Journaling can be a great coping tool for supporting mental health and emotional wellness. It gives us a safe space to practice noticing and accepting our thoughts, feelings, and emotions instead of avoiding them or judging them. Expressing our thoughts and feelings on paper can also help us to process and understand them more clearly.

A few other benefits of journaling include:

• Having a tool for working through overwhelming thoughts or thoughts making us feel stuck.

• A way to build emotional awareness and connect with feelings.

• Space to prioritize problems, fears, or concerns.

• Way to track how we’re doing day to day to get a sense of events and how they impact us.

• An opportunity to practice positive self-talk and challenge negative thinking patterns.

• Being intentional about creating time dedicated to self-care, reflection, and wellness.

If journaling is a practice that interests you, here’s some tips to get started:

• Make it a routine – try to carve out some time every day or every week.

• Keep the tools you need on hand – paper, pen, markers, computer, etc.

• Give yourself permission to write or draw whatever feels right.

• If you feel stuck, try using some journal prompts to get started (see photo above).

• Create a relaxing space to work on your journal – pick a time and space away from distractions that feels comfortable to you.

• Remember this journal is for you – you don’t need to share your writings or drawings with anyone unless you choose to.

***Keep an eye on future posts highlighting a few creative ways we can use our journals.