We’re getting into a practice that I’ve been engaging in since I was a teenager, and a practice that I subscribe to my clients every single day. Journaling!

All too often I get asked what the purpose of journaling even is, and where one should start. Today I’ll be sharing the top 5 benefits that journaling can bring you and my juiciest tips for how to make the most out of writing things down. Let’s get into it! 

to begin – what is the freaking purpose?

Journaling is a self-care ritual / practice that enhances your health and well-being. It may seem hard to believe at first, but journaling can actually benefit your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Here’s why:

1. Taking time for yourself in a ritual like journaling sends the beautiful message to yourself and the universe that you deserve to take up space and have this time for yourself. When doing this we teach our subconscious mind and inner child that we matter, and we raise our self-worth. 
   

2. Journaling is a tool to acknowledge and process what is going on in your life, which forces you to wake up in your life. Everything around us is changing and writing our emotions can allow us to ground ourselves through the chaos. The stuff that we are trying to escape always catches up with us, and journaling allows us to acknowledge it before it turns into something bigger. 
   

3. It’s a way to move emotion through your body. I have said it before and I’ll say it again – emotion needs to be in motion. If we don’t move our emotion it will get stuck, so journaling is a kinesthetic transfer that moves the information swirling in our emotional brain into our prefrontal cortex. Once we have it written on paper we are able to see it differently and more rationally. 
   

4. Slowing down and sitting with yourself through journaling slows down your brainwaves and allows you to access deeper parts of your mind, in your subconscious. It helps you get to know all of yourself and unblock the parts that have been hidden. You are then able to access information that you need. 
   

5. Having a ritual that slows down your brainwaves and regulates your nervous system allows you to access your intuition and spiritual guidance of your own understanding. You open up your channels of communication and education. This is where I access my most creative and brilliant ideas.

In summary – your journal is your time to get right with yourself. 

so how do we start a journaling practice?

1. You start by setting the intention. You state that you are going to start journaling and you identify what you hope to gain from journaling. “I’m going to start journaling every day to get more clarity.” Get yourself a gorgeous journal and your favorite pen, because when we have nice things we feel more motivated to continue our practice. You deserve nice things. 
   

2. Establish when and where you’re going to do your practice. Research has shown that when we set an intention and are crystal clear on when and where it will happen, we are much more likely to get it done. 
   

3. Construct your journal. Mine is set up this way – Part one: shit I’m going through. What I’m currently processing, what the hard thing is that’s happening. What is working and what isn’t. Part two: I recommit. I recommit to my goals, dreams, and visions for myself. This is where I remember my why and who I am trying to become so I can live the life I want. Part three: I identify what it is that I am doing today to get me moving toward that existence. I write out what aligned action I am putting into play right here right now to bring my dreams to fruition. 
   

4. Put it in your calendar. It doesn’t exist if it isn’t on the calendar. Communicate this with all necessary parties that this is your time and they are not invited. 
   

5. Just freaking start. Just begin. It doesn’t matter if you’re scribbling or just writing bad words. There’s no judgment – just see what’s coming up and write it down. 
   

This is how we begin to heal and live more consciously. This is how we make sure that we are living a life that is aligned with who we want to be.

May you consider journaling as a new tool in your tool belt, and may you begin fueling your own tank and pouring back into your own cup. 

Take care of yourselves and therefore each other!

xo, brooke jean