A one-off emotional writing session, when you focus on a particular subject, is very cathartic. However, there are tangible benefits of regularly writing in this way. Consider buying yourself a special book or notepad. Then you can turn your emotional writing sessions into regular journaling.
Here are some of the benefits you could experience as a result …
Stretching your IQ
Journaling is an exploration of language. It encourages you to search for new words and increase your vocabulary. A report by the University of Victoria shared that “writing as part of language learning has a positive correlation with intelligence”. Writing involves movement which adds a motor memory to the brain’s sensorimotor cortex. This in turn, enhances recognition. It takes longer to write by hand than it does to type. Research now indicates that handwriting has a bigger impact on IQ than typing. I guess, in this instance, the pen is mightier than the keyboard! Perhaps you may want to consider doing your emotional writing the old fashioned way.
Evoking Mindfulness
When you are mindful you are living in “the now”. This means that you are not feeling overwhelmed by the past or worried about the future. Past frustrations and future anxieties lose their edge in the present moment. The result is a strong link between happiness and mindfulness. Being mindful during your emotional writing session isn’t difficult. Simply focus on what you are doing now rather than letting your mind wander. Lock the editor out of the room. Explore your feelings and thoughts. Don’t focus on grammar and spelling. You can always polish your writing later if necessary.
Achieving goals
Emotional writing doesn’t only have to be about your grief. Because journaling is inward looking you often end up writing about your dreams and aspiration. Scribbling a few ideas down isn’t going to ensure that you achieve your goals. However, the act of writing them down signals to your brain that “this is important”. This is a great starting point. Research carried out by Dr. Gail Matthews (Psychology Professor, Dominican University, California), indicates that you are 42% more likely to achieve goals and dreams if you write them down on a regular basis. You can read more here
Emotional intelligence
Journaling is all about processing emotions and increasing your self-awareness. Part of being more self-aware is improving your ability to perceive and manage your emotions. This is emotional intelligence. Peter Salovey* and John Mayer defined emotional intelligence as “the ability to monitor one’s own and other people’s emotions”. This includes being able to “discriminate between different emotions and label them appropriately, and to use emotional information to guide thinking and behaviour”. As you build your emotional intelligence it improves your ability to understand and empathise with other people.
*Peter Salovey is an American Social Psychologist and President of Yale University.
Boosting memory and comprehension
When you are journaling, you are exercising a specific part of your brain. Writing has a very unique relationship between the hand and the brain. (See the sensorimotor cortex reference above). Writing things down hardwires information into your memory in a way that simply reading or listening to information doesn’t. Your words are representations of your ideas. The formation of the letters causes the mind to compose or re-compose ideas as you write. This strengthens previously covered information and forces you to engage in cognitive recall.
You can read my blog about unlocking the healing power of writing here.
I do have another five benefits that I want to share with you: however, I’m going to stop at five for the moment. Otherwise this could end up being another mammoth blog and I don’t want you feeling overwhelmed by all the information. Please look out for “Beautiful perspectives on the benefits of emotional writing part two” which will be published in the future.
Be kind to yourself …
In CANBACE friendship!
If anything I have written resonates I’d love to hear from you in the comments. I appreciate that this can be a difficult subject to speak openly about. If you don’t want me to publish your comment on the website please let me know. I will keep your words private.
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