Everyone is overstretched, and “busy” has become the primary answer to “how are you?”
Our phones overhear us and serve up a steady stream of ads and info touting methods of “self-care”: facials, massage, exercise, therapy, castor oil patches … the options are unending.
If you feel like you can’t catch your breath between work, family, chores, errands, caretaking, and trying to wash your face once in a while, the thought of adding one more thing to your various spinning plates might either make you laugh or cry (or both).
Yet writing—while indeed another “thing”—is not any regular thing that drains you like a chore or a responsibility. It’s a restorative thing that both relieves and gives back in numerous ways.
Where there are loads of benefits to yoga and massage, writing—even for just 10 minutes—has the particularly powerful effect of alleviating and regenerating your mind, soul, spirit, and body. The effect from spending that bit of time in effect writing your way to wellness is invaluable and lasting.
Researchers have seen what happens in the brain when people write- and we’re talking about any kind of writing: journal writing, exploratory essays or memoir writing, even creating characters (who will invariably be connected to your inner landscape as you’re the one creating their hearts and souls) in fiction writing.
The documented outcomes from writing include boosted memory, decreased depression, increased immune function, and overall better cognitive health, particularly when the writing is by hand, which due to the motor function, sends additional positive signals to the brain.
Expressing feelings, in verbal or written words, reduces activity in the amygdala, the brain’s emotional center, and engages the thinking brain. This brain pattern can make sadness, anger, and pain less intense.
from “The Best Brain Possible,” by Debbie Hampton
Giving yourself the time, space, and freedom to access yourself on the page releases endorphins, which flood your brain with happiness.
Not only do you feel better, but all that smiling from feeling better releases even more endorphins– what a happy loop to be in!
All told, all that writing is like a big let-out sigh. It’s a fully-realized, all body relief we cannot get through any other means. And while other forms of release are extremely valuable, none of them are as intimate, as to the point, and as effective for inviting mental clarity, for giving rise to feelings of empowerment, and for spiritually and physically lifting yourself, as writing.
Unlike writing for work or in a performative context whereby you’re always open to being judged, writing in a journal is the ultimate freedom. Whether it’s the paper kind or it plugs in, your notebook is your mental safe space where you can be raw and real like nowhere else.
You can bring to light your darkest, most honest thoughts. Imagine if you’d told those to another person: the backlash that would ensue! (Shudder). This way you can unleash the truth and let it stand.
Getting to know yourself and letting out all that you regularly have to hold in by journaling is a known wellness booster because it lets you make peace with who you are and what you think and feel. It helps you normalize your relationship to yourself and know you’re just right. Studies done on journaling with a mind toward gratitude have also shown the benefit of stress reduction and helping writers reframe their approach toward difficult situations.
Journaling is a gift because it gives you the chance to come to know your own mind and to wend your way into your real truths that you may have never acknowledged if not for writing them down. This opportunity for reflection is gold.
The benefits of therapy are well-known, but by writing—going linear with your thoughts on the page (literally as you write or type in a physically forward path) and figuratively as you puzzle through the shadows and crevices of your thoughts—you are working toward arriving at clarity, epiphany, and healing.
Our minds are designed to create solutions from information, so by going from a to b to c, and so on, you’re building critical links toward truly understanding yourself and the world you inhabit.
Further, when you formalize your thoughts on the page, it reinforces them as legitimate and easier to “own” (rather than thoughts that remain in your mind or that you express verbally, which may be easier to dismiss as “silly” or “inconsequential”).
So write, and write knowing it’s an investment in yourself: Any forward movement on the page that braids together your ideas, your engagement as you develop them, and forming those thoughts into tangible words in a formalized setting (sentences) has exponential benefit for the body, mind, and heart.
Like with most things, the more you write and allow yourself the freedom to write whatever comes to mind, the easier it gets to zero in on what matters.
Being able to stop, drop, and feel better, uplifted, more in control, and empowered within a few minutes of writing is in and of itself empowering (yet another nice loop to be in!)
Being productive and seeing your ideas take shape on the page is deeply empowering. One of the key reasons writers insist on writing as a daily practice is writing begets more writing.
With practice, the ideas and memories arrive more easily; you’re more able to get to the essence of them from learning how to identify patterns in your behavior and thinking.
In time, reaching for the journal becomes a matter of necessity so you can approach your outside life from a much more confident state—because of all the exploration you’ve done of yourself and inquiry you’ve made to the world around through your writing. And the work you do on your writing projects is simply that much closer to you and more accessible.
While you may not always be able to whip out your journal during the day, mornings and evenings may lend themselves to being more elastic and writing-friendly.
Plus, unlike yoga poses which are a little tricky to do on public transit or in the dentist’s waiting room, you can keep a small moleskin in your pocket or purse for those “on the fly” ideas.
Waking up early to write (even 10-15 minutes is better than nothing) or journaling in bed before sleep keeps your connection to your real self alive, your feelings of agency high, and your awareness that you’re doing wholesome, productive things for your entire self at the forefront of your consciousness, which holistically and positively affects so much of your life.
Giving yourself the opportunity to write, wherever you are, means you’re able to release the pressure on yourself, sort out your thoughts and dive into your own mind, all bringing you toward feelings of wellness.
The upshot is rather than writing feeling like it’s yet another chore to do, it becomes your safe space, a time when you can refuel your tank. For that alone, (never mind that all that material may very well become a short story, essay, poem, or a book!) when you strive to write your way to wellness, you truly do end up feeling like the best version of yourself.
Realistically, some writing days come more easily than others. If the writing isn’t coming, before you get frustrated, the solution is often to step away and do another creative act.
Baking is a surefire way to get juiced up. Plus it’s lovely to share with others. A cousin to writing if ever there was one, if a tastier one.
This is my husband’s family recipe dating back to the turn-of-the-century Winnipeg, in Manitoba, Canada: Uncle Barry’s Auntie Vi’s Ginger Snaps. They’re easy, tasty, and dairy free.
1) Cream together:
¾ c shortening
1 c white sugar
½ c molasses
1 egg
½ tsp salt
2 c flour
2 tsp baking soda
2) Add:
2 tsp ginger
2tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp cloves
Roll into little balls.
Dip in sugar.
Bake 12 to 15 mins in a 350-degree oven.
Yours in writing,
When it’s time for you to take your writing into your own hands so you feel whole, well, and ready to take on your world, check out our 31-day habit forming, fun, and engaging online course Cultivating Creativity.
Dive in to writing your novel, memoir, or business/self-development book in one of our comprehensive 4-month book-writing programs.
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