Many people all over the world have journals. Their use for them may vary, but one thing remains certain.

Writing in a journal provides benefits that many of us may not have even known were even possible.  Both mentally and even physically. 

Let’s take a look at a few of them.

Writing in a journal can help reduce anxiety.

A study was conducted on individuals facing various medical conditions including anxiety.

The results showed that “ those who wrote online for 15 minutes 3 days/ week over a 12 week period had increased feelings of well-being and fewer depressive symptoms after one month”.

How Journaling Can Help Ease Anxiety and Encourage Healing (webmd.com)

The results of this study are very promising. If something as simple as writing things down can aid in improved mental health people need to know.

This can be beneficial for everyone.

Journaling encourages opening up emotionally to others.

Opening up about emotions can be difficult for some people. There’s good news though. Journaling your thoughts may be able to help put people more at ease in doing that. Writing things out is the first step. Talking things out is the second.

It can potentially help boost your immune system

 It may sound crazy, but it’s actually a possibility.  Research suggests that writing in a journal may actually be beneficial for our immune system.

A study showed that journaling about negative life experiences helped in boosting the immune system of HIV/AIDS patients.

This was also the case for people suffering from asthma and rheumatoid arthritis.

Writing to heal (apa.org)

What is the best way to use a journal?

You should journal however you prefer. Ideally, on a somewhat consistent basis. That is not a necessity, however.

There are a variety of reasons that people have journals.

1. Some people keep them to write about their day-to-day lives.
2. Others may use them to write about their dreams.
3. Some use them to write about where they have traveled.
4. Others use them to jot down their progress in achieving their goals.

There are a plethora of reasons that people choose to write in a journal. There is no right or wrong way. It is up to you to decide what you will write on.

What is abundantly clear, however, is that journaling is much more than merely writing things down.

It has many different uses and many different benefits. All of which are extremely beneficial to us.

Conclusion

Writing in a journal is a smart idea. They can be more than just relics of our past.

We can use them in the present day as well.  They can be used to improve our lives in a myriad of different ways.

Although the act of writing is simple. The growth that we can get from it is far more complex.

Writing down our thoughts and feelings can do a lot for us. Even if we do not see it at the time.

Although people have many different uses for journals, one thing remains universally true.

they can be much more than meets the eye.