{"id":6940,"date":"2019-07-30T22:01:49","date_gmt":"2019-07-30T10:01:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.nzibs.co.nz\/?p=6940"},"modified":"2019-07-31T10:29:09","modified_gmt":"2019-07-30T22:29:09","slug":"benefits-of-journaling-and-prompts-to-get-started","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.nzibs.co.nz\/writing\/benefits-of-journaling-and-prompts-to-get-started\/","title":{"rendered":"Benefits of Journaling and Prompts to Get Started"},"content":{"rendered":"\n[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.26.5″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.26.5″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.5″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.5″ custom_padding=”||2px|||”]
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If you\u2019re like most people, you\u2019ll only write down what you absolutely need to, like to-do lists, meeting notes and reminders. But writing in your journal as a way to release and express your thoughts, feelings and emotions can be a life-changing habit.<\/p>\n

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Daily writing can be a challenge if you\u2019re new to it. Much like meditating, it requires patience and commitment. But if you stick to it, it can improve your life in significant ways.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

The surprising benefits of journaling<\/h3>\n

1. It can help you clarify your thoughts and feelings<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Keeping a journal allows you to track patterns, trends and improvements over time. When current circumstances appear insurmountable, you can look back on previous dilemmas that you have since resolved and learn from them. You might also encounter moments where you feel confused and uncertain about your feelings. By writing them down, you\u2019re able to tap into your internal world and better make sense of things.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Anne Nelson, an acclaimed journalist and author of the forthcoming book,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cShadow Network: Media, Money and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>says she\u2019s often asked whether she suffers when writing on fraught subjects. Her answer is always no. \u201cWhat I feel is a deep satisfaction when I get it right,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s the feeling when I\u2019ve explained something in writing that I couldn\u2019t explain to myself before I started.\u201d<\/p>\n

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2. It can help your injuries heal faster<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n

It may sound a little crazy, but a\u00a0<\/span>2013 study\u00a0<\/span>found that 76% of adults who spend 50 to 20 minutes writing about their thoughts and feelings for three consecutive days two weeks before a medically necessary biopsy were fully healed 11 days after. Meanwhile, 58% of the control group had not fully recovered.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe think writing about distressing events helped participants make sense of the events and reduce distress, thus helping the body to heal faster,\u201d Elizabeth Broadbent, professor of medicine at the University of Auckland in New Zealand and co-author of the study, said in an\u00a0<\/span>interview with Scientific American.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

3. It can improve your problem-solving skills<\/strong><\/h4>\n

When you encounter a difficult problem, removing the situation from your mind and putting it down on paper encourages you to look at things from different angles and brainstorm several solutions in a more organized manner.<\/p>\n

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A\u00a0<\/span>classic 1985 study\u00a0<\/span>from the School Science and Mathematics Association, for example, found that students who wrote about their math problems in a journal (e.g., describing the problem and writing about how they came up with the answer) had significantly improved test scores over time.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

4. It can help you recover from traumatic experiences<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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There are no rules as to how or what you must write about. Creative writing, such as fiction or poetry, can also be a form of journaling \u2014 and it can help you move past traumatic experiences. Writing creatively allows you to craft a coherent narrative and shifting perspective, according to Jessica Lourey, a tenured writing professor, sociologist and author of 15 books, including\u00a0<\/span>\u201cRewrite Your Life: Discover Your Truth Through the Healing Power of Fiction.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

After the loss of her husband, Lourey said she couldn\u2019t survive reliving the pain of the tragedy by writing down her thoughts and emotions. \u201cI needed to convert it, package it and ship it off,\u201d she wrote in a column for\u00a0Psychology Today. Rewriting her life to fit a fictional narrative helped her heal faster because it allowed her to become \u201ca spectator to life\u2019s roughest seas.\u201d\u00a0Journalist and novelist\u00a0Leila Cobo\u00a0agrees. Writing fiction has helped her so much that it\u2019s now become a daily routine. \u201cIt allows me to say anything in any way that I wish. It\u2019s the most amazing feeling,\u201d she said. \u201cI write either early in the morning or late at night. And once I\u2019m in, I\u2019m in.\u201d<\/p>\n

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How to get started<\/h3>\n
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While some can write for hours at a time, researchers say that journaling for\u00a0<\/span>at least 15 minutes a day\u00a0<\/span>three to five times a week can significantly improve your physical and mental health. If you\u2019re new to journaling, the easiest way to begin is to find a time and place where you won\u2019t be disturbed and just start writing.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

If you don\u2019t know what to write about, here are some ideas:<\/p>\n

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  • Write about something (or someone) extremely important to you.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  • Write about three things you\u2019re grateful for today \u2014 and why.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  • Write about what advice you\u2019d give to your younger self.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  • Write about a current challenge you\u2019re struggling with and possible solutions.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  • Write about 10 things you wish people knew about you.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  • Write about one thing you did this year that you\u2019re proud of.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  • Write about 10 things you\u2019d say yes to and 10 things you\u2019d say no to.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Source:\u00a0https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2019\/07\/25\/deepak-chopra-benefits-of-journaling-and-8-prompts-to-get-you-started.html<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    If you\u2019re like most people, you\u2019ll only write down what you absolutely need to, like to-do lists, meeting notes and reminders. But writing in your journal as a way to release and express your thoughts, feelings and emotions can be a life-changing habit. Daily writing can be a challenge if you\u2019re new to it. Much […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6947,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11,10,12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.nzibs.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6940"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.nzibs.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.nzibs.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.nzibs.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.nzibs.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.nzibs.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.nzibs.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.nzibs.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.nzibs.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.nzibs.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}