Journaling for Health

Keeping a regular journaling practice can have a huge positive effect on an individual's confidence, self-knowledge, and success in all kinds of endeavors. The power of journaling is not well known, but once you start journal writing you come to know how dramatically it can improve your life.

If you want to access inner strengths, or understand relationships, or master challenges, journal writing can be the key. Journaling is where we examine our life with the greatest intimacy . It is your chance to reflect and find resolution. It reconciles the inner and outer aspects of your self.

And journaling can also be integral to physical healing. When sick or injured, you will find your most sympathetic and intuitive 'doctor' in the pages of your journal.

To the western mind, this statement may seem absurd. How can writing in a notebook drive away my flu or soothe my arthritis or get rid of my sinus condition? We believe in physicians, not woo-woo rituals.

This attitude has made zombies of us, dependent on the professional health care givers and completely out of touch with our selves. Allopathic medicine certainly has its uses, but our own bodies possess great wisdom as well, and we ignore it at our peril.

Again, journaling reconciles the inner and outer aspects of self. That means, by journaling we become more aware of what's going on in our hearts of hearts as well as in the environment around us. No longer are we tossed helplessly by unknown winds. Through journaling, we begin to comprehend who we are and how we got here.

How can journal writing have a positive impact on physical healing? Let's look at a contrasting pair of people.

John and Jane both have asthma, both use inhalers most days, both sometimes experience intense flare-ups. Then John starts keeping a journal. He writes about his life from many angles; he relates dreams ; he makes sketches. After a while, he realizes he never notices his asthma when he's journaling. This prompts him to explore his condition in the notebook's pages, considering all aspects of it. He makes note of where he is and what's happening when the asthma takes hold. He researches and tells what he's learned about the condition. After a few months, he notices that he's using his inhaler less than previously.

Jane, on the other hand, doesn't take up journaling and continues to suffer the usual asthma attacks. She's worn out from fighting it, but she'd tell you she's gotten used to it, if it weren't for the fact that the inhaler is becoming less and less effective. What will she do when the drug doesn't help her breathe anymore?

By journaling, John has gained control of his future. Without journaling, Jane's future looks increasingly hopeless.

Next time you have a physical health issue, pick up a pen and start writing. Get to know the issue and your personal responses; thoroughly examine all sides. If you want to thrive, if you don't want to become a slave to your pain or illness, journaling's your ticket to ride!