How to journal, benefits, and prompts for anxiety, depression, and stress management: mental health

This post is all about one of my favorite tools to recommend to my clients who want to take better control of their mental health, reduce stress and improve their self care game. That tool is journaling! In my Holistic Therapy practice I often hear clients talking about how it can feel difficult to do but they know they should be doing it. Ultimately, it can be a mental block where we are thinking more about it instead of just taking action and starting. Our brains are very good at talking ourselves out of things if we let them. I’m going to discuss what journaling entails and how to start a journaling practice so if you’ve never done it before then follow along for my top tips.

In essence journaling is just a way of intentionally writing down your thoughts, ideas, feelings and emotions. You can capture these writings inside a notebook, workbook or just a sheet of paper if that’s all you have. You can choose to write about a specific time allotment or a milestone. For example you could choose to journal for five or ten minutes per day. With my clients who are experiencing anxiety or depression symptoms they would like to manage I recommend they journal for approximately twenty minutes at least once a week. A good twenty minutes allows you to get your thoughts on paper and process anything that has come up during that time. This is a great way to clear everything out of your head and keep your mood managed.

Materials

You can choose the tool you want to use for your writing experience. I have heard some people make the excuses of not having a journal or being on the go so they couldn't journal. It really doesn’t matter, you don’t have to have everything figured out or have things be perfect to begin this practice. One thing that may work for you is leaving notes to yourself on your phone. Even if it's just in bullet form as short memos to yourself. It’s easy to get hung up on thinking you need certain materials but the truth is that journaling is a very accessible practice.

Freewriting

Freewriting technique involves writing down whatever thoughts are coming to mind in the moment. Writing in this way allows you to organize your thoughts and get them on paper which can provide a sense of relief. With freewriting there is no order that needs to be followed. You can start with only a few minutes and work your way up to more time. Alternatively you can choose the amount of pages you will write. Whether it's one page or five pages. This is just another method you can use to determine the start and end of your journal session. If you like this method you can check out my holistic planner that I have created. The planner actually has one page of journaling per day built in to support you in your holistic wellness journey. When you journal you are making an effort to cleanse your mind of the chaos in your life. This allows you to create emotional distance between you and the stressors in your life.

Journal Prompts

Journal prompts is a form of journaling that is done in a response to a question that was asked. I’ve included 3 prompts below that are ideal for anxiety, stress and depression awareness, analysis and management.

1. When do you feel most energized and happy? These are things that you can think about because the answer is likely dynamic and not just one thing that makes you feel good in your body.

2. When do you feel like you have the strength to overcome? What tools make you feel like you have the strength to overcome? This question will give you clarity on what tools work for you when you feel low motivation and low energy. Those are the things that you want to regularly incorporate into your life.

3. Who are the strengths and supports in your life that help refuel you? You want to think about who is in your corner to help you out through difficult times so when you are experiencing a low moment you know who to turn to.

If you would like some practice journaling I’ll be hosting a Plan With Me session. You can follow along with me live as we plan for December. I’ll aim to do this at least once a month because i think it’s an important practice to have. You can grab the planner or bring your own pen and paper because the main point is just getting you to practice journaling. Practicing is the only way that we are able to create a habit.

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