Is there one best way to journal?
Imagine having one item that reminds you of all the good things that happened to you daily. A collection of positive experiences and dear moments. A safe space that you can come back to every day, passing through the pages and filling the new ones with more and more gratitude. No, it’s not a picture album. That is a gratitude journal. It’s your personal book of all the things you are grateful for in your life.
We have mentioned keeping a gratitude journal as one of the gratitude practices in our previous blog, but in this one, we’ll dive deeper into the topic of journaling and guide you on how to start your own.
What is a gratitude journal?
A gratitude journal is a type of journal where you write down everything you are grateful in your life. It can be anything: a kind gesture from a stranger or the good weather today, your family and friends, physical or financial stability. The goal of the gratitude journal is to help us concentrate on the positive aspects of life and create a mind of gratefulness and appreciation. No matter how small or big, anything that brought you joy and comfort, you can write down. Luckily, keeping a gratitude journal doesn’t require any specific equipment: a notebook and a pen will do the job, or if you prefer a laptop or your phone. The important thing is to make gratitude journaling part of your life which will have positive impact on your mental health and wellness.
Benefits of gratitude journaling
Since I mentioned ‘benefits’, I find it important to highlight some of the positive effects keeping a gratitude journal has on both our mental and physical health. Quite some research has grown in the field of gratitude practices and gratitude journaling has been the focus of many of them. They suggest that keeping a gratitude journal has a wide range of benefits on our overall quality of life:
Improves well-being
Research has shown that keeping a gratitude journal increases your level of dopamine and boosts your mood. It makes you appreciate the little joys that you may have overlooked before writing it down, and genuinely a person feels happier.
Strengthens relationships
Appreciating your close ones and being grateful for them can help you strengthen your social relationships. Acknowledging how other people contribute to your happiness makes you more aware of their presence and importance, which can make you want to express your gratitude directly.
Reduces stress
Of course, counting your blessings has the power of shifting your perspective on the positive side of life and instead of focusing what you may lack, you see how much more you have. Appreciating even the little things could make a huge impact in your day-to-day life.
Better sleep
It has been found that gratitude could improve the quality and the duration of your sleep. Taking ten minutes to write down about your joys throughout the day will not only put your mind at ease but will help end the day on a positive note and mindfulness.
Increases resilience
Gratitude journaling can help you build resilience by focusing on the positive side, in case of challenges. It also helps you develop a stronger mindset and It’s more likely to deal better with life’s ups and downs and difficult situations.
How to do it right?
I know what you all have been thinking ‘Okay, Emily, I understand that it’s a great practice with many positives, but…how do I even start?’. Do not worry, dear friends, because I’m going to lay out some tips and tricks on how to start and develop the habit of journaling. Since it’s very personal for everyone, you can try different ways and see what works for you:
Choose a journal
Starting small, firstly you need to choose your journal. Don’t let your thoughts and gratitude be all over the place. Choose a notebook that you like a fancy new journal, or an app or notes on your device. Wherever it is, choose a format you feel most comfortable with and do your journaling in a collective way. This will also help for continuity and if you happen to feel down, you can just open a page and get reminded of what you were thankful for yesterday.
Be specific
Truth hides itself in the details. The more detailed you write, the easier it is to connect with the emotion. It’s not about just listing things you are grateful for. Take the time to connect with them. When you say ‘I’m grateful for my family’ do you feel like you’re grateful? It sounds more like an automatic response to a well-known fact. Instead, go into more details like ‘I’m so grateful that I grew up in a family where my parents provided, and I didn’t need to worry about food or having no one to support me’. Acknowledge every member of your family personally and think about how they contributed to your upbringing and your happiness and joy. You can go into a specific core memory you have with that person and write it down. You can do the same with your friends and co-workers as well as little joys that happened to you during the day. It’s not about quantity rather than the quality of the emotions and gratitude. It’s a mindful process – don’t rush it.
Don’t just write – experience it
As I said, gratitude is a mindful process, and after a while, it may feel repetitive or like a chore. This is why you need to FEEL gratitude. Experience the sensation of the little joys and people you’re surrounded by. Visualise gratitude and why it’s so important to you. Take a moment to think about what you are grateful for right now. Really. The more you dive into that feeling and specify it, the more you will feel a warmth spreading in your chest and filling you up – THIS is gratitude and satisfaction. Although the thought comes more rapidly than the feeling, the emotions are what makes the difference in the process, and the more you feel it, the more descriptive you become in your writing.
Choose a regular writing routine
Practice makes perfect and consistency is always the key to improving in any category of our life. Journaling is not so different and needs some frequent attention. Do you have this routine of checking your phone right after you wake up? Social media, messages, or mail? I know I’ve had this bad habit. Instead, counting your blessings in the morning is a great way to start your morning and set the tone for the rest of the day. Five or ten minutes of your time in the morning before checking your phone and feeling already overwhelmed with information is a life-changing way of an everyday routine which believe me, will make you feel better. The evening is a time for reflecting. What has happened during your day? On average a person stays glued to their phone for at least 40 minutes after they go to bed, which messes up with our sleeping schedule, and our eyesight and makes us more tired. So, leave the phone alone, pick up your journal, reflect, and write about your daily blessings in as much detail as possible. You will see how after a while, your sleep will improve.
Prompts & categories
At first it may seem easy to write in your journal but after some time it may become a bit repetitive and boring. Something that can help you with that ‘creative block’ is what the author Tim Ferriss writes his gratitude. He has different categories for his blessings:
Relationships
An opportunity that you have today
Something great that happened or you saw yesterday
Something simple near you (clouds outside, pen you are holding, etc)
It’s a lot easier to categorise your blessings and use prompts in each category that will make you dive deeper and experience a whole new level of gratitude. If you decide to dedicate a day or a week to ‘Relationships’, you can use different prompts such as:
What is an old relationship thought me that I am grateful for?
What qualities do I appreciate in a co-worker?
What is one quality I admire about my partner?
What positive quality have I picked up from my friend?
Be creative and dig deeper. Once you make gratitude journaling part of your routine you will see a positive change in your perception on life and a healthier, happier routine. Check AME’s workshops and blogs on gratitude practices for more in depth experience.
