Journaling – Not what you may think!

Dr. Bill Howatt of Howatt HR said, “We go through life so fast we don’t stop to smell the roses.  Journaling helps us to stop and be in the moment.”  I must admit, before attending the Tactics of Maintaining Mental Fitness During the COVID-19 Pandemic webinar series, I perceived journaling to be something someone else did.  Who that person is, I don’t know.  However, I am a person who likes to read and is curious about everything, so when I attended the webinar on Social Contagion I learned there are many different ways of journaling to include a Writing Journal, Prayer Journal, Gratitute Journal, Pocket Journal, Poetry/Art Journal, Junk Journal, Dream Journal, Bullet Journal, Health Journal, and the list goes on.  In the Social Contagion webinar, I also learned of Journal 45 and was so fascinated by it, I wrote an additional post on the topic.  Go to https://farmsafetyns.ca/covid-19/maintaining-mental-fitness/ to view the posts, if you are curious.

Dr. Howatt says that journaling really works because it helps us engage both hemispheres of the brain.  It allows for honest, self-exploration and reflection and fosters a fully integrated experience with your mind.

There are benefits of journaling.  Journaling can be an excellent tool to help individuals process, explore and release the emotions of traumatic events.  Health benefits include decrease of the symptoms of asthma and arthritis, improved cognitive functioning, improved immune system response, and counteract the impact of stress.  Dr. Howatt mentioned in his years of practice, that many were skeptical of the benefits of journaling such as listed here but he challenges anyone to try it for 3 months to see if you notice a difference.

When you decide to do it, do so with intention, it can help you!

Three types of journaling to try:

Check out the following journals to see if these may fit your journaling style: Journal 31, Journal 45, & Journal 51