Positive Journal: 5 Minutes a Day Toward a Happier Life: 4 (Gilded, Guided Journals)

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Pennebaker, J. W., & Smyth, J. M. (2016). Opening up by writing it down: How expressive writing improves health and eases emotional pain. Guilford Press. After a set number of weeks, they found both groups had improved upon the subscales of the Self-Compassion Scale, suggesting that both types of journaling are effective. Surprisingly, however, the counseling journaling group had the most significant improvement on the Self-Compassion Scale, whereas the gratitude journaling group had no improvement. Pillay, S. (2016, May 16). Greater self-acceptance improves emotional wellbeing. Harvard Health Blog. Retrieved from https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/greater-self-acceptance-improves-emotional-well-201605169546 List three things in your life that you are grateful for and provide details about why. How have they impacted you physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually?

A yoga enthusiast at Yoganonymous.com wrote about seven of the benefits he noticed when gratitude journaling:Make your space feel cozy and inviting — find a comfortable place to sit and write, light a candle, put your favorite playlist on, and give yourself time and space to write freely Research has also connected self-esteem with open-mindedness, inquisitiveness, truth-seeking, and (not surprisingly) self-confidence (Seyithan, 2019). Self-esteem is a cornerstone of mental, emotional, and physical development and performance in nearly every aspect of life. These tips for maintaining a gratitude journal can help. Lauren Jessen of the Huffington Post blog has these suggestions: At her workshops, Coulson asks participants to prepare by taking one photo a day for a month and compiling the images in a journal. These are shared during the first session. ‘It’s amazing what emerges,’ she says. ‘Most people worry that they don’t have a style. But everyone knows what they like – the problem is that we don’t think that’s enough.’

You may notice that a lot more small, good things are happening—or maybe you’ll notice the small, good things that were already happening; Likewise, you will probably write down both positive and negative events from your day in a diary, meaning that the focus is not solely on what is good or helpful in your life. Finally, a notebook generally includes value-neutral notes and reminders, rather than lists of the good things in your life.The gratitude journal is unique in this respect—it is the only item in the range of similar notebooks, planners, and journals that are solely dedicated to noticing and appreciating the positive things in your life. To get the maximum out of your gratitude journaling practice, try to keep it this way. Forgas JP. Don’t worry, be sad! On the cognitive, motivational, and interpersonal benefits of negative mood. Curr Dir Psychol Sci. 2013;22(3):225-232. doi:10.1177/0963721412474458

Ready to sit down and get writing? I’ve got just the thing to help! Use these writing prompts to find inspiration, ideas, and motivation to start, continue, or rekindle your journaling habit. While jumping right in and thinking about what you can write in your gratitude journal is an exciting part of the journey, it can get somewhat less exciting as time goes on. On those days when you no longer feel pumped to write down what you are grateful for, it’s good to be prepared. This post is suitable for beginners and current practitioners of mindfulness. If you’re ready, dust off your notebook, find a pen and a quiet, sunny spot, and let’s begin!Blank journals: These are empty inside, and you’ll need to find your own journal prompts. You can find blank journals that are lined and unlined. This world is full of negative thoughts, rude actions, and discouraging events. You get enough negativity just by turning on the TV or scrolling through social media. With positivity journaling, you take a short amount of time each day to focus on the good instead of the bad. You shut out the voices, distractions, and noise of the world and tune in to positive thoughts, feelings, events, and ways to increase your happiness. The person who makes me feel safest is… Write about a time they demonstrated their care and made you feel secure. Invest in some beautiful stationery — a well-made journal, some lovely pens, a bookmark, and somewhere to keep everything together A brand new study of a three-month trial of gratitude journaling found that both reflective (finding things to be grateful for) and reflective-behavioral (finding things to be grateful for and expressing your gratitude) journaling have a significant, positive impact on wellbeing, affect, and depression (O’Connell, O’Shea, & Gallagher, 2017);