Journaling
One of our all time favorite quotes at The Urban + The Mystic is, “If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you don't bring forth what is in you, what is in you will destroy you.” -Gospel of Thomas. We swear by this quote not because we are particularly religious, but because it is the truth. The things that you are feeling inside of you whether they be joy, fear, anxiety, excitement, they all need to come up and out of you. To not unpack your feelings, whatever they may be is akin to never unpacking your suitcase, you went on vacation one day something shitty happened, you let it sit in the suitcase and the next time you went away you shoved more crap on top of the other crap and you continue this pattern until finally your suitcase explodes all over an airport conveyor belt. You might think this is a dramatic analogy but it’s really not, when you use journaling as a tool to release the things inside of you’ll have less outbursts, less pain, boost your immune system, improve your memory and release past traumas.
One study we found fascinating was that of James Pennebaker, one of his studies found that regular journaling strengthens the immune system. Pennebaker believes that writing about stressful or traumatic events, “Helps you come to terms with them, acting as a stress management tool, thus reducing the impact of these stressors on your physical health.” Scientific evidence also supports that since journaling activates the left, analytical side of your brain, it frees up the right, creative side of your brain to feel more deeply and the benefits of that are many:
- Clarity on your thoughts and feelings
- Problem solving more effectively
- Reduction of stress
- Lessens animosity towards others
The Journal of Experimental Psychology indicates that journaling not just improves your ability to cope effectively with stress but also improves your memory. Basically what we’re trying to say here is that there is a direct correlation between journaling, your health and overall well-being. So why not give it a try?
We’re a little old fashioned, hence the mystic side of us, so we love to journal by putting pen to paper, but if that is not your thing sit in front of your computer, put your cute little fingers on that keyboard and type it out of you. The only wrong way to journal is to not journal.
We wanted to share this quick thought with you on the importance of journaling not because we think you’ve never heard of journaling, but because maybe you forgot how important it is to help you live a happy, peaceful and beautiful life. Every single thing that is inside of you whether it be something beautiful, something painful or anywhere in between needs to find its path to that piece of paper or screen in front of you.
We are living through an unprecedented time in our history and I think it’s safe to say that we are all having our own unique, sad, stressful, beautiful, peaceful time with all of this and one of the key ingredients to making sure whatever you’re feeling now can be utilized as a tool in your life is to be sure you recognize it your feelings and experiences, give them names, write them out and set them free. This is just our food for thought for the day, we want everyone out there to live their fullest and best life and we firmly believe that bringing forth what is in your is part of that journey.