Exercise your mind-body connection

An aspect of journal writing that is both fundamental and subtle is its use as a moving meditation.

Like the ancient Chinese practice of Qi Gong, journaling can serve to provide a connection between the mind and the body. A holistic awareness of health can be achieved once the mind and body start communicating.

Journal writing lets us realize and appreciate that mind and body are naturally connected. And this recognition is an early step towards using your journal as your own private – and remarkably healing - therapist.

As you begin to journal, your body awareness increases in that you notice how your physical self reacts to certain thoughts. The stomach clenches, the jaw tightens, the literal pain in the neck shows up again.

After a while you become well versed in your bodily reactions, and begin to see how you can change your physical being by changing your thoughts and feelings.

Get ready for epiphanies

This process also leads the journaler to an appreciation for their own individual complexity and inner riches. By connecting the various sides of yourself, your mind and body, your inside and outside, you develop a new sense of wholeness.

Soon the journal has become your daily counselor. Perhaps you carry it with you and no matter where you are, you can take a few minutes to practice the moving meditation of writing. Perhaps you write for a while each morning or evening, and use this time to center, to pull the disparate parts of you together again.

Learning to connect the mind and body in this way can result in physical healing, emotional nurturing, or mind strengthening. Moreover, it prepares the individual for epiphanies or break-throughs, by opening the consciousness and increasing observational skill.

Anyone can do it

Journaling is by no means merely a mental exercise. It is a moving meditation, involving the total participation of both mind and body. As such, it's appropriate for any age, gender, or type of person.

Sometimes people hesitate to try journaling because they don't consider themselves good writers. They're worried that their lack of writing know-how will hold them back.

But skill with writing, proper grammar, good penmanship and all those rules mean little in the world of journaling. Your focus is on the process of writing; the movement of the pen across the paper; the emotions you coax into clarity through the practice.

In journaling, what's most important is the journaler's willingness to nurture both body and mind, and to discover a healthier self through the practice.