Being human means that things are going to happen in our lives now and then that will require us to take a healing journey so we can sort out our feelings, let go of the pain, and learn to deal with the shifting circumstances we’re experiencing. Journaling is a powerful tool for the healing journey that supports you when it’s time for you to take a healing journey of your own.
In this post are examples of how it’s been helpful for others, so you’ll be inspired to give journaling a try for yourself. There’s also a few journal prompts to help you get started with journaling.
How Journaling is a Powerful Tool for the Healing Journey: Case Study
Case study: Alice and Marie both went through divorces at about the same time. Each was painful and unpleasant. Each had been married for a long time and each marriage had a similar reason for falling apart. Cheating spouses.
Fast forward 3 years. Alice is a wellness coach, doing work she loves. She volunteers regularly at her local homeless shelter and has a lot of friends that she sees often. If she’s having a bad day, there are folks to help her through it. Alice is even considering dating again.
Marie is working a job she hates. Her divorce seemed to take all her friends with it. She hasn’t built any new social connections since her divorce. She doesn’t go out much except for work and errands. She’s very bitter about her divorce and it’s still a very fresh wound for her.
So, what’s the difference between these two?
Alice chose healing and moving on, while Marie chose to remain stuck in her heartache and disappointment.
Alice recognized her pain and her need for healing. She started a journaling practice. This was her way of releasing the emotions, reducing her stress and helping her cope with her shifting life.
Through this approach, she was able to remember who she was and let go of the past.
Journaling is a powerful tool for the healing journey.
What types of painful events can you use it for?
The short answer is any type.
Journaling can be useful for helping to heal any type of wound.
Here’s just a few:
- Break-ups
- Grief over losing someone you love
- Dealing with losses of other types, like when a natural disaster or a fire affects you
Journaling can also be used to uncover and release past trauma from events that happened long ago but are still affecting you today. For example, Allen had been abused as a child.
He’d gotten professional help over the years, and he didn’t think that what he’d experienced was affecting his present life until one of his kids pointed out how he kept getting involved with women who weren’t emotionally available to him.
He used journaling to help him overcome the shame and lack of worth he felt and now he’s in a healthy relationship with someone who treats him well.
Why Choose Journaling?
Everyone who chooses journaling as part of their healing journey does so for a different reason.
They may not be able to go to therapy or find a counselor to work with. They may not have insurance coverage. Some will not want to go to therapy due to not feeling it was helpful in their earlier experiences with it.
While journaling may not be a replacement for therapy, it is a tool that they can use at any time. Others might choose to use it alongside therapy, sharing what they write with their therapist.
Journaling is a way to create time and space for you to process your emotions, by yourself. Doing it for yourself, by yourself, can be very empowering.
What are the Benefits of Journaling?
The biggest benefit of journaling is that it allows you to release your feelings. You’re then free to look at things differently. See things from a different perspective and choose how you respond to it, rather than just reacting to it.
For example, Mia’s boss was an emotionally abusive sort. He was often loud and would belittle Mia and other employees in front of customers. This made for a toxic work environment.
Mia’s situation at home made it difficult for her to quit and changing jobs quickly was a tough propostion for her too. So, she used her journal to process the emotions and anger she felt about the situation and toward her boss.
This cleared the way for her to come up with some creative solutions that allowed her to manage the situation and protect her peace.
Another big benefit of journaling is that it gives you the space to see things you may have overlooked previously.
Here’s an example, let’s imagine that you’ve been beating yourself up about your bad marriage, through journaling you suddenly realize that your spouse had been cheating on you for years. You weren’t at fault here and you’re not to blame. This flash of insight can be the inspiration you need to let go of your bad marriage and the pain it created for you.
Journaling also allows you to see if your thoughts around an event are true. You can begin to see the event as it really is instead of being caught up in the emotions of it.
Journaling can help you:
- Relieve stress
- Stop ruminating on an event
- Work through anxiety
- Deal with Trauma
What If I Need More Support on My Healing Journey?
First, there’s nothing wrong with that and there’s nothing wrong with asking for help.
For lots of people, a journal is just one part of their healing approach.
More tools may be needed. Some of those include therapy, medication, support groups, accountability partners, friends and family support and other simple tools like meditation, grounding, movement, healing creativity, gratitude, and self-care.
There’s no one size fits all approach to healing. What works for your friend may not work well for you. Experiment as you go along to find the right combination of tools that are best for you.
A Personal Perspective on the Healing Journey
During my own healing journey, I used lots of different tools to help me deal with the emotions I was experiencing, the losses I felt, the shifting paradigm I was dealing with, releasing the past and creating the new ways of being that would propel me forward.
Six of those tools are now what I call the Ravynwood Foundations. These are the tools that I relied on throughout my own healing journey and still use every day.
The Ravynwood Foundations are:
- Journaling
- Self-Care
- Meditation
- Energy Work
- Healing Creativity
- Gratitude
I loved them so much that they have become one of the pillars of everything at ravynwood.com. There’s even a low-cost membership that focuses on 5 of them.
This membership is designed to be bite-sized and easy to fit into your life. That way, you can create a toolbox with the tools you need to deal with the storms of life when they come up (and you know that they will.)
Each month, there’s a focus on one or two of the 5 areas (energy work isn’t included). Your month is broken down into three 10 day sections. When the focus is on two of the 5 areas, you’ll work on one part of the package for 10 days, then switch to the other part for 10 days and then the third 10 day stretch is for integration so you can make these things part of your daily habits.
(If there’s only one focus for the month then 20 days will be spent on that one foundation with 10 days for integration.)
I think of having this toolbox as being like a first-aid kit. Something to have on hand for when it’s needed. You can find out more about them here.
Journal Prompts to Get You Started
These 7 journal prompts cover different aspects of your life. Use them to begin discovering how journaling is a powerful tool or use them to restart your journaling practice. If you already have a practice, use them for some inspiration and fresh perspectives.
- What has been going good in your life lately?
- What’s a good thing you completed recently? Maybe a project or a book?
- What’s one small thing you can do for yourself today to reduce stress?
- What does self-care mean to you?
- When do you have time for yourself?
- In what ways do you put yourself first?
- When was the last time you said no to someone?
Summary of Journaling is a Powerful Tool for the Healing Journey
Journaling is a powerful tool that can help you deal with any event in your life, but it’s especially helpful for those that require some healing.
Regardless of what you’ve been through, remember to be kind to yourself.
Healing is hard work. Healing isn’t linear. It’s more like a spiral. There will be good days and bad days. You deserve support. You’re brave and strong.
As tough as the season of your life that requires a healing journey is, you can and will get through it.
Blessed Be.
You might like these too:
10 Types of Journals You Can Create
8 Tips to Create a Journaling Habit
