Using a Journal to Work Through Emotions

As we noted yesterday, a journal is different than a diary. The purpose of a journal is to work through things. It’s meant to allow you a space to explore thoughts, ideas, goals, dreams, and plans. It’s also an ideal tool for navigating emotions. Taking time to analyze and review your feelings is always beneficial. Performing this analysis through writing has some advantages of its own. Below, you’ll find information on what it means to journal your emotions and how to use a journal to work through emotions, along with the benefits that come with using your journal in this way. Check it out.

About Journaling Your Emotions
Using a journal to process your emotions doesn’t involve a rigid formula. It simply means that you’re taking the time to examine and process your feelings through writing. This can happen in any number of ways. Sometimes free writing without restrictions can help you to see patterns in your feelings and make decisions or judgments based upon the insights you receive. Journal prompts are another good way to begin exploring your emotions. The only requirement for this type of exercise is that you write about your feelings.

Benefits of Emotional Journaling
Taking time to sort through your feelings in a journal format can be beneficial to your mental wellbeing, along with providing other concrete advantages. Writing about your emotions can be a positive outlet, rather than keeping them bottled up inside. Getting them out of your thoughts lets you process and analyze them. The realizations you gain can be valuable to your healing and overall mental state. You receive a broader picture and new perspective on situations and events once you express your emotions through writing. This can lead to better decision making and moving toward positive outcomes.

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Tips for Getting Started
There are countless ways to get started with emotional journaling. Feel free to just start writing about your current life situation. This free writing exercise will generally lead to some exploration of your feelings regarding these circumstances. Another helpful technique is to write in the third-person about a situation that you’re currently facing. This distances you from the situation and allows you to see it from a new perspective. Another useful exercise is to try to access your inner child by writing questions relating to your situation with your non-dominant hand. You can then answer those questions with your primary hand. This trick can bring about some interesting revelations.

Journaling to work through your emotions is a beneficial practice, no matter how you decide to approach it. Take some time to experiment with different techniques. You’ll likely find the process to be very useful and cathartic.

Melody Wigdahl
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