Journal Writing as a Way of Clearing Your Mind

If you are looking for another way to manage stress and your New Year's Resolutions, journal writing is an excellent way to stay on track. Regular journal writing can help open your mind to new perspectives and discoveries while forcing you to settle into a place where you can be quiet with your thoughts. Below are some tips to making journal writing an enjoyable stress-reliever:

• Silence your inner critic who is being judgmental about your grammar and writing style or who simply tells you not to write unless it is for school or business. Once you release that self judgment, it will free you to write your ideas as they float into your mind.

• Examine new discoveries that you may not have stumbled upon without writing it on paper. You may have noticed things about your surroundings and goals that weren’t brought to light before. Maybe you have developed a new interest or energy toward something that wasn’t there before or you see new ways to re-evaluate your current lifestyle that will allow for more freedom, better health and flexibility.

• Journal writing is a personal experience that is intended for your eyes only. Resist the inner concern that others may see what you have written or that other people will judge your writing.

• Delve into the process of what great insights come to mind when journaling, rather than pressuring yourself to stick to new goals. The process of simply thinking and writing in the moment can naturally lead to new ways of thinking of what you truly want and don’t want that maybe you didn’t explore before because you were moving too quickly with the hectic pace of life and day to day responsibilities.

• Bask in the originality that comes with creative writing that is strictly your style and not judged by anyone else. Writing that is truly your own can freely guide you to write down your honest thoughts and ideas, getting them out on paper, that you don’t get with the merely thinking about them.

• Write about your surroundings and observations. Use your senses to capture the stories taking place in front of you and the physical environment; it can make the world more interesting and create a trail of insights that may lead to a new goal or idea.

• Reflect on specific details of your experiences as opposed to what they will mean in the immediate future or past. For example, if you are taking a trip to visit family, instead of anticipating what will likely happen based on your last trip, observe your feelings as you are at the airport and as you embark on the plane ride. Keeping your reflections in the present opens a new window interest that can be stifled from assumptions based on past or future events.

• Add texture through the use of sketches, poems or symbols that are unique and personal to you. This will not only expand your creativity, but will help merge symbolic meaning, either literal or figurative, into your present thoughts that can only bring more meaning and focus.

• Journaling also provides a unique opportunity to release feelings of tension and inner stress that you may not be able to address when a situation that triggers them presents itself. Embrace your journaling time as a way to get in touch with and release inner feelings of unrest and tension as a way of taking care of yourself, without the interference of other demands an responsibilities.

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