what you think the cause could be, some solutions for those problems, and so forth.

It is important to explore all aspects of your emotions and evaluate different perspectives of the situation. This self-awareness will help you grow positively.

Morning Pages

Learning how to do morning pages is quite simple. They are three pages of longhand stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning.

The idea is to get out anything you are thinking about first thing in the morning, this will clear your mind so you are ready to be more centered and focused for the day. This helps in starting your day right.

Three pages might seem daunting, I know it would be for me as well. If you struggle with three pages, maybe start with one page first and then work your way up as you build the habit.

Gratitude Journal

A gratitude journal can be very beneficial to your mind. Gratitude journals are recordings of three good things that occurred that day. The focus on positive aspects of your life helps build resilience when negatives occur.

A gratitude journal teaches you to be appreciative of the little things because it forces you to identify things you are grateful for each day.

One Sentence Journal

The one-sentence journal is fast and simple because you only need to write one sentence a day.

This is good for people who have difficulty writing a page or two worth of journaling. You will notice that after a few weeks you will have many one-sentence entries and that a single sentence just isn’t enough anymore.

How to Start a Journal or Diary Entry

Journaling is a great tool for self-care. Starting a personal journal can seem daunting if you haven’t journaled regularly in the past. However, learning how to write a journal entry isn’t as complicated as it might seem.

It is important to remember that journaling is a tool that helps you process your thoughts, brings clarity to your emotions, and helps you monitor your thinking patterns or behavior.

Here are 7 steps on how to write a journal entry:

1. Pick your journaling tool

   • pick a journaling tool that you would be comfortable using regularly

   • it should also be one you enjoy using

2. Use a timer

   • a timer will help force you to get your thoughts out because you only have a limited amount of time to write

   • stop writing when the timer is up

   • 20 minutes is a good amount of time

3. Always date your entries before starting

   • having a date will give you the history and allow you to go back and reflect on the past

4. Start writing

   • begin anywhere, forget about spelling or punctuation

   • write quickly, as it more important to get your thoughts out

   • don’t have expectations or try to be perfect

5. Keep your journal private

   • gives you a sense of security or boundary so you don’t censor what you write about

6. Read your journal entry

   • read through your entry after you have finished writing

   • this helps to process your thoughts and emotions

7. Write regularly

   • writing regularly helps build that habit

   • this habit shifts your mind to process thoughts and emotions in a healthy way

I know staring at the first blank page can be intimidating. I suggest scribbling first to break the ice, or something as simple as writing the date at the top of the page.

Here are some journal prompts for self-reflection if you need help with getting started or topics to write about.

How to Journal for Mental Health

Journaling for mental health can positively alter your thinking patterns and promote a healthier mind.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when journaling for your mental health:

• try to express your thoughts and emotions

• write judgment-free and avoid censoring

• write in a stream of consciousness

• separate yourself from your thoughts and evaluate from an external view

• feel your thoughts by releasing negative emotions

• document symptoms you experience (consider both physical and emotional symptoms such as anger, anxiety, or numbness)

• track your mood (with a scale of 1-5 or descriptions such as happy and sad)

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• read and reflect on your entry after you finished writing to process thoughts and emotions

Journaling Prompts for Mental Health

Like any other activity, it takes practice. Try to make journaling a part of your regular routine to build that habit.

If you are having difficulty deciding what to write in a journal diary, here are some mental health journal entry ideas:

1. Reflect on activities you have been doing the past day or two

2. Important events in your life

3. What you're worried about or bothered by

4. What made you feel good or you enjoyed doing

5. Describe something you are proud of

6. A letter to your past-self

7. Important decisions you have made

8. Future goals or achievements you wish to accomplish

Or, if you would prefer, here are 10 daily journal prompts to get you started:

1. Right now I feel strong emotions of…

2. Today made me smile…

3. I feel anxious…

4. To change the outcome, I can…

5. Worrying prevented me from…

6. A friend supported me by…

7. I am afraid of…

8. A more likely outcome for my fear is…

9. I am grateful for…

10. I can let go of things I cannot control by…

If you struggle with processing negative thinking patterns I recommend learning how to challenge automatic negative thoughts which can go hand-in-hand with journaling.

Journaling with Journey App

Many people, including myself, struggle with sitting down, reflecting on the day, and writing out all my thoughts.

I feel journaling this way is difficult to even get started because I am overwhelmed by all my thoughts and emotions. This is why Journaling with an app like Journey is a great way to get into journaling.

You can pick it up at any time of the day and quickly jot down your thoughts without feeling the pressure of needing to write a full-fledged diary or journal entry at the end of each day.

What is Journey

Journey is a cross-platform diary and journaling app. Its elegant design makes journaling simple and enjoyable. Not only does Journey have all your journaling needs, but it is also a motivational coach and happiness trainer for self-improvement.

Why Journal With Journey

The interface is clean and simple which lets you focus on journaling. Attachments can also be added to your entries including photos, videos, drawings, and audio recordings.

Photos and videos are a great way to tell your stories and remember those important moments.

Journey Coaching Program

One of the best features of the Journey app is the coaching program. This allows you to choose a program that has predefined journal writing prompts for a variety of topics that help improve your wellbeing.

Once you choose a program you will receive daily journal prompt ideas that make journaling simple and easy. Currently, there are programs for how to journal, practicing gratitude, love & relationships, and creativity & self-expression just to name a few.

These programs give you a prompt to stimulate your mind to focus on something to write about.

If you are someone who struggles with getting your thoughts out and have had little success with journaling in the past, the coaching program is great for getting started and help you stay consistent.

Why I Journal with Journey App

I have journaled on and off for many years either through pen and paper or journaling apps. However, I have always struggled with sitting down, reflecting on my thoughts, and getting it all out in writing.

When I want to write something, nothing comes to mind or when I am feeling full of emotions and thoughts I have difficulty sitting down and getting those thoughts out.

This is why I think Journey is a great tool for people who may struggle to sit down and start writing. It’s so much easier to pick up my phone and jot down a few thoughts versus trying to get my notebook and start writing a full-length diary.

The other reason I prefer Journey is the coaching program which provides daily journaling prompts. Journaling is more beneficial when it becomes a habit. But when you are starting out, you may struggle with what you should write about.

I can write a 4000-word article but when it comes to writing a short journal entry some times my mind is stumped. Journey coaching prompts help me get started so I can focus on a specific topic to write about.

My Coaching Program

Journey approached me to collaborate in creating a coaching program for the app. I am so excited to share with you that I have created a coaching program to Become Worry Free.

The program consists of two seven day journaling prompts. You can download the app and try the program out for yourself!

Even before they approached me I was already using the Journey app and when they asked me to help them create a coaching program I couldn’t say no. This is why I wanted to share with everyone why I use the app and how great the coaching program is.

Start Journaling Today

You can download the Journey app for free and start journaling to create a healthier and happier mind. You can get an amazing journaling experience with the free version as it offers many features.

A membership is available which offers additional features such as:

• creating entries via email

• daily inspirational quotes sent to you

• guided journal prompts

• the ability to export all entries

• text formatting and markdown

• publish entries to WordPress & Tumblr

Whether you choose to journal with Journey or through other means, it is a great way to process thoughts and emotions while relieving all that stress. Journaling will promote a positive lifestyle and create a healthier mind, so start journaling today!