Self-care is an important aspect of life, which sometimes we may forget. There are different ways people like to practise self-care. Some enjoy skincare, while some may like to read, listen to music, travel, meditate, or journal.
Journaling is known as the practice of writing down your thoughts, emotions, experiences, feelings, etc. You need to take care of yourself and participate in activities that reduce stress and help regulate your emotions. Self-care journals are a great way to do so.
What Is A Self-Care Journal & How Is It Different From A Regular Journal?
A Self-Care journal is a specific kind of journal that is mostly about your mental well-being. In A self-care journal, you track your thoughts, activities, behaviour, and emotional state. However, the main difference is the template.
In a journal, you have blank or ruled pages in which you write about your day, feelings, experiences, emotions, etc. However, in a self-care journal, you have pre-made templates that help you reflect on yourself. These journals can be used to monitor your mental health, goals, and progress.
A regular journal does not have a specific purpose, unlike a self-care journal which has the objective of helping you take better care of yourself. While journaling is a great way to express your emotions and feelings, self-care journals are targeted toward self-growth and emotional healing.
How You Can Get Started With Your Self-Care Journal
- Choose Your Medium
When you begin your journey of journaling, choose a medium. Some feel more comfortable with writing with a pen and paper while some prefer writing things down digitally. If you are not sure which medium is most suitable for you, you can experiment with both. Mostly, writing with a pen and paper is preferable as it allows you to think without any distractions.
- Think About What You Want To Include
When you have decided on the medium you want to begin with, brainstorm what you want to include in your journal. This could include gratitude, self-reflective thoughts, goals, etc. You can find many suitable self-care journals on e-commerce sites or at a local stationery shop.
- Dedicate Time
Some like to journal at the beginning of their day and write down their goals. While others like to journal at the very end of the day to reflect on their emotions, thoughts, etc.
When you decide to maintain a journal, ensure that you set a dedicated time for it. This allows you to follow a routine which further helps you to be consistent with your habit.
- Be Comfortable
Sometimes, you may find yourself being stuck, this may be because of the hesitation of writing down and opening up. Hence, it is important to feel comfortable while writing. Ensure that you are alone in a quiet place, and listen to some comforting music as it will help you relax. Additionally, take some time to reflect and think about your day, so you can clear out your thoughts while writing.
What Should You Include In Your Self-Care Journal?
What you include in your journal is up to you. However, some things that you should not forget to include are:
1. Gratitude
Write down 3-5 things that you are grateful for. Practising gratitude allows you to feel happy, and be optimistic. Moreover, practising gratitude has many benefits such as building a positive mindset, improving heart health, and reducing anxiety.
Also read: Importance & Benefits Of Inculcating Gratitude In Life
2. Feelings & Thoughts
Dedicate a specific place in your journal to allow yourself to express freely and pour your heart out, write down your feelings as though you are sharing them with your best friend. This will allow you to manage your thoughts and emotions in a healthy manner and you can later analyse them.
3. Goals
Studies have shown that people who write down their tasks are more likely to complete them compared to people who don’t. Hence, you should consider writing your daily or weekly goals. Writing them down will help you remember. Moreover, when you write them down, you will easily be able to prioritise your work and manage your goals and targets accordingly.
Suggested reads: 8 Ways Of Setting Goals To Achieve Success
4. Affirmations
Practising affirmation is a healthy habit that allows you to inculcate positivity in your life. Affirmations are a great way of building self-esteem. They help with breaking the cycle of negative thoughts and implementing new and positive ones.
5. Likes & Dislikes
Writing down things you like and dislike can help provide you with clarity of things and allow you to reflect on yourself. This habit includes things about your day you liked and disliked, and you can also understand what makes you dislike a situation or an event.
Note: Every self-journal book is different, you can create your own using online tools such as Canva and customise your template according to your choice, this will allow you to have more freedom of expressing yourself better. You can also use a combination of different templates online to get more variety.
The Benefits Of Self-Care Journal
A self-care journal has many benefits, some of them are:
1) Helps Relieve Stress
When you write down things, you feel more relaxed and open. Hence, when you write down your feelings, and emotions in your journal, you feel relieved as sharing your feelings helps with reducing stress and burden.
2) Improves Mindfulness
Journaling is a mindful practice that allows you to reflect on your day, emotions, thoughts and much more. It increases self-awareness, and motivation and makes you resilient. It is also great for your mental health.
3) Helps In Achieving Your Goals
Writing down your goals increases the probability of you completing them. Moreover, you can easily track your progress. It increases your motivation and gives you a sense of accomplishment.
4) Helps In Self-Discovery
When you write down things they become more clear to you, and this aids in discovering yourself. While writing down your thoughts and feelings, you can reflect on them and analyse things about yourself. With your analysis, you can work on self-improvement and towards being a better you.
5) Helps Bring Self-Discipline
The practice of journaling is a regular activity that you engage in for different reasons, one of them being to improve yourself. It builds character and creates discipline.
Also read: 7 Keys To Self-Discipline
Conclusion
A journal and a self-care journal have a small difference, but both are beneficial for taking care of yourself. Maintaining a self-care journal is a great way to take care of yourself as it allows you to work on your goals while taking care of your mental and physical health. Journaling is a healthy way to relieve stress, and it also helps with bringing in self-discipline and helps you discover yourself.
To get started with your journaling journey, you need to select your medium, think about the things you want to include, be comfortable, and dedicate time to write down your thoughts, emotions, goals, etc.
There are many different things you can include in your journal, but some things you must not forget to write are things you are grateful for, your feelings, thoughts, emotions, and goals. Moreover, you can also practise affirmations and note down things you like and dislike.
Maintaining a self-care journal is a mindful practice as it will help you to discover yourself and help make you a better version of yourself. It promotes self-growth and helps to reduce stress.