Journaling Proven to Increase Happiness!
Psychological research has proven that writing makes us happier. Whether it is keeping a gratitude journal, something Oprah has touted for years, writing about stressful events or simply writing about your feelings in the moment , there is scientific evidence that writing improves our mood. According to this article, “Keeping a Diary Makes You Happier“ on theguardian.com, psychologist Matthew Lieberman talks about the effects of writing on the brain. He goes on to say that the benefits of journaling may be even greater for men than for women.
“Men tend to show greater benefits and that is a bit counterintuitive. But the reason might be that women more freely put their feelings into words, so this is less of a novel experience for them. For men it’s more of a novelty,” Lieberman said.
Recently researcher, author and PhD Megan C. Hayes published her findings and launched her book Write Yourself Happy: The Art of Positive Journaling. On her web site she writes that
“putting wellbeing into words, you focus on the strengths and resources that will help you make positive, practical changes in your life.”
Hayes has a degree in Applied Positive Psychology, informally known as the science of happiness, which is rooted in the belief that individuals want to cultivate rich and meaningful lives and if we are aware of and build on our strengths, we can be happy. Hayes’ positive journal and her online positive journal workshops teach people that positive emotions can be used as “as tools to help us write about and reinterpret our lives.”
So, now that we know journaling is good for the soul, the next question one might have is: How do I journal? Where do I start? How do I begin? I believe for me this has been a stumbling block! I know that I love to write and that when I do, I feel better, but I have had a hard time coming up with a theme or idea of what to journal about. In keeping with the idea of positive journaling, here are some ideas of where to start:
Gratitude. This can be short and sweet. An easy way to enter the world of journaling is to jot down a bulleted list of three to five things a day that you are grateful for. Of course, you can expand on this to some degree with sentences or even paragraphs, but if that seems to daunting - list it.
A Theme. Choose a theme that you want to work on right now in your life. For example, maybe you want to have more patience, self-compassion, kindness, structure, growth, success or change. Whatever the topic is, pick one. Then, each day, write about how you have seen that theme in your life that day or how you want to see more of it. How have you worked on the theme? Just by writing about this “thing” each day, I believe that you will help to manifest it. This is a great way to celebrate successes or muse over how you want to make new moves.
Art Journal. Now, this is not for everyone, BUT if you are artistic or want an avenue back to your art or creativity, art journaling might be for you. Take 15 minutes each day and the medium of your choice to create art about how you’re feeling that day, to depict a visual representation of how you want to feel, to doodle, to write and color a word or mantra that inspires you or a host of other things. Perhaps there will be another blog post on this in the future.
Journal Prompts. Since the benefits of journaling are so widely known and accepted, there are many many businesses, web sites, and publishers who are supplying journal fodder. There are so many journals out there that have daily prompts or themes that encourage you to write about things like: What brings you joy? Where do you want to travel? What are your bucket list items? List the people that make you smile. What were your favorite childhood traditions? List the top ten memories of you happiest moments. What made these times so happy? Write a letter to your childhood self. Write a letter to your future self. The list goes on. Below you will see some pictures of pre-made journals with prompts included.
Working Through Trauma/ Stress. Veering away from the positive journaling, and focusing on the healing powers of journaling, you can also use writing to work through a stressful or traumatic incident from the past. Write down your story, own it. Write about how it has given you strength today. Explain how you would like to use that story to empower you to move forward.
Who Hurt You List. Another example of a curative journal exercise was discussed by Stephan Labossiere in an episode of Lewis Howes’ podcast “The School of Greatness.” Labossiere discusses the importance of working on yourself before you can be in a relationship, something we have all heard before. He instructs you to list all the people who have hurt you, whoever comes to mind. This “Who Hurt You List” is the starting point. Though he does not elaborate on the details of the exercise, what makes sense to me would be to go through the list person by person and to write each one a letter explaining all the nuances and details of the way they hurt you, how you feel about what they’ve done and how it has effected you. End on a note of how you have worked toward healing or the ways they have made you stronger. These are not letters that you need to send. You are writing these for yourself, so you can process and heal. It may also be helpful to bring them into therapy to help you process the emotions and new revelations that arise while you’re writing.
So, I believe as with anything, the benefits of journaling come with actually doing it and maybe even integrating a journaling routine into your life. I do think the books with prompts provide training wheels for someone new to journaling or someone who wants to make it easy and accessible to their life.
Have a good time and write yourself happy (trademark phrase of Megan Hayes ;)
