“Journaling ideas for mental health” is one of the top-searched terms in Google when it comes to journaling. Why? Because people seem to know that journaling can have a tremendous benefit to your mind, body and mood, but many people don’t know where to start.
As a mental health therapist, and fellow journal-keeper, I am always coming up with new journaling ideas for myself and others. This post is ALL about journaling ideas for mental health.
Keep a Mood Journal
One of the first places to start when it comes to journaling ideas for mental health is to keep a mood journal. A mood journal, or mood tracker, is a great way to reconnect to yourself, become more mindful in the moment, and become more aware how your moods shift throughout the day.
One way to use a mood journal is to sit down at the end of the day and write down the different emotions you can recall from that day. Explore what events shifted your mood and identify thoughts associated with the moods. This can help you recognize patterns and triggers and give you the power to make some adjustments.
Another way to use a mood journal is to simply track your moods. This could look like carrying a small journal around with you and writing down every time you recognize a shift in mood. Not only will you have a log at the end of the day to reflect upon, but this will make you more present to what’s happening in your body during the day.
Pro Tip: If you prefer to use an artistic approach to journaling, or have a bullet journal, you can track your moods with color. Print (or draw) a coloring page and fill out a different section every time you have a different mood. This will create a piece of art that reflects your day!
Keep a Daily Reflection Journal
A daily reflection journal is a great way to allow yourself to pause and process your day. This can be especially helpful if you are a worker bee, a stay-at-home parent, a student, or anybody else that isn’t used to pressing the pause button in life.
To keep a daily reflection journal, set aside 10 or 15 minutes at the end of your day for journaling. This should be a distraction-free time, where you can be with yourself and your thoughts. In this moment, you can either write down any thoughts that come to mind, getting the thoughts out of your head onto paper, or you can narrate the events of your day.
After you are done writing, recognize themes, interactions, emotions, and process your thoughts about what you notice. See if there is anything you’d like to keep doing because it made you feel more joy, or if there were things you would hope to change moving forward.
Begin with Journaling Prompts
One of the final easy-to-use journaling ideas for mental health is to use pre-made journaling prompts. Here is a list of journaling prompts for therapy, and there are many other journaling prompts that can find to help you get your thoughts flowing. A way to make this easier for you is to sit down at the beginning of every week, choose a list of pre-made prompts, and write down a prompt at the top of each page. This way, when you go to write, the prompt is already there for you.
In addition to finding free prompts online, there are also plenty of places that offer journals with prompts already in them, like this one from Amazon or this one from Barnes & Noble.
Use these Journaling Ideas for Mental Health Today!
Whichever idea you begin to start with, there’s no better time to start than today! Journaling, like any habit, takes time and consistency to make it stick. Once you start to see the amazing benefits of journaling, you won’t want to stop!
Do you have any journaling ideas for mental health that you love? Comment below!
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19 Therapy Journaling Prompts
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