Natural Anxiety Relief: Journal Writing
Journal writing can be a wonder method of natural anxiety relief. Some people find it very helpful to write out their issues. Others would prefer to talk out anxieties with a friend. However it is not always possible to get exactly the right friend at the right time and so it can be helpful to write it all out as if you were talking to the most sympathetic and wise person out there.
There are some ways of writing one’s journal which seem to be much more effective than others. The most effective way is to start by writing out all of your feelings. Please don’t try to rationalize or work out what they mean, nor judge what you write. Just dump all the words on a page as they come disorganized and only partially formed. Even if you don’t like what you write, that is OK. Those ideas are a part of you and even if they are irrational or unreasonable accept that is how you feel at the point of writing. Only write for 15 to 30 minutes as you are acknowledging your feelings not attending a pity party or grudge session. You are working on treatments for anxiety not feeding your anxiety to make it worse.
Then over the next four days write about the same set of circumstances as you feel about them on that day. It is likely that over time you will start to see the circumstances in a slightly different way. You will gain insight into your feelings and into what was going on that made you feel that way and why other people acted the way they did. With your development of insight will come a change in feelings.
If you find at the end of a week that there is no insight or change in understanding of how to interpret your circumstances then ask yourself why not? Why is it important to cling to your current interpretation? What would happen if you did change your position and feelings? Those questions may well release a flood of other feelings for you to consider.
Writing a journal will not give natural anxiety relief if you simply write about physical happenings. What you need is to write about is your feelings, your emotions and look for different ways to understand what is going on in your life. Then it becomes one of your natural anxiety remedies able to be used when you need it.