Writing has been an essential part of my life for years and has helped me to grow and change as a person. Throughout my life I have used journaling for goal setting, reflection, brainstorming important life decisions, and to overall to remember the important dates in my life. Today I will be going over the importance of journaling and I will also be leaving you with some printable journal prompts to help you to discover more self love. But, before we jump in be sure to follow my Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to get more updates from me on my day to day life.

1. Reduce Stress

A regular writing practice has been proven through many studies to decrease stress levels. By reducing your stress, you will see a significant reduction in other issues related to stress. Some of which could include a reduction in headaches, heartburn, insomnia, high blood pressure, stomach issues and much more. In one study the effects of journaling 10 to 15 minutes a day, three to five times a week for 4 months was shown to significantly reduce your blood pressure and improve liver function. Therefore, as you can see, by developing a regular writing practice you will reduce your stress levels which will have an amazing benefit on your body and mind.

2. Keep Memory Sharp

Writing can also have a significant impact on your mind, reasoning skills, and cognitive abilities. Journaling has been shown to increase memory, comprehensive skills and also working memory capacity.

3. Solve Problems 

Writing can help you to work through some of the most challenging or difficult moments in your life. For this reason it can allow you to grow and discover more about yourself. The process of putting pen to paper can help you to work through stressful situations in life, but also allow you to come up with solutions to possible problems. I know that whenever I am in a tough situation I like to write a list of pros and cons about a situation. This helps to clear my mind and point me towards the right direction.

4. Goal Setting and Self Discovery

Writing can be a great way to brainstorm ideas and to reflect on accomplishments. During the process of writing we are able to really be honest with ourselves and our accomplishments and setbacks. By doing so we are able to set goals for self improvement. This kind of journaling can be done daily to really stay on top of your goals, but it can also be done weekly, monthly or quarterly to check in on the progress of more long term goals.

5. Promotes Creativity

Writing can be a very creative process for everyone. It can allow you to hash out idea and brainstorm concepts for new work. I personally love writing first thing in the morning to help quick start my brain and get out all the ideas I dreamed up throughout the night. Morning pages has many amazing benefits, and all it takes is 10-15 minutes every morning to start this practice.

6. Improve Immunity and Decrease Risk of Illness

Unlike some of the other benefits, this one is probably unexpected to most of you. As I said before, journaling can aid in reducing stress levels. Stress directly influences your immunity, therefore, by reducing your stress you are increasing your immune system. Because of the increased immunity, you have a lower risk of illness. This can also aid with people with a chronic illness, because by reducing your stress levels, it could aid in reducing symptoms of an autoimmune disease.

7. Boost Mood 

Lastly, journaling has been shown to decrease anxiety and depression. For people who do suffer with anxiety or depression writing can be a great way to release emotion and gain clarity by getting all of your thoughts onto paper. It is the cheapest form of therapy, and it is easily achievable by setting aside 10-15 minutes a day to write.

Journal Prompts 

These are only a few of the benefits of the amazing practice of journaling. I personally, have always had a practice of journaling. It has helped me through some of the toughest moments in my life and it always helps me to gain clarity of mind. As I said before, I have recently adopted the practice of morning pages. This practice helps to wake me up, and helps me to brainstorm content ideas and ideas for my architecture projects. I think it is an amazing way to start the day and it helps me to clear my mind before my busy day starts.

Journaling can be an amazing tool for self love and self discovery. As I have said before, this months content is focused around the idea of SELF LOVE, so I have made some printables for you all to use in your journaling practices. These printables help you to dig deep and reflect on your relationship with yourself.

To download the printables CLICK HERE.

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