thepsyklife Throughout life, we have so many responsibilities that often, we tend to neglect ourselves. Self-love is defined as having high regard for your own well-being and happiness. It is a state of appreciation for oneself that grows from actions that support our physical, psychological and spiritual goals. Self-love looks different for every individual, discovering what self-love means to you is an integral part of your journey towards well-being.
One powerful method to practise self-love is through journaling. Journaling is the act of keeping a record of your feelings, experiences, personal thoughts and more. It looks different for everyone but generally, it is a notebook or journal about anything from thoughts and ideas to activities. You can also start journaling on your phone, tablet or computer if it’s more convenient.
Types of Journaling:
Journaling is not always about writing your emotions in a diary, there are various ways to dive into it. Icing up various writing styles could make it stimulating and enjoyable:
Reflective Journaling: This is the most common type of journaling. In this type of journaling a person uses their journal as a private place to reflect about their life and emotions. It can often be overwhelming to start, so if you are new to journaling, start by using journaling prompts to guide your entries.
Visual Journaling: Visual journaling is a great way to combine personal reflection with creativity. It gives you the space to log your life through art illustrations.
Art Journaling: An art journal is similar to a sketchbook where you can practice your creative skills and collect visual inspiration. While some only use it to express their emotions it can also be used to develop your art style or explore your creative expressions.
Daily Journaling: Daily journaling is similar to writing diary entries, it involves recording the events that occurred throughout the day. It could either be a short list or a long detailed account of every hour. It is a great method to check in with yourself regularly.
Stream Of Consciousness Journaling: This type of journaling involves writing without a prompt or goal in mind. The goal is to free-write three pages every morning, forcing yourself not to stop until you’ve finished. It can be extremely helpful when you don’t know how to start writing.
Bullet Journaling: Bullet Journaling combines several journaling goals into one organized method. Bullet journaling may be used as a daily diary, a calendar and task planner, or a place to reflect and process things.
Gratitude Journaling: Regular gratitude practice has been proven to improve overall well-being and life satisfaction. Creating a gratitude journal is a great way to practice gratitude and develop the habit of being thankful. You could maintain an extremely simple journal where you just jot down five things you are grateful for every night or you can level it up by visualising things you love.
Nature Journaling: Nature journaling is defined as the practice of following wherever our curiosity leads us and documenting the discoveries that we make outdoors. It is a great method to cultivate a deeper connection with nature.
How Journaling Helps Develop Self-Love:
Journaling is a form of self-expression that awakens intuition, helping you understand and express your feelings, which is the first step towards the journey of self-love. It can help you get in touch with your inner self and identify negative thoughts to replace them with more positive ones. Journaling provides you with a space for self-reflection. Studies suggest that a specific region in the right prefrontal cortex becomes more active when you consciously manage your emotions by either suppressing them or interpreting the event differently. Therefore, expressing yourself through journaling can help you understand your thoughts and feelings, evaluate your experiences, and develop an intuitive understanding of yourself.
Writing about your emotions can help you get out of your comfort zone and find unique solutions to your dilemmas. It can help you understand yourself and your goals better helping you build confidence. Journaling is a great way to produce mental stimulation, creativity and productivity. It provides you with an outlet to visualize where you want to go. Our lives are busy and it can often be hard to find the time or energy to do something just for ourselves. Journaling is a great and straightforward method to practise self-care.
Self Love Journal Prompts:
Staring at a blank page with no clue how to start can be overwhelming and often scary, especially if you already have a lot of emotions and feelings to reflect on. Journaling prompts are a great way to give yourself a direction and start writing:
Describe 10 interesting facts about yourself.
What are some things in your life that you are proud of?
Write a letter to yourself describing why you deserve to be happy. Think about what happiness means to you and why it is important in your life.
Describe what a perfect day would look like to you.
Write about one thing you like about your body and one thing you like about your personality.
Describe a life event that played a significant role in shaping who you are.
Make a list of the top 3 things you like about your personality. Describe why you chose these specific personality traits.
Write a list of ten compliments that you can give yourself.
What are some negative beliefs I have about myself, my abilities and my worthiness?
When you feel the need to recharge what helps you feel replenished.
Keep track of some of your self-talk today. What were some of the surprising things you said to yourself today? Were you overall positive or negative?
How would my daily routine change if I loved myself?
What are some ways you’ve changed in the last 5 years? What are some things you’ve learned?
Keeping a journal can help you explore and express your thoughts and worries, even if you can’t talk about them with anyone else. Seeing the proof of how you worked through things and how situations don’t last forever is valuable. Even if you don’t believe it at first, keeping a journal is a way to keep a record of your own resilience, which can lead to a greater sense of self-love.
By- Kopal
