De-Stress with No-Guilt Journaling

If one simple practice improve your mental, emotional, and physical health, would you try it?

If you’re a skeptic, your gut response to that question may be, What’s the catch? How much does it cost? or Does it involve supplements with ingredients I can’t remember or pronounce or HIIT workouts?

And who could blame you? Quick fixes and miracle cures have never been pushed so forcefully and haphazardly as they are today. Scams, misinformation, and contradicting voices abound.

Well, you can lower your defenses. The only catch is that this activity will take a few minutes of your day. The cost? Somewhere between $0 and $50, depending on how fancy you want to get with your supplies.

The activity? Writing. Or, more precisely, journaling.

Yes, really.

Writing about your day, feelings, relationships, and fears can be highly beneficial—even if the words are never again read by a single soul. Not even you.

Multiple studies, have shown measurable improvements to mental, emotional, and physical health—even faster healing—in those who develop a habit of journaling. Why? One reason is stress and how we respond to it.

Feeling Stressed? Start Writing.

When you experience prolonged, negative stress, your body and mind feel the effect. Threadbare patience, worn emotions, sleep disruption, and a weakened immune system are just a few of the short-term symptoms. Functional medicine practitioner, Randy James, MD, notes, “If you are on your last nerve, you are more likely to get sick.”

It’s impossible to avoid stress altogether. The reality is that life has its ups and downs, and sometimes there are years like 2020 in which 1 in 5 Americans filed for unemployment and a global pandemic got everyone’s attention. And let’s not get started the upheaval caused by politics. That said, learning to control your response to stress can have a profound and positive impact on your overall well-being—from the strength of your immune system to your mental health to your relationships.

Stress-management is one of the primary perks of journaling, so it makes sense that those who journal regularly often experience other physical, emotional, and mental health benefits. A myriad of factors are at play here, but let’s consider just  one:

Imagine holding a 25-pound rock all day and all night. If you can hold a toddler, you can manage holding that rock, at least for a while. But what if you had to hold it all day and sleep with it on your chest at night? Could you do it? Probably. Would you get tired? Undoubtedly. And it would be way easier to get some rest if you didn’t have that rock putting pressure on your chest all night.

That rock is your stressor—the worry that keeps you up at night, the thing that distracts you throughout the day.

Self-expression and reflection through journaling helps us to clarify and work through our concerns and fears. Often, simply writing about your stress can lessen its weight. It’s as if writing about what bothers us allows us to put down that concern.

“Self-expression and reflection through journaling helps us to clarify and work through our concerns and fears. ”

That doesn’t mean that rock isn’t still there or valid; it just means we don’t have to hold onto it every moment of the day and night. Putting it down in writing frees the mind to think about and enjoy more positive things, and we feel less stressed.

As your stress level decreases, your sleep quality may improve. As your sleep quality improves, so does body and mind’s ability to heal.

Discover the Benefits of No-Guilt Journaling

Journaling is a tool you can use to manage stress which may in turn provide a number of other health benefits. But if the task becomes something you feel you have to do, it may seem like one more item on your already-too-long to-do list. That’s where no-guilt journaling comes in.

If you are a person who thrives on routine, you might develop the habit of journaling first thing in the morning. Or writing about your day for 15 to 20 minutes each evening might be a way to settle your mind.

If you’re anything like me, you may have a difficult time developing a routine of journaling. I used to feel guilty about that—like I was doing it wrong. What I’ve realized about myself is that there are few things that I do consistently every day. Making myself journal turned what should be relaxing into a chore.

The good news is that you don’t have to journal daily to enjoy the benefits. Some studies report that 15 to 20 minutes 3 to 4 times a week is ideal. If you can manage that, excellent. There are seasons when I journal every day and times when I go a week or more between entries, and that’s okay. Do what works for you.

I encourage you to try some no-guilt journaling. That means write when you want, for as long as you want, as often as you want, and about whatever you want. Reflect on the good as well as the bad. Make note of what you’re thankful for and what concerns you. Identify the rocks and lay them down.

My bet is that you’ll find yourself sleeping a little better at night and thinking a little more clearly throughout the day.

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“Coronavirus frontline, here is the best thing you can do (for any illness),” True Life Show podcast, Kevin Miller and Randy James, MD, March 12, 2020.

Kristine Lynn Haertl & Adrienne Maiers Ero-Phillips (2019) The healing properties of writing for persons with mental health conditions, Arts & Health, 11:1, 15-25, DOI: 10.1080/17533015.2017.1413400.

"Write to Heal" in SA Mind 24, 5, 17 (November 2013), doi:10.1038/scientificamericanmind1113-17b.

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Adapted from an article originally written for MaroonWeekly.com in May 2020.

Want to learn more about the practice of daily journaling? Check out Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way.